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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.

Politics surround Berwick, no hearings scheduled for CMS nominee

"Hospital executives who have worked with Dr. Berwick describe him as a visionary, inspiring leader. But a battle has erupted over his nomination, suggesting that Dr. Berwick faces a long uphill struggle to win Senate confirmation. Republicans are using the nomination to revive their arguments against the new health care law, which they see as a potent issue in this fall's elections, and Dr. Berwick has given them plenty of ammunition. In two decades as a professor of health policy and as a prolific writer, he has spoken of the need to ration health care and cap spending and has confessed to a love affair with the British health care system."

23 Jun 2010

Certification rule opens door for health IT vendors, but other regs lag

A final regulation for a temporary program to certify organizations to sell health IT systems will be published Thursday in the Federal Register, NextGov reports. "Certification is important because it gives health care providers the confidence that products will function properly, meet meaningful use criteria and improve quality of care, the article states.

23 Jun 2010

Medicare physician payment cuts could cost millions more in reprocessing

Politico reports that the fight over a "doc fix" — fixing the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors — is "straining not just doctors but also House-Senate relations" and could cost taxpayers millions of dollars. "Having waited for weeks in hopes of a stay, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, is now enforcing a 21 percent cut in physician payments, and an estimated 50 million claims, held back since June 1, will be the first affected."

23 Jun 2010

Senate Dems explore phase-out of Medicaid enhanced funding

Congressional Quarterly: Senate Democrats are negotiating with "a pair of pivotal Republicans" a slimmed-down version of the tax bill that they were unable to clear last week. "The most significant change being discussed would shrink the cost of a $24.2 billion provision that extends extra federal Medicaid funds to struggling states."

23 Jun 2010

Health reform includes changes to denied claims, health savings accounts

News outlets examine some changes to the health care system that health reform will bring, including help for those with denied insurance claims and health savings account modifications.

23 Jun 2010

States worry about Medicaid funding caught in Congressional impasse

Washington Examiner: "Lawmakers in Virginia and Maryland are bracing for a congressional impasse over millions of dollars in health care funding that threatens to thrust both states into the red. The Medicaid funding is set to expire in January, and a measure to extend it is stalled in the Senate over concerns about the ballooning federal deficit.

22 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 22, 2010

In this Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "High-deductible health plans and the health savings accounts (HSAs) that link to them are becoming a familiar fixture on the insurance landscape, even though they get mixed reviews from many consumers and health-policy experts" (Kaiser Health News).

22 Jun 2010

Gardner Family Health Network to deploy NextGen Ambulatory EHR, Practice Management, QSI Dental System

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced an agreement with Gardner Family Health Network to deploy NextGen® Ambulatory EHR and NextGen® Practice Management, as well as the QSI Dental System. Gardner is the 42nd health center in California to partner with NextGen Healthcare.

22 Jun 2010

Connecticut is first state in U.S to expand coverage for low-income residents under Affordable Care Act

Connecticut is the first state in the nation to permanently add low-income adults to its Medicaid program under the new Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

22 Jun 2010

FDA to hold workshop on medical device innovation to address unmet public health needs

Each day, medical devices from renal dialysis machines to implantable defibrillators help prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor serious and life-threatening diseases. After taking years to develop, these devices then undergo a regulatory review process before entering the marketplace. It then takes even more time for them to be adopted into clinical practice and for patients to realize the benefits.

22 Jun 2010

Extenders bill in limbo, placing COBRA subsidy and Medicaid enhanced funding in even deeper jeopardy

Efforts to renew the COBRA subsidy extension to help workers who have been recently laid off afford to keep their former employer's health insurance remains in limbo as lawmakers work at a measured pace to extend unemployment benefits and a tax package.

22 Jun 2010

Hospitals and researchers test programs to stop readmissions

The Boston Globe reports on hospital readmissions: "In Massachusetts, more than 10 percent of patients are back in the hospital for the same or unrelated complaints within a month, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a Cambridge-based nonprofit think tank. Over two years, more than a quarter of all patients end up paying a repeat visit to the hospital, a new 12-state study by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found.

21 Jun 2010

Positron sells four Attrius PET scanners

Positron Corporation, a leader as a molecular imaging and solutions company specializing in the field of Nuclear Cardiology, announces the sales of four Attrius™ PET scanners to prominent cardiology practices and orders six Attrius™ PET scanners from its joint venture, Neusoft Positron Medical Systems for immediate delivery.

21 Jun 2010

Doctors, Pelosi pan Senate-passed 'doc fix' plan

USA Today: Doctors are limiting the number of new Medicare patients they are seeing, concerned about reimbursements pay from the federal program. "Recent surveys by national and state medical societies have found more doctors limiting Medicare patients, partly because Congress has failed to stop an automatic 21% cut in payments that doctors already regard as too low.

21 Jun 2010

Thomson Reuters identifies top 10 U.S. health systems from second annual study

Thomson Reuters today released its second annual study identifying the top 10 U.S. health systems based on their clinical performance.

21 Jun 2010

Consumers can now access high quality health and medical information on Internet using Medgateway.com

With the vast amount of medical information on the Internet, consumers can spend long hours looking for health and medical information. Consumers can access reliable, high quality health and medical information on the Internet using Medgateway.com. Medgateway provides links to numerous health and medical web sites.

21 Jun 2010

AORN supports Pennsylvania's signing of HB 1641 requiring perioperative RN during surgery

As advocates for patient safety in the operating room, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, (AORN), announced support for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's signing of HB 1641 requiring the presence of a circulating nurse in certain operating rooms. The bill, signed into law on June 16, applies to any hospital or class C ambulatory surgical facility.

19 Jun 2010

Teradata congratulates CMS team for receiving 2010 CIO Council Leadership Award

Teradata Corporation, the world's largest company solely focused on data warehousing and enterprise analytics, today extended congratulations to the team led by Julie Boughn, Chief Information Officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, for prestigious recognition by the Federal CIO Council. The 2010 CIO Council Leadership Award was presented to the CMS team at the 2010 IRMCO Conference for its innovative use of information technology to improve transparency and engagement with the public.

19 Jun 2010

ExonHit Therapeutics informs shareholders about Highmark's intention to discontinue coverage of PathFinderTG

ExonHit Therapeutics today informs its shareholders that it learned on June 16, 2010 from RedPath Integrated Pathology that Highmark (the Medicare reimbursement regional antenna for the states of Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) announced its intention to discontinue coverage of PathFinderTG - Pancreatic cancer, contingent to a complementary assessment of the utility of the product.

19 Jun 2010

ASHP communicates support for Berwick nomination to Senate

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) communicated its strong support for the nomination of Donald M. Berwick, M.D., as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

19 Jun 2010

Medicaid News and Research

Politics surround Berwick, no hearings scheduled for CMS nominee

Certification rule opens door for health IT vendors, but other regs lag

Medicare physician payment cuts could cost millions more in reprocessing

Senate Dems explore phase-out of Medicaid enhanced funding

Health reform includes changes to denied claims, health savings accounts

States worry about Medicaid funding caught in Congressional impasse

First Edition: June 22, 2010

Gardner Family Health Network to deploy NextGen Ambulatory EHR, Practice Management, QSI Dental System

Connecticut is first state in U.S to expand coverage for low-income residents under Affordable Care Act

FDA to hold workshop on medical device innovation to address unmet public health needs

Extenders bill in limbo, placing COBRA subsidy and Medicaid enhanced funding in even deeper jeopardy

Hospitals and researchers test programs to stop readmissions

Positron sells four Attrius PET scanners

Doctors, Pelosi pan Senate-passed 'doc fix' plan

Thomson Reuters identifies top 10 U.S. health systems from second annual study

Consumers can now access high quality health and medical information on Internet using Medgateway.com

AORN supports Pennsylvania's signing of HB 1641 requiring perioperative RN during surgery

Teradata congratulates CMS team for receiving 2010 CIO Council Leadership Award

ExonHit Therapeutics informs shareholders about Highmark's intention to discontinue coverage of PathFinderTG

ASHP communicates support for Berwick nomination to Senate

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