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First Edition: April 12, 2011

Today's headlines include details of what made up the short-term budget deal's $38 billion in cuts and how President Obama's longer term budget vision may take shape.

12 Apr 2011

CMS, AAPC partner to conduct 'Code-A-Thon' webinar for health care providers

AAPC is collaborating with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to plan and conduct an AAPC-sponsored ICD-10 "Code-A-Thon" webinar on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

12 Apr 2011

Teva presents new CNS products study data in RRMS, Parkinson's at AAN meeting

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced that several new studies further support the efficacy and safety of the company's innovative central nervous system products.

12 Apr 2011

Next up: New round of budget battles; Medicare, Medicaid spending debates

Democrats and Republicans are bracing for the next round of confrontations over federal spending, which will include issues involving the future of entitlement programs as well as the debt ceiling.

12 Apr 2011

Medicaid news: Govs split on block grants; Kansas begins 'makeover'

Even as states try to move forward with a Medicaid makeovers, transforming this state-federal program into a block grant comes with complications.

12 Apr 2011

Positive results from laquinimod Phase III ALLEGRO study in multiple sclerosis to be presented at AAN

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech announced today results from the two-year Phase III ALLEGRO study of laquinimod, an oral, once-daily, investigational immunomodulator for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). These data will be presented as late-breaking research at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

12 Apr 2011

The politics of health reform: Picking the strategies

In the political fight surrounding the health law, The Washington Post reports that "individual stories" have emerged as a weapon of choice for Democrats and supporters of the measure.

12 Apr 2011

Study identifies Top 10 Cities for Emergency Medicine based on overall mortality rate

A study released today by HealthGrades, the nation's leading, independent source of physician information and hospital quality ratings, found large differences in the risk adjusted mortality rates for patients admitted through the Emergency Department, both by hospital and by market area.

12 Apr 2011

Short-term budget deal details take shape

As the dust settles from last-minute budget negotiations to avert a government shutdown, specific outlines of the final agreement are taking shape -- including how proposals fared for spending cuts to health law programs as well as to Planned Parenthood, and other controversial measures.

12 Apr 2011

Obama's new vision for deficit reduction

In a Wednesday speech, President Barack Obama will outline a new approach to the nation's budget deficit, including proposals to address spending on Medicare and Medicaid.

12 Apr 2011

MediCare International introduces new policy buying website

MediCare International has today announced the launch of online buying as a central part of their newly designed website. Clients can log on, select a policy level suitable for their circumstances, generate a quote and then proceed to full online purchase of the policy, all in around 2 minutes at any time of the day, wherever they are in the world.

11 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 11, 2011

In today's headlines, as details emerge regarding the last-minute budget deal for current-year spending, President Barak Obama is poised to lay out a new long-term budget vision which will include everything from Medicare and Medicaid to tax hikes for the wealthy.

11 Apr 2011

ACP's paper provides brief updates on changes to Medicaid program

A reformed Medicaid program must put coordinated primary care at the forefront of its efforts, the American College of Physicians said in a new position paper released today at Internal Medicine 2011, ACP's annual scientific meeting.

11 Apr 2011

New survey to understand patterns of disability and aging in older Americans

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have been selected to lead a new national survey of older Americans to understand patterns of disability and aging.

11 Apr 2011

Obama adviser Plouffe, Rep. Ryan dispute Medicare, Medicaid reform

The Sunday talk shows brought out fundamental differences on what to do about entitlement programs.

11 Apr 2011

Government shutdown does not impact Medicare coverage to seniors

Medicare coverage will not be affected by the possible government shutdown that would begin at midnight tonight. Medicare is an essential service that does not need a congressional vote to function.

11 Apr 2011

Medicare doctor payments sometimes pit specialties against each other

One of the biggest disputes in the Relative Value Scale Update Committee came in 2005, when members clashed over primary-care groups' push for increases in the payments for doctor office visits, which are among the most commonly-billed Medicare services.

8 Apr 2011

Ryan's plan to reshape Medicare triggers cost, political concerns

News outlets report on how the plan to privatize Medicare may actually increase costs and how the GOP plan could turn out to be a "front-burner" issue during the presidential primary.

8 Apr 2011

NHIC to cover PTNS using Uroplasty's Urgent PC Neuromodulation System for overactive bladder

Uroplasty, Inc. announced that NHIC Corp., the Medicare carrier for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, will cover posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) using Uroplasty's Urgent® PC Neuromodulation System for the treatment of overactive bladder and associated symptoms, effective May 22, 2011.

8 Apr 2011

Research Roundup: The cost of medical errors; 'Unreasonable rate increases'

Health Affairs: The $17.1 Billion Problem: The Annual Cost Of Measurable Medical Errors - "The estimated total cost of measurable medical errors in the United States was $17.1 billion in 2008, which was 0.72 percent of the $2.391 trillion spent on health care," write the authors of this study that used an "an actuarial approach to measure the frequency and costs of measurable U.S. medical errors, identified through medical claims data."

8 Apr 2011