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California's largest insurers fined nearly $5 million

Los Angeles Times: "California's seven largest health plans were fined nearly $5 million in total Monday for failing to properly pay medical claims submitted by thousands of doctors and hospitals over the last three years. Insurance regulators said the companies also would pay 'tens of millions of dollars' in restitution to medical providers whose claims were underpaid or incorrectly rejected.

30 Nov 2010

Internists plead Congress to avert scheduled Medicare SGR cut

The American College of Physicians (ACP) today is sending a video to Congressional leaders and others that features internists - speaking in their own words (http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/video/sgr.htm) - issuing a heartfelt plea for Congress to avert the scheduled Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut and work toward putting an end to the repeated cycle of cuts. The 3-minute and 25-second video emphasizes how patients, in particular, will be hurt by the scheduled cuts.

30 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 30, 2010

Today's headlines include reports on congressional action on the Medicare doc 'pay fix' as well as results from a new poll related to how the public thinks Medicare should be addressed in the context of deficit reduction.

30 Nov 2010

CompPartners, Emerald Claims Management partner to provide intake and triage services to injured employees

CompPartners has partnered with Emerald Claims Management to provide intake and triage services to injured employees. The program expedites the delivery of medical services to claimants and reduces lost-time claims.

30 Nov 2010

Advanced Data Systems receives eHealthConnecticut REC Qualified Vendor status

Advanced Data Systems (ADS) has been designated an eHealthConnecticut REC Qualified Vendor. Qualified EHR Vendor status assures medical practices in CT that ADS and the MedicsDocAssistant EHR have met the REC's standards and criteria for inclusion in the eHealthConnecticut REC.

30 Nov 2010

Support elusive for debt panel as Wednesday deadline nears

The chairmen of a bipartisan panel appointed by President Barack Obama are altering an early draft of recommendations to reduce the nation's debt, in hopes of attracting broader support, The Wall Street Journal reports. Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican (former) Sen. Alan Simpson "need 14 of the 18 members of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to support their proposal in order to issue a formal recommendation, which could then be voted on by Congress before the end of the year.

30 Nov 2010

Medicare advantage enrollees will see more changes to plans

Medicare Advantage enrollees should make a habit of evaluating their options each year. Though experts say that beneficiaries won't be seeing a lot of changes this time and what changes there are will mostly be for the better it is a good idea for people to go through this annual drill before enrollment ends Dec. 31, just to make sure their plan choice remains a good one.

30 Nov 2010

Australia’s largest skin cancer study

More than 400,000 people will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer this year and the most deadly form of the disease, melanoma, will claim more than a thousand lives in Australia say researchers. Queensland has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world with fair-skinned people being most affected with the strong subtropical sun.

29 Nov 2010

ACO's raise hope but also questions

The Wall Street Journal: "Spurred by incentives in the federal health-overhaul law, hospitals and doctors around the country are beginning to create new entities that aim to provide more efficient health care," called ACO's. "But these efforts are already raising questions about whether they can truly save money, or if they might actually drive costs higher. In Arizona, Tucson Medical Center is forming a company that the hospital will own jointly with local physicians' practices.

29 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 29, 2010

Today's headlines include advance coverage of Congress' lame duck session, as well as news about strategies surrounding deficit-reduction efforts and how they might impact health care costs.

29 Nov 2010

Lame duck session to include votes on Medicare 'doc fix,' health law's 1099 tax provision

Lawmakers, after taking Thanksgiving week off, arrive in town Monday along with the Capitol Christmas tree for the final stretch of the postelection session. Facing a daunting agenda, they could have that tree in their sights well into Christmas week.

28 Nov 2010

Hospital errors in U.S. continue despite efforts: Study

A new study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) showed that all the efforts to make American hospitals error free and safe are inadequate.

25 Nov 2010

Public health: Frequency of dialysis treatment questioned, chemotherapy drug shortages

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests that receiving dialysis six days a week results in better self-reported patient health than the conventional treatment of three times per week.

25 Nov 2010

Today's OpEds: Medical students say don't repeal; 'Obamacare' waivers; The medical loss ratio; Medicare 'doc fix'

Here's the dilemma: The only way for the health-care industry to move toward accountable care is to further accelerate a process of consolidation that has already reduced competition and increased market power. … In such a market, government may be required to step in with more direct regulation and competition management than traditional antitrust rules now provide (Steven Pearlstein, 11/23).

24 Nov 2010

Headline-grabbing offers may not best meet needs of Medicare Part D plan enrollees

National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Executive Vice President and CEO Kathleen Jaeger issued the following statement today in response to the Avalere Health study analyzing how the formulary and cost-sharing benefits changes made by various Medicare Part D prescription drug plans affect seniors:

24 Nov 2010

Health spending proposals, health law repeal divide lawmakers

The Wall Street Journal reports that proposals for cuts in health spending by President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction commission are drawing opposition from health companies, doctors and some consumer groups. "How to tackle health costs has become a sticking point for the 18-member committee, which last week concluded three days of meetings without a firm agreement among members.

24 Nov 2010

Insuring your health: Retirees can find insuring young adult children difficult

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the key is whether the retiree health plan is made up only of retirees and their dependents or a mix of both active and retired employees and dependents.

23 Nov 2010

Feds recover $3 billion in health care fraud and other settlements

CNN: "Government lawyers have recovered a near-record $3 billion this year from health care fraud and other settlements, the Justice Department announced Monday." Assistant Attorney General Tony West said the funds included "a record $2.5 billion in recoveries from huge health care fraud cases against giant pharmaceutical firms. Only in 2006, when the federal government recovered $3.2 billion in total settlements, had recoveries previously hit the $3 billion mark" (Frieden, 11/22).

23 Nov 2010

Government orders three Medicare advantage plans to stop marketing, enrolling new members

The U.S. government's Medicare program has ordered three health insurers Universal American Corp. (UAM), Health Net Inc. (HNT) and Arcadian Health to stop marketing to and enrolling new members in their Medicare Advantage health and prescription-drug plans, saying the companies violated regulations.

23 Nov 2010

Health on The Hill - November 22, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writers Mary Agnes Carey and Julie Appleby talk with KFF's Jackie Judd about recent health policy developments, including the newly released Health and Human Services regulations dealing with the medical loss ratio and the status in Congress of the one-month patch to prevent physicians who see Medicare patients from having their payments reduced.

23 Nov 2010