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Intentional foreign body ingestion results in over $2 million hospital costs: Study

A new study from Rhode Island Hospital found that 33 individuals were responsible for 305 cases of medical intervention to remove foreign bodies that were intentionally swallowed, resulting in more than $2 million in estimated hospital costs. The findings appear in the November issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

1 Nov 2010

HDMG and Heritage Health Care host over 4000 seniors at 20th anniversary of Health Expo

Dr. Richard Merkin, High Desert Medical Group and Heritage Health Care hosted over four thousand seniors at their 20th anniversary annual Senior Expo at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. Seniors lined up prior to the 9:00 am start, eager to see celebrity Debbie Reynolds perform and get free health screenings and testing including bone density, cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, body fat, dental and vision screenings and of course, seasonal flu shots.

30 Oct 2010

Rite Aid to host flu shot clinics at nationwide pharmacies

With the holidays getting closer, Rite Aid is reminding people to get a flu shot so that the only thing they are spreading this season is good cheer. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can take up to two weeks for flu shots to be effective and protect against the flu; those who get their flu shot now can help protect themselves by the time they sit down for Thanksgiving dinner.

30 Oct 2010

Premier Purchasing awards new agreements for bandages, dressings and gauze

Premier Purchasing Partners, LP, today announced new agreements for bandages, dressings and gauze have been awarded to AMD-Ritmed Inc. of Tonawanda, N.Y. a small business enterprise; Medi-Tech International Corp. of Brooklyn, N.Y., a small and women business enterprise; Tetra Medical Supply Corp. of Niles, Ill., a women business enterprise; Tyco Healthcare Group, LP of Mansfield, Mass.; and Tytex, Inc. of Lincoln, R.I.

30 Oct 2010

Linda Vista receives Culture Change Initiative grant from Oregon's DHS

Prestige Care, a provider of quality senior care, is pleased to announce that its Linda Vista Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Ashland, Ore. recently earned a Culture Change Initiative grant from Oregon's Department of Human Services (DHS).

30 Oct 2010

Third summit on health care fraud prevention commences on 5th November

On Friday, November 5, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder will kick-off the third in a series of day-long summits bringing together a wide-array of federal, state, and local partners, beneficiaries, providers, and other interested parties to discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system.

30 Oct 2010

Research Roundup: Primary care doc pay and satisfaction; fixes to Medicare reimbursements; free vaccines?

A critical element of improving population health in underserved areas is the adequacy and distribution of the primary care physician supply, write the authors of this study, who interviewed 42 primary care physicians from both underserved and non-underserved areas in Los Angeles County, California.

30 Oct 2010

Races tighten over health overhaul issues as clock ticks down to midterm elections

Races around the nation are being scrutinized for what the outcomes might mean for the health overhaul after next week's midterm elections.

30 Oct 2010

Health reform implementation: Insurance options, states and exchanges, ACOs

Provisions of the health law that have already been implemented will change next year's insurance offerings -- so employees should pay attention to their options during open season, U.S. News & World Report writes. "You may be able to take advantage of some benefits that kicked in over the past few months under the new health reform law.

30 Oct 2010

Providers brace for health overhaul, seek to improve quality

The (Torrance, Calif.) Daily Breeze: "With health care reform on the way -- bringing with it scores of new Medi-Cal patients -- community clinics that treat mostly low-income and uninsured patients are looking at ways to transform into primary care medical hubs. South Bay Family Health Care, based in Redondo Beach, will get help doing that from Los Angeles County's only public health insurance plan, L.A. Care. The nonprofit health plan has hired a consulting firm to help 11 clinics improve their treatment model over the next two years" (Evans, 10/28).

30 Oct 2010

HHS approves hundreds more local Gov'ts, businesses, unions for early retiree health program

The federal Department of Health and Human Services is still accepting applications for the $5 billion program to help cover the cost of retiree health care, the National Journal reports. The agency says 700 more employers have joined the program, raising the total to 3,600.

30 Oct 2010

Medicare pilots deliver mixed savings results

The Fiscal Times explores whether the Medicare pilot programs in the new health law will end up saving money.

30 Oct 2010

State Watch: R.I. group experiments with payment reform; Ariz. dispute over abortion; Vt. and Feds to end monitoring of caregivers

The Providence (R.I.) Journal: "The Lifespan hospital group and Blue Cross have reached an agreement intended to gradually overturn the way hospital care is financed, with the goal of promoting health, rather than episodes of treatment. The agreement is the first to meet unique-in-the-nation rules from state Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller, who has identified hospital costs as the main reason for increases in health-insurance premiums.

30 Oct 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Competition among insurers; health reform and hospital cuts; Medicare reimbursement crisis

The effect of the regulation will be to drive many small insurers from the market and thus to reduce competition for health insurance. The question is whether a reduction in the number of insurers in a given market area invariably is to the disadvantage of the insured. On this point one's memories of Econ 101 can be quite misleading.

30 Oct 2010

LifePoint Hospitals third quarter revenues increase 11.7% to $832.3 million

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2010.

29 Oct 2010

Amerigroup third quarter net income increases from $22.5 million to $84.3 million

Amerigroup Corporation today announced that net income for the third quarter of 2010 was $84.3 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, versus net income of $22.5 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009 and compared to $67.2 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010.

29 Oct 2010

Good report cards mean more money for nursing homes

Nursing homes that improve their quality of care - and thereby score high on public report cards - might see financial gains.

29 Oct 2010

Public health care supporters call for investigation of Copeman Healthcare Centre

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq's recent announcement of her department's investigation into the controversial Sentinelle Health Group in Ottawa has prompted public health care supporters in BC and Alberta to call for a similar review of the Copeman Healthcare Centre.

29 Oct 2010

Health plan costs may cause members to delay care, put families in financial jeopardy

Three million Californians are enrolled in high-deductible health plans, insurance policies that offer consumers a lower monthly premium in return for higher out-of-pocket spending for health care services, according to a new report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

29 Oct 2010

Inadequate payments prompt insurance companies to raise premiums, avoid low-income market

Millions of Medicare recipients have been forcibly reassigned to different prescription drug plans because Part D reimbursements to insurance companies covering low-income patients are lower than the actual costs incurred, according to a study released online today by Health Affairs. The report describes how a system designed to encourage competition and to subsidize care for low-income Medicare patients instead has led companies to raise their premiums in an effort to price themselves out of the low-income segment of the Part D market.

29 Oct 2010

Medicare News and Research

Intentional foreign body ingestion results in over $2 million hospital costs: Study

HDMG and Heritage Health Care host over 4000 seniors at 20th anniversary of Health Expo

Rite Aid to host flu shot clinics at nationwide pharmacies

Premier Purchasing awards new agreements for bandages, dressings and gauze

Linda Vista receives Culture Change Initiative grant from Oregon's DHS

Third summit on health care fraud prevention commences on 5th November

Research Roundup: Primary care doc pay and satisfaction; fixes to Medicare reimbursements; free vaccines?

Races tighten over health overhaul issues as clock ticks down to midterm elections

Health reform implementation: Insurance options, states and exchanges, ACOs

Providers brace for health overhaul, seek to improve quality

HHS approves hundreds more local Gov'ts, businesses, unions for early retiree health program

Medicare pilots deliver mixed savings results

State Watch: R.I. group experiments with payment reform; Ariz. dispute over abortion; Vt. and Feds to end monitoring of caregivers

Today's Op-Eds: Competition among insurers; health reform and hospital cuts; Medicare reimbursement crisis

LifePoint Hospitals third quarter revenues increase 11.7% to $832.3 million

Amerigroup third quarter net income increases from $22.5 million to $84.3 million

Good report cards mean more money for nursing homes

Public health care supporters call for investigation of Copeman Healthcare Centre

Health plan costs may cause members to delay care, put families in financial jeopardy

Inadequate payments prompt insurance companies to raise premiums, avoid low-income market

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