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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.

Democrats will likely push again for Ground Zero health assistance

Democrats are likely to again push to give billions in health coverage assistance to Ground Zero workers when they return from their recess, Roll Call reports. "A Democratic leadership aide said Tuesday that the bill likely would get the green light for floor action shortly after the House returns Sept. 14 in conjunction with events planned to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

3 Sep 2010

Pawlenty instructs Minnesota agencies to snub health law's discretionary funds

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, issued an executive order Tuesday instructing state agencies to reject discretionary federal funds that stem from the health overhaul, The Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Sep 2010

Medicare smoking prevention program could lower costs

A Medicare program that has agreed to pay for counseling for seniors who smoke but are not yet sick could help the program, and America's health system, lower costs.

2 Sep 2010

Health Reform Politics: Florida Court on ballot question; Repeal campaign touted by Conservatives; Nebraska flap

The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that targeted the new federal-health reform law, ruling that state lawmakers included misleading wording that could not be fixed.

2 Sep 2010

Models show complex changes in payment system, revenue for hospitals in Medicare

Modern Healthcare: Health reform has left "industry executives scrambling to project what will happen to revenue and expenses in the coming decade." Some are using models to guess what will happen when payments change for Medicare and Medicaid. "The models, released or under development by trade groups, including the American Hospital Association, Greater New York Hospital Association, and Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, don't produce reliable projections, but rather a best guess — or many guesses

2 Sep 2010

Indiana reports fewer preventable medical errors; Kansas struggles to meet oral health needs

The Indianapolis Star: "Indiana's hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers reported a decrease in preventable medical errors last year -- including a 33 percent drop in the number of bed sores. Overall, 306 facilities reported 94 preventable medical errors in 2009, according to a report released Monday by the Indiana State Department of Health. That's down from 105 errors reported each year in 2008 and 2007. The 22 pressure ulcers, also called bed sores, reported for 2009 were the fewest since the state's medical-error reporting system began four years ago" (Lee, 8/31).

2 Sep 2010

CDC launches new online video to provide information on Assisted Reproductive Technology

Reproductive health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have launched three new online videos to provide science-based information for anyone considering Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

2 Sep 2010

Federal domestic spending increased a record 16%

The Census Bureau reported Thursday that federal "domestic spending increased a record 16 percent, to $3.2 trillion, in 2009 … largely because of a boost in aid to the unemployed and the huge economic stimulus package enacted to rescue the sinking economy," The Washington Post reports.

1 Sep 2010

First Edition: August 31, 2010

"These days, you may leave your dentist's office with more than a toothbrush and dental floss in your bag. Thousands of dentists are offering patients health-care credit cards to cover the work that needs to be done, with seemingly hard-to-resist repayment terms. If you need care and don't have insurance to cover it or cash in hand, it's tempting to sign up" (Kaiser Health News).

31 Aug 2010

Detroit Medical Center's system-wide EMR helps save over $5 million in costs

The Detroit Medical Center (DMC) achieved significant improvements in patient safety and quality of care, while also saving more than $5 million in costs last year, thanks to efficiencies created by its system-wide Electronic Medical Record (EMR). This system manages nearly all of the DMC's patient health information via new computer-based technology.

31 Aug 2010

Liberal health reform group pushing hard to save lawmakers, Berwick won't disclose donors

Politico: The liberal health group Health Care for America Now is "fighting hard to help reelect lawmakers who voted for the [health reform] bill — even if it means not talking about it. … HCAN activists say they are not dodging their key issue; rather, they want to keep pace with voter concerns, which have markedly shifted over the past year.

31 Aug 2010

Medicare beneficiaries receive prescription drug cost relief under Affordable Care Act

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have received prescription drug cost relief through the Affordable Care Act.

31 Aug 2010

Many public hospitals face increasingly pressures; Nonprofit hospitals face uncertain futures

The Wall Street Journal: "Faced with mounting debt and looming costs from the new federal health-care law, many local governments are leaving the hospital business, shedding public facilities that can be the caregiver of last resort. … More than a fifth of the nation's 5,000 hospitals are owned by governments and many are drowning in debt caused by rising health-care costs, a spike in uninsured patients, cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and payments on construction bonds sold in fatter times.

30 Aug 2010

Record number taking anti-poverty programs, COBRA coverage alternatives examined

One in six Americans is now taking advantage of government anti-poverty programs, including more than 50 million on Medicaid, for which enrollment is up 17 percent since the recession began in December 2007, USA Today reports. "The program has grown even before the new health care law adds about 16 million people, beginning in 2014. That has strained doctors. … As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so have costs. The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion.

30 Aug 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: The costs of public employees' health benefits, more on Medicare Advantage, and will reform undermine medical innovation?

We want to spend just a little less, so that we have more money for other purposes. And we want to spend just a little differently, so that we're getting a higher quality, more humane health care system (Jonathan Cohn, 8/30).

30 Aug 2010

Health IT: New Medicaid rules, a race for meaningful use, fraud prevention

Instructions for state Medicaid directors to distribute some of the funding for electronic medical records through their programs beginning next year have been circulated by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, American Medical News reports. "The incentive program stipulates that the federal government will pay the full cost of Medicaid bonuses to eligible physicians who adopt certified EMR technology in a way that meets the government's 'meaningful use' criteria.

30 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 30, 2010

Today's headlines include reports about the market challenges public hospitals are facing as well as the record number of Americans now receiving government assistance such as Medicaid.

30 Aug 2010

Independent drugstore lobby demands more 'transparency' for PBMs in pharmacy supply chain

"Despite recent press revelations of its 'top secret' lobbying campaign to maintain the confidentiality of its own Medicaid pricing information, the independent drugstore lobby continues to demand more 'transparency' for others in the pharmacy supply chain, most notably PBMs.

30 Aug 2010

US Oncology engages Milliman to develop physician-payer risk contracting model

Innovent Oncology, a subsidiary of US Oncology, has engaged Milliman, a premier global, actuarial and consulting firm, to help develop models in which physician-led oncology organizations can contract around risk, with the intent of negotiating with payers in the first half of 2011.

30 Aug 2010

ACOs to offer better coordinate care for patients

HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that provider groups in California, including physician groups, independent practice associations, hospitals and medical foundations, are beginning to shape their role in the anticipated shift towards accountable care organizations (ACO).

30 Aug 2010

Medicaid News and Research

Democrats will likely push again for Ground Zero health assistance

Pawlenty instructs Minnesota agencies to snub health law's discretionary funds

Medicare smoking prevention program could lower costs

Health Reform Politics: Florida Court on ballot question; Repeal campaign touted by Conservatives; Nebraska flap

Models show complex changes in payment system, revenue for hospitals in Medicare

Indiana reports fewer preventable medical errors; Kansas struggles to meet oral health needs

CDC launches new online video to provide information on Assisted Reproductive Technology

Federal domestic spending increased a record 16%

First Edition: August 31, 2010

Detroit Medical Center's system-wide EMR helps save over $5 million in costs

Liberal health reform group pushing hard to save lawmakers, Berwick won't disclose donors

Medicare beneficiaries receive prescription drug cost relief under Affordable Care Act

Many public hospitals face increasingly pressures; Nonprofit hospitals face uncertain futures

Record number taking anti-poverty programs, COBRA coverage alternatives examined

Today's Opinions and Editorials: The costs of public employees' health benefits, more on Medicare Advantage, and will reform undermine medical innovation?

Health IT: New Medicaid rules, a race for meaningful use, fraud prevention

First Edition: August 30, 2010

Independent drugstore lobby demands more 'transparency' for PBMs in pharmacy supply chain

US Oncology engages Milliman to develop physician-payer risk contracting model

ACOs to offer better coordinate care for patients

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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