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Administration unexpectedly expands bonus payments for Medicare advantage plans

In a surprising move, the Obama administration will extend special bonus payments meant to reward top-performing Medicare Advantage insurers to those that score only average ratings.

18 Nov 2010

States consider options for funding Medicaid

The Billings Gazette: Montana lawmakers questioned the state's top health official "about plans to hire a private company to manage part of Medicaid, asking why the administration hasn't had a more public discussion on the proposal." The Legislative Finance Committee also listened to "health care providers and former officials who experienced the state's 1995 foray into private management of Medicaid for the mentally ill — and how it became a disaster for its low-income patients and their providers."

18 Nov 2010

Hospice or hospital? Where you die depends on where you live

America's hospitals treat patients with life-ending cancers very differently in their final months, with some deploying chemotherapy and other life-prolonging efforts until the end and others directing most of their patients into hospice, a new study finds.

18 Nov 2010

Deficit panel recommends ways to curb Medicare, Medicaid costs

Kaiser Health News / McClatchy: "Offering the latest tough-love strategy to reduce the nation's debt, a panel of high-profile Republicans and Democrats is scheduled on Wednesday to recommend that Medicare beneficiaries pick up far more of their health care costs and the government substantially curb the amount both Medicare and Medicaid programs can grow in future years." The panel will present the findings of the debt reduction task force that was created by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

18 Nov 2010

New Medicare/Medicaid projects aimed at cheaper, better care

Promising fast action, the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is launching a series of initiatives aimed at improving medical care while reducing its cost.

18 Nov 2010

Popular Science names VisionCare's Implantable Miniature Telescope for AMD 'Best of What's New' 2010

VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc., a developer of advanced visual prosthetic devices, today announced the Implantable Miniature Telescope (by Dr. Isaac Lipshitz), designed to improve vision in patients with end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is named "Best of What's New" 2010 by Popular Science magazine.

17 Nov 2010

Survey on palliative care for patients with dementia

A new national survey conducted by researchers from Indiana University and the Regenstrief Institute has found that while palliative care may be available for those with dementia, there are significant barriers to providing or receiving services to relieve the pain, eating difficulties and other symptoms associated with dementia.

17 Nov 2010

TexanPlus HMO provides affordable access to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs

TexanPlus HMO powered by CCRx, a Medicare Advantage plan offered through the Universal American's family of healthcare companies, will provide broad and affordable access to LIPITOR and CRESTOR, two popular cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs.

17 Nov 2010

Dartmouth Atlas Project releases new report on cancer care

A new report released today from the Dartmouth Atlas Project showing that individuals in some areas of the country are far less likely to receive comfort care in accordance with their wishes has drawn the attention of the nation's hospice and palliative care community.

17 Nov 2010

One in seven Medicare patients harmed by problems in hospital, HHS report finds

The New York Times: "One of every seven Medicare beneficiaries who is hospitalized is harmed as a result of problems with the medical care there, according to a new study [.pdf] from the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services. The study said unexpected adverse events added at least $4.4 billion a year to government health costs and contributed to the deaths of about 180,000 patients a year."

17 Nov 2010

MedAssets acquires The Broadlane Group

MedAssets, Inc. today announced that it has completed its acquisition of The Broadlane Group. The combination of MedAssets and Broadlane creates the industry's leading, end-to-end financial improvement partner that has saved billions for its healthcare provider customers, including more than $2.8 billion in documented and guaranteed supply chain savings.

17 Nov 2010

Medicare roundup: Payment cuts irk healthcare industry; officials mull new prostate-cancer treatment

Doctors across the United States are taking a wait-and-see approach while Congress decides whether or not to allow a scheduled 23% cut in Medicare reimbursement rates to take effect on Dec. 1.

17 Nov 2010

Berwick to testify for the first time as Medicare/Medicaid chief

Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick will testify before a congressional committee Wednesday for the first time since President Barack Obama avoided the Senate confirmation process to Republican protest by using a recess appointment to install Berwick as the administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

17 Nov 2010

KHN column: Health care – tell us the truth before you tell us why you are right

We need more proposals like those being made by the President's deficit reduction commission, and the Medicare reform proposal authored by Republican House members Ryan, Cantor, and McCarthy. Irrespective of whether they are the best proposals, their authors started from a place where they told the truth.

16 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Congress needs conservative leadership; reviving tort reform; can states afford to drop Medicaid?

Nothing has gone quite so awry as the massive, government-run Obama health program, and it is plain that the individual mandate, the employee mandate, the abortion funding, the tangle of outsider/insider councils like the comparative effectiveness board and the effective nationalization of healthcare under grants of authority to the Department of Health and Human Services.

16 Nov 2010

Study confirms healthy lifestyle has the biggest impact on cardiovascular health

Two large studies from Northwestern Medicine confirm a healthy lifestyle has the biggest impact on cardiovascular health. One study shows the majority of people who adopted healthy lifestyle behaviors in young adulthood maintained a low cardiovascular risk profile in middle age.

16 Nov 2010

Employees will see changes in 2011 health benefits

"Workers who have received their annual enrollment packets for insurance benefits" should expect slight changes to their plans this year due to the health care overhaul. Most employees can expect to pay more next year, due in part to the 1 to 2 percent increase in insurance costs brought about by the law.

16 Nov 2010

Medicare open enrollment period starts today

Coming changes to Medicare will benefit some recipients but will make coverage more expensive for people with higher incomes. Thanks in part to this year's health care overhaul, everything from benefits and enrollment rules to the number of choices available will be affected beginning Jan. 1.

16 Nov 2010

CMS awards $230M task order contract to CSC

CSC announced today that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Clinical Standards and Quality awarded the company a task order to migrate key information technology systems to a new service-oriented architecture. The contract, which was awarded during CSC's fiscal 2011 second quarter, has a six-month base period and six one-year options, bringing the estimated 78-month contract value to $230 million.

16 Nov 2010

Men treated with hormone-based therapy for prostate cancer face higher risk of colorectal cancer: Study

Men treated with hormone-based therapy for prostate cancer faced a 30 percent to 40 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer, compared to patients who did not receive this treatment, according to a new study.

16 Nov 2010

Medicare News and Research

Administration unexpectedly expands bonus payments for Medicare advantage plans

States consider options for funding Medicaid

Hospice or hospital? Where you die depends on where you live

Deficit panel recommends ways to curb Medicare, Medicaid costs

New Medicare/Medicaid projects aimed at cheaper, better care

Popular Science names VisionCare's Implantable Miniature Telescope for AMD 'Best of What's New' 2010

Survey on palliative care for patients with dementia

TexanPlus HMO provides affordable access to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs

Dartmouth Atlas Project releases new report on cancer care

One in seven Medicare patients harmed by problems in hospital, HHS report finds

MedAssets acquires The Broadlane Group

Medicare roundup: Payment cuts irk healthcare industry; officials mull new prostate-cancer treatment

Berwick to testify for the first time as Medicare/Medicaid chief

KHN column: Health care – tell us the truth before you tell us why you are right

Today's Op-Eds: Congress needs conservative leadership; reviving tort reform; can states afford to drop Medicaid?

Study confirms healthy lifestyle has the biggest impact on cardiovascular health

Employees will see changes in 2011 health benefits

Medicare open enrollment period starts today

CMS awards $230M task order contract to CSC

Men treated with hormone-based therapy for prostate cancer face higher risk of colorectal cancer: Study

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