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HHS launches Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program

The Department of Health and Human Services today launched a new initiative which will reward hospitals for the quality of care they provide to people with Medicare and help reduce health care costs.

30 Apr 2011

HMS first quarter revenue increases 27% to $82.5 million

HMS Holdings Corp. Reports Record First Quarter 2011 Results

30 Apr 2011

Reimbursement policy influences choice of IMRT for treating breast cancer

What Medicare would pay for and where a radiation oncologist practiced were two factors that strongly influenced the choice of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for treating breast cancer, according to an article published April 29 online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The use of IMRT and the cost of radiation therapy increased sharply over the period of the study.

29 Apr 2011

LifePoint Hospitals first quarter revenues increase 13.0% to $888.6 million

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

29 Apr 2011

Amerigroup first quarter total revenues increase 12.3% to $1.54 billion

Amerigroup Corporation today announced that net income for the first quarter of 2011 was $70.5 million, or $1.37 per diluted share, versus net income of $42.2 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2010. Total revenues for the first quarter of 2011 increased 12.3% to $1.54 billion compared with $1.37 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Sequentially, total revenues increased 2.5% from the fourth quarter of 2010.

29 Apr 2011

ACS BSCN accredits Christiana Care's Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence as Level 1 facility

Christiana Care Health System's Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence has been accredited as a Level 1 facility by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

29 Apr 2011

Public opinion polls uncover differing views on plans for Medicare's future

NPR reports that the answer to how the public is reacting to plans to transform the Medicare program depends on precisely how the question is posed. Meanwhile, different polls are finding varying impressions among Americans. A Gallup poll released Wednesday found the public evenly divided over how to handle the budget, but a Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll found that seniors seem to prefer Medicare as it is.

29 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 29, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about how independent groups and activists are taking positions on the Ryan plan for the budget and Medicare.

29 Apr 2011

Dems sharpen focus on Medicare; Reid to hold vote on Ryan budget

Democrats are going on the offensive and using the controversial Republican plan to overhaul Medicare to seize the political moment.

29 Apr 2011

Flu vaccination lowers kidney transplant recipients' risk of organ loss and death

Getting vaccinated against the flu lowers kidney transplant recipients' risk of organ loss and death, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

29 Apr 2011

Takeda, Affymax announce additional peginesatide Phase 3 study results in dialysis patients

Affymax, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, today announced results of additional analyses from two Phase 3 studies of the investigational agent, peginesatide in chronic renal failure patients on dialysis with anemia.

29 Apr 2011

Longer looks: Autism researcher's legacy; methadone for prisoners

Andrew Wakefield has become one of the most reviled doctors of his generation, blamed directly and indirectly, depending on the accuser, for irresponsibly starting a panic with tragic repercussions: vaccination rates so low that childhood diseases once all but eradicated here —whooping cough and measles, among them — have re-emerged, endangering young lives. And yet here he was in Texas, post-career-apocalypse, calmly discussing his work, and a crowd of around 250 people showed up to listen.

29 Apr 2011

HealthSpring reports net income of $44.2 million for first quarter 2011

HealthSpring, Inc. today announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, which include the results of Bravo Health, Inc., acquired by the Company in November 2010.

29 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Taking the deficit seriously; despite low numbers, high-risk pools are succeeding

The deficit debate, now fully engaged, is also an evaluation of political seriousness. House Republican leaders have passed the test, supporting a politically risky budget that changes Medicare into a premium-support program and eventually returns federal spending to sustainable levels.

28 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 28, 2011

Today's headlines feature reports about the varying public responses to plans for the budget and Medicare as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's intent to bring the House-passed Ryan budget up for a vote.

28 Apr 2011

Invacare first quarter earnings per share increases 156% to $0.23

Invacare Corporation today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2011.

28 Apr 2011

Aetna first quarter operating earnings is $560.2 million for 2011

Aetna today announced first-quarter 2011 operating earnings of $560.2 million, or $1.43 per share, a per share increase of 46 percent over 2010.

28 Apr 2011

GOP Medicare plan may put 'elderly vote in play'

Political push back surrounding the Paul Ryan budget plan continues to feed the Democrats' view that they may have a 2012 opportunity with older voters. For instance, at home in their districts this week some Republicans are facing voter anger. And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says he is "not wedded" to the Ryan approach to reduce Medicare spending by transforming the program.

28 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare options and politics; high costs of care; health disparities

The Democratic Party is urging Americans to choose Medicare as we've always known it rather than a new plan by Rep. Paul Ryan that would enroll seniors in private health insurance beginning in 2022.

28 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 27, 2011

In today's headlines, political push-back continues regarding the Paul Ryan budget plan and the Supreme Court seems skeptical that prescription drug data laws don't violate free speech.

27 Apr 2011