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Health Care Politics: parties dispute tax reporting requirement; administration woos seniors with new Ad

The Associated Press "Tucked into the new health care law is a requirement that could become a paperwork nightmare for nearly 40 million businesses. They must file tax forms for every vendor that sells them more than $600 in goods. The goal is to prevent vendors from underreporting their income to the Internal Revenue Service.

2 Aug 2010

Speaker Pelosi issues statement to mark 45th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today to mark the 45th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid being signed into law. To mark the anniversary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a new ad featuring Andy Griffith discussing the Affordable Care Act:

31 Jul 2010

Louisiana's Medicaid rate cuts kick in Aug. 1; Other states seek health program assistance, make tough choices to balance budgets

"The rates paid to many of the private health providers in Louisiana's Medicaid program will fall Sunday to trim spending by $168 million in the program that provides care to the poor, elderly and disabled. The latest cuts to private hospitals, home- and community-based care providers, doctors and specialty service providers are the final piece of balancing this year's $6.5 billion Medicaid budget. Department of Health and Hospitals Undersecretary Jerry Phillips said Medicaid funding was cut by $277 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year that began July 1."

31 Jul 2010

Nashville hospitals cut costs to keep up revenues, despite fewer patients

"Over the past year and a half, keeping costs in check has helped the large hospital chains based in the Nashville area to increase quarterly earnings, even when seeing fewer patients come through their doors," The Tennessean reports. "The recent second quarter was no different. Cost controls fueled an 18 percent increase in net income at Franklin-based Community Health Systems, despite a decline in the number of patients. HCA Inc. saw fewer inpatient visits, and higher interest expense kept its pre-tax profits flat.

31 Jul 2010

HealthSouth plans new rehabilitation hospital in northwest Houston

HealthSouth Corporation today announced plans to begin construction of a new 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in the Cypress area of northwest Houston in the fourth quarter. In connection with such plans, HealthSouth has signed a contract to purchase a 6-acre tract of land from an affiliate of Caldwell Companies, based in Houston. The land is located on the northeast corner of Highway 290 and FM 1960 in Houston.

31 Jul 2010

Abortion rights supporters, children's groups, GOP pushing back on various health law provisions

"Elective abortions will be prohibited and people with pre-existing conditions will be able to get comprehensive benefits without paying any more than healthy people, under new federal regulations for high-risk health insurance pools released ... by the Obama administration," according to Kaiser Health News.

31 Jul 2010

Water Street Healthcare Partners acquires Medical Specialties Distributors

Water Street Healthcare Partners, a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on health care, announced today that it has acquired Medical Specialties Distributors, LLC (MSD). Headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts, MSD is the nation's leading provider of infusion products, supplies, biomedical services and technology solutions to the growing home infusion therapy market. The acquisition expands Water Street's current group of health care companies to 12.

From Baxter International Inc. 31 Jul 2010

Research Roundup:COBRA subsidies; Children's insurance and dental coverage; Adopting health IT; Race and heart treatments

Archives of Internal Medicine: Racial Differences In Admissions To High-Quality Hospitals For Coronary Heart Disease - "Racial disparities in the management of coronary heart disease (CHD) are widely documented, yet the reasons behind persistent gaps in quality of care are not fully understood," write the authors, who examined "Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) admitted during 2002 through 2005 to hospitals located in markets with top-ranked cardiac hospitals, as ascertained from the US News and World Report 'America's Best Hospitals' annual rankings."

31 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: Medicare at 45; The politics of entitlement spending; Deciding health care's value

Forty-five years ago today, the creation of Medicare transformed our health-care system and our nation. It helped to make us a stronger and more prosperous country by freeing older Americans from the fear that sickness or injury would cost them their lifetime savings and security. ... The reason we have the Medicare we have today is that over the last 45 years, we have repeatedly acted to strengthen and update it for changing times (Kathleen Sebelius, 7/29).

31 Jul 2010

HMS second-quarter net income increases to $9.1 million

HMS today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2010.

30 Jul 2010

McKesson first-quarter revenues increase to $27.5 billion

McKesson Corporation today reported that revenues for the first quarter ended June 30, 2010 were $27.5 billion compared to $26.7 billion a year ago. First-quarter earnings per diluted share was $1.10 compared to $1.06 per diluted share a year ago.

30 Jul 2010

Amerigroup second-quarter total revenues increase 11.3% to $1.4 billion

Amerigroup Corporation today announced that net income for the second quarter of 2010 was $67.2 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, versus net income of $49.6 million, or $0.94 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2009. Second quarter of 2009 results were positively impacted by a tax adjustment of $0.43 per diluted share related to litigation settled in 2008. Excluding the tax adjustment, second quarter of 2009 net income would have been $27.2 million, or $0.51 per diluted share.

30 Jul 2010

Coventry Health Care reports $2.9 billion total operating revenues for second-quarter 2010

Coventry Health Care, Inc. today reported consolidated operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Operating revenues totaled $2.9 billion for the quarter with net earnings of $1.0 million, or $0.01 earnings per diluted share (EPS). These results include a favorable impact from the Medicare Advantage Private Fee-for-Service (MA-PFFS) product of $0.18 EPS and an unfavorable impact related to the previously announced provider class action litigation in Louisiana of $1.18 EPS.

30 Jul 2010

Medical Mutual of Ohio to provide online applications for High Risk Pool health insurance program

Beginning Sunday, August 1, Medical Mutual of Ohio will provide online applications and enrollment information for the state of Ohio's temporary High Risk Pool health insurance program.

30 Jul 2010

New health reform law to benefit 30 million women: Commonwealth Fund report

Thirty million women will benefit from the new health reform law over the next decade, either through new or strengthened insurance coverage, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. In the first analysis of its kind, the authors report that the law will stabilize and reverse the growing exposure to health costs that women now experience by subsidizing health insurance for up to 15 million currently uninsured women, and strengthening existing coverage for 14.5 million women who are considered underinsured-those who have health coverage that does not adequately protect them from high medical expenses.

30 Jul 2010

Computer Programs and Systems second-quarter total revenues increase 22.3% to $37.7 million

Computer Programs and Systems, Inc., a leading provider of healthcare information solutions, today announced results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010.

30 Jul 2010

Treating back problems cost Americans more than $30 billion in 2007: AHRQ

Treating back problems, one of the most bothersome medical problems, cost Americans more than $30 billion in 2007- up from $16 billion in 1997 (in 2007 dollars), according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

30 Jul 2010

Funding for electronic medical records expected as early as May, already stimulating business

Modern Healthcare: Funding to help doctors and hospitals buy electronic medical records could begin to flow through the Medicare program as early as May 2011, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services official said Wednesday. But, the final shape of the program remains unclear as CMS works to implement 800 pages of new regulations. "We're now working toward actually making all of this a reality, and we have less than six months to do it," the official said (Conn, 7/28).

30 Jul 2010

Study explores benefits, risks of aggressive blood sugar control in hemodialysis patients

Aggressive blood sugar control does not improve survival in diabetic patients with kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology. The results suggest that physicians should individualize blood sugar targets for these patients and not rely on recommendations based on studies in the general population.

30 Jul 2010

HCA second-quarter revenues increase 3.7% to $7.756 billion

HCA Inc. today announced financial and operating results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

30 Jul 2010

Medicare News and Research

Health Care Politics: parties dispute tax reporting requirement; administration woos seniors with new Ad

Speaker Pelosi issues statement to mark 45th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid

Louisiana's Medicaid rate cuts kick in Aug. 1; Other states seek health program assistance, make tough choices to balance budgets

Nashville hospitals cut costs to keep up revenues, despite fewer patients

HealthSouth plans new rehabilitation hospital in northwest Houston

Abortion rights supporters, children's groups, GOP pushing back on various health law provisions

Water Street Healthcare Partners acquires Medical Specialties Distributors

Research Roundup:COBRA subsidies; Children's insurance and dental coverage; Adopting health IT; Race and heart treatments

Today's OpEds: Medicare at 45; The politics of entitlement spending; Deciding health care's value

HMS second-quarter net income increases to $9.1 million

McKesson first-quarter revenues increase to $27.5 billion

Amerigroup second-quarter total revenues increase 11.3% to $1.4 billion

Coventry Health Care reports $2.9 billion total operating revenues for second-quarter 2010

Medical Mutual of Ohio to provide online applications for High Risk Pool health insurance program

New health reform law to benefit 30 million women: Commonwealth Fund report

Computer Programs and Systems second-quarter total revenues increase 22.3% to $37.7 million

Treating back problems cost Americans more than $30 billion in 2007: AHRQ

Funding for electronic medical records expected as early as May, already stimulating business

Study explores benefits, risks of aggressive blood sugar control in hemodialysis patients

HCA second-quarter revenues increase 3.7% to $7.756 billion

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