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Viewpoints: Will GOP back away from Medicaid plan too?; exchanges geared to politics, not health

All but seven House Republicans voted for a budget plan last month that would eliminate Medicare's guarantee to the elderly. It was always bad policy. But now that the vote has proved to be wildly unpopular, the party is suddenly running in the opposite direction.

7 May 2011

Tufts Health Plan now covers SBi's STAR total ankle replacement system

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) announced today that effective July 1, 2011, Tufts Health Plan, covering approximately 742,000 members in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is revising its reimbursement policy to cover SBi's STAR™ total ankle replacement system. The decision means that 98 percent of all privately-insured lives in Massachusetts will have access to total ankle replacement.

7 May 2011

FDA approves Abbott's RX ACCULINK Carotid Stent System

Abbott today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the RX ACCULINK Carotid Stent System for the treatment of patients with carotid artery disease who are at standard risk of adverse events from carotid endarterectomy.

7 May 2011

Ryan blames politics for preventing overarching agreement to reduce the debt

Examples of how the politics of Medicare have picked up momentum since Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., advanced his proposal to revamp the proposal can be seen in a range of developments — including a letter from Democratic lawmakers to President Barack Obama, comments for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and even a tightening special election for a New York congressional seat.

7 May 2011

Rotech Healthcare first quarter adjusted EBITDA increases 13% to $28.3 million

Rotech Healthcare Inc. today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

7 May 2011

First Edition: May 6, 2011

Today's headlines indicate that the GOP may be rethinking its plans to revamp Medicare -- especially as a new round of debt accord talks begin between Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders.

6 May 2011

New rules regarding hospice stays respond to patients with unpredictable illnesses like Alzheimer's and heart failure

New government rules — enforcement kicked in last month — require hospices to send doctors or nurse practitioners for face-to-face visits with Medicare patients who have been on hospice more than six months to certify that the patients are really sick enough to need the program.

6 May 2011

Longer looks: States creating health compacts; IPAB under fire; is GOP redefining rape?

In late April, Colorado and Oklahoma became the latest states to vote on whether to join an interstate agreement with like-minded legislatures to put health care decisions more firmly into the hands of state governments.

6 May 2011

UPMC signs affiliation agreement with Aetna to expand health plan access in Pittsburgh

Aetna and UPMC announced today that they have reached agreement on a contract that expands access to include all of UPMC's hospitals and affiliated physicians in Aetna's Western Pennsylvania network for the first time since 2001.

6 May 2011

Quinnipiac poll finds voters dislike GOP plans to revamp Medicare, Medicaid

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports that, based on these results, Republicans have some selling to do, and The Washington Post gets back to basics with a primer on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

6 May 2011

CAMH presents new Microvolt T-wave Alternans testing data at Heart Rhythm Society meeting

Cambridge Heart, Inc. a developer of non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, today announced that new data presented at the Heart Rhythm Society's 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions in San Francisco confirm the diagnostic value of Microvolt T-wave Alternans testing in identifying patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

6 May 2011

Despite expanded Medicare coverage racial disparities continue in colorectal cancer screening

Despite expanded Medicare coverage for colorectal cancer screening tests, lower rates still exist among blacks and Hispanics compared to other ethnic groups, according to research published in Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

6 May 2011

Opponents offer dire warnings about Medicaid block grant proposal

The plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform this program has been the subject of much of the concern. However, another alternative, this one offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and based on "global cap" for federal spending, is also getting negative reviews from Medicaid advocates.

6 May 2011

House hearing will include effort to revive 'balance billing'

Testimony will come from the nation's largest physician organizations, which will tell a House subcommittee about the need to replace Medicare's current payment system. Meanwhile, on the personnel front, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a new chief medical officer and Berwick is talking about his "service."

6 May 2011

U.S. Physical Therapy first quarter net revenue increases 12.6% to $56,741,000

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., a national operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

6 May 2011

Viewpoints: Gov. Daniels's reversal?; IPAB's Medicare fix; Texas Medicaid cuts

Centrist Republicans loved it when began urging the party to keep its eye on the deficit-reduction prize and stop obsessing about social issues. ... He then went home and announced that he would sign a bill to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid financing. ... Daniels's moderate fans thought abortion was precisely the issue he was calling on Republicans to set aside. Right now, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives can barely talk about anything else.

6 May 2011

Researchers find increasing the number of family physicians reduces hospital re-admissions

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center have found that by adding one family physician per 1,000, or 100 per 100,000, could reduce hospital readmission costs by $579 million per year, or 83 percent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) target. These findings currently appear on the website of the "Robert Graham Center," a primary care think tank.

5 May 2011

A new round of deficit talks begins amidst roadblocks, debt-ceiling concerns

How to handle entitlement spending issues including Medicare will be central to the discourse. Meanwhile, AARP launches a campaign to protect Medicare in the midst of it all.

5 May 2011

Boston Business Journal honors Tufts Health Plan for Worksite Wellness program

Tufts Health Plan recently received the prestigious honor of being recognized for its Worksite Wellness initiatives by the Boston Business Journal. As a finalist in the Boston Business Journal's listing of "HEALTHIEST EMPLOYERS," the non profit company was recognized as an organization that is deeply committed to improving the health of its employees and its workplace.

5 May 2011

First Edition: May 5, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jessica Marcy recently spoke with Dan Hawkins, the association's senior vice president, about the future and finances of community health centers and their evolving budgets.

5 May 2011

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: Will GOP back away from Medicaid plan too?; exchanges geared to politics, not health

Tufts Health Plan now covers SBi's STAR total ankle replacement system

FDA approves Abbott's RX ACCULINK Carotid Stent System

Ryan blames politics for preventing overarching agreement to reduce the debt

Rotech Healthcare first quarter adjusted EBITDA increases 13% to $28.3 million

First Edition: May 6, 2011

New rules regarding hospice stays respond to patients with unpredictable illnesses like Alzheimer's and heart failure

Longer looks: States creating health compacts; IPAB under fire; is GOP redefining rape?

UPMC signs affiliation agreement with Aetna to expand health plan access in Pittsburgh

Quinnipiac poll finds voters dislike GOP plans to revamp Medicare, Medicaid

CAMH presents new Microvolt T-wave Alternans testing data at Heart Rhythm Society meeting

Despite expanded Medicare coverage racial disparities continue in colorectal cancer screening

Opponents offer dire warnings about Medicaid block grant proposal

House hearing will include effort to revive 'balance billing'

U.S. Physical Therapy first quarter net revenue increases 12.6% to $56,741,000

Viewpoints: Gov. Daniels's reversal?; IPAB's Medicare fix; Texas Medicaid cuts

Researchers find increasing the number of family physicians reduces hospital re-admissions

A new round of deficit talks begins amidst roadblocks, debt-ceiling concerns

Boston Business Journal honors Tufts Health Plan for Worksite Wellness program

First Edition: May 5, 2011

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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