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Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states.

State roundup: Facing budget 'cliff'; Medicaid woes; Arizona transplant program; Another Florida health vote?

U.S. states are preparing for more budget cuts next year as tax revenue isn't likely to rebound enough to replace almost $38 billion in aid that will be gone as federal economic stimulus ends, according to a report. At least 31 states and Puerto Rico are forecasting deficits of $82.1 billion in the next fiscal year even as tax receipts are picking up, the National Conference of State Legislatures said today.

10 Dec 2010

Talecris initiates clinical trial to evaluate 2 doses of PROLASTIN-C for emphysema due to AAT deficiency

Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced today the initiation of a clinical trial evaluating the safety and the pharmacokinetic profile of two doses of PROLASTIN®-C (Alpha(1)-Proteinase Inhibitor [Human]) (A1PI), a therapy indicated for chronic augmentation and maintenance in adults with emphysema due to alpha(1)-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. AAT deficiency is a rare, genetic disorder in which low levels of the alpha(1) protein circulating in the lungs can increase an individual's risk of developing emphysema.

10 Dec 2010

Southwest Washington Health System announces formal affiliation agreement with PeaceHealth

Southwest Washington Health System and PeaceHealth today announced a formal affiliation between the two organizations. As part of the agreement, Southwest's two hospital campuses, clinics, foundation, medical group, and other programs will join the PeaceHealth system of hospitals and health services, effective January 1, 2011, pending final regulatory approvals.

10 Dec 2010

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

In this Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll write: "By some accounts, the Republican takeover of the House is a game changer for health reform. Already, it has reinvigorated debate over the law, and the media have focused on what federal legislators can or will do to alter it. But more attention should be directed elsewhere. The future trajectory of health reform will be shaped far more by interest group agendas and state-level actions than by the new House leadership's stated plans. Not only has the game changed, but so have the most important players" (12/9).

9 Dec 2010

Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center symposium aims for high-value health care system in the US

In a sustained effort to seek consensus-driven, patient-centered priorities that would build a high-value health care system, the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center hosted a symposium Dec. 5-7 entitled "Achieving the Vision: Advancing High-Value Health Care," which featured patients, providers, payers and national policy experts.

9 Dec 2010

Teva, Active Biotech report positive initial results from laquinimod Phase III study in multiple sclerosis

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech announced today initial results from the two-year Phase III ALLEGRO study, which demonstrated that relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with 0.6 mg daily oral laquinimod experienced a statistically significant reduction in annualized relapse rate compared to placebo. Additional clinical endpoints, including significant reduction in disability progression, as measured by Expanded Disability Severity Scale (EDSS), were also achieved.

9 Dec 2010

Urgent reform of Medicaid-financed community care for ADHD children needed

The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 expands Medicare benefits to scores of previously uninsured individuals including many of our nation's children. While access to treatment is laudable, the quality of such treatment is the subject of an article in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

9 Dec 2010

Arizona State Dem. lawmakers push for restoring Medicaid transplant money

The Fiscal Times: "Organ transplants are considered optional by the federal government. And in today's economic climate, 'optional' means endangered. In Arizona, the expenses for transplants are generally covered by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), or 'Access,' as the state's version of Medicaid is known. But since cash-strapped Arizona is having trouble covering its mandated medical costs—never mind anything else—[some] transplants, among other things, are on the chopping block" (Mackey, 12/7).

9 Dec 2010

Texas leaders cut spending for Medicaid, Wyo. begins to set up state exchange

"State leaders, trying to dig out of a hole in the current two-year budget before the next one has to be whacked, ordered agencies Tuesday to further curb spending. Agency chiefs were told in a letter that they must reduce expenditures by 2.5% in the remaining nine months of the fiscal year. Managers of the state Medicaid program immediately announced they would cut another 1% from the fees paid to doctors, dentists and hospitals, along with 2% in payments to nursing homes and home health care providers. The decreases take effect Feb. 1, and they come on top of 1% cuts that kicked in just before Labor Day" (Garrett, 12/8).

9 Dec 2010

Personalized medicine advocates push for better reimbursement system

The U.S. reimbursement for diagnostic tests is outdated and inhibits the development of more personalized tests for patients, according to a report released Tuesday by the Personalized Medicine Coalition.

9 Dec 2010

AJPH publishes study on importance of preventive dental treatment for pregnant women

Aetna today announced that the study, An Examination of Periodontal Treatment, Dental Care and Pregnancy Outcomes in an Insured Population, has been published online by the American Journal of Public Health.

9 Dec 2010

Three drug companies to pay $421 million in fraud settlement

Los Angeles Times: Three pharmaceutical firms — Roxane, Abbott Laboratories and B. Braun Medical — "agreed to pay more than $421 million to settle claims of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid — the latest in a string of large healthcare fraud settlements announced by the Justice Department. The drug companies charged one set of prices to doctors and pharmacies but reported another set of inflated figures that were used as benchmarks by government insurers reimbursing healthcare providers, authorities said" (Zajac, 12/8).

9 Dec 2010

Neurologist wins trial for defamation against Utah Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

The worst abuses in government health programs may be by officials who press false charges. Threatening criminal prosecution to try to get a physician to pay monies amounts to "extortion," admitted one prosecutor in sworn testimony published in the winter 2010 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (http://www.jpands.org/vol15no4/becker.pdf).

8 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 8, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include more detail on the deal reached to avoid a scheduled cut in physician's Medicare pay.

8 Dec 2010

Almost Family enters new 5-year $125 million revolving credit facility

Almost Family, Inc., a leading regional provider of home health nursing services, announced today it has entered into a new five-year $125 million revolving credit facility that increases its financial flexibility through 2015 (the Facility). J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as sole bookrunner and sole lead arranger, while Bank of America, N.A. acted as syndication agent under the Facility which replaced the Company's previous $75 million credit facility.

8 Dec 2010

New Health Affairs study reexamines cost issues related to care in McAllen and El Paso

"Did McAllen get a bum rap? McAllen, Texas, spends more on Medicare patients than almost any other part of the country. A June 2009 New Yorker article by Atul Gawande attributed the high spending to a culture of doctors that 'came to treat patients the way sub-prime mortgage lenders treated home buyers: as profit centers.' The article became required reading in the White House and Congress during the health care debate and turned McAllen into shorthand for America's decadent medical spending problem."

8 Dec 2010

N.Y. charges 33 with selling prescriptions to dealers

The Associated Press: Thirty-three people have been charged in Buffalo, N.Y., "in a large-scale investigation that has opened a window into an emerging class of suppliers in the illicit drug trade: medical patients, including many who rely on the publicly funded Medicaid program to pay for their appointments and prescriptions" who sell their prescription drugs.

8 Dec 2010

Conn. addresses insurance rates, Mass. physician groups evaluate controversial payment plan

"House and Senate leaders are eyeing passage of a second midyear spending bill before the start of the next legislative session to address more caseload-driven accounts that are running short on funds five months after Gov. Deval Patrick signed the fiscal 2011 budget. The deficiencies, which follow inaccurate enrollment estimates for MassHealth and other social service programs, threaten to eat into some the revenue surpluses the state has amassed over the first half of fiscal 2011, when tax receipts have exceeded projections" (Murphy, 12/7).

8 Dec 2010

Texas health officials confronting Medicaid costs

"The biggest culprit in Texas' growing debate over escalating Medicaid costs" is "[a] mathematical formula that calculates how much the federal government pays and what's left over for the state," Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The Texas Tribune, reports. "Already facing a record budget shortfall, Texas' Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) will drop more than 2 percentage points in late 2011, equivalent to a $1.2 billion hit."

8 Dec 2010

Some in health industry raising concerns about Accountable Care Organizations

CQ HealthBeat: "The medical device industry told the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it's concerned about whether accountable care organizations could give providers financial incentives to hold back on needed patient care, particularly on technology. Meanwhile, insurance plan executives warned CMS officials that the ACOs could give hospitals and doctors new bargaining leverage in negotiations with insurers.

8 Dec 2010

Medicaid News and Research

State roundup: Facing budget 'cliff'; Medicaid woes; Arizona transplant program; Another Florida health vote?

Talecris initiates clinical trial to evaluate 2 doses of PROLASTIN-C for emphysema due to AAT deficiency

Southwest Washington Health System announces formal affiliation agreement with PeaceHealth

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center symposium aims for high-value health care system in the US

Teva, Active Biotech report positive initial results from laquinimod Phase III study in multiple sclerosis

Urgent reform of Medicaid-financed community care for ADHD children needed

Arizona State Dem. lawmakers push for restoring Medicaid transplant money

Texas leaders cut spending for Medicaid, Wyo. begins to set up state exchange

Personalized medicine advocates push for better reimbursement system

AJPH publishes study on importance of preventive dental treatment for pregnant women

Three drug companies to pay $421 million in fraud settlement

Neurologist wins trial for defamation against Utah Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

First Edition: December 8, 2010

Almost Family enters new 5-year $125 million revolving credit facility

New Health Affairs study reexamines cost issues related to care in McAllen and El Paso

N.Y. charges 33 with selling prescriptions to dealers

Conn. addresses insurance rates, Mass. physician groups evaluate controversial payment plan

Texas health officials confronting Medicaid costs

Some in health industry raising concerns about Accountable Care Organizations

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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