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Watson Laboratories files ANDA with FDA for generic Renvela for oral suspension

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval to market sevelamer carbonate for oral suspension, 0.8g and 2.4g per packet. Watson's sevelamer carbonate for oral suspension product is the generic version of Genzyme's Renvela for Oral Suspension.

13 Jul 2010

Debt unsustainable, Obama commission chairs say; Orszag's successor to be left with a tough job

The Associated Press: The two chairman of President Obama's debt commission told the National Governors Association Sunday that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are sucking up the entire federal discretionary budget.

13 Jul 2010

APIC survey uncovers barriers in adoption of best practices for CRBSI prevention in hospitals

Hospitals still struggle to prevent avoidable healthcare-associated infections, according to a survey of infection preventionists released today by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Half of those surveyed agree that catheter-related bloodstream infections continue to be a problem in their facilities and cite lack of time, resources, and the commitment of hospital leadership as hindering their ability to combat these infections more aggressively.

13 Jul 2010

Molina Healthcare signs definitive agreement to acquire Abri Health Plan

Molina Healthcare, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abri Health Plan, a provider of Medicaid managed care services to BadgerCare Plus and SSI Managed Care enrollees in Wisconsin. The purchase price for the acquisition is expected to be approximately $16 million, subject to adjustments, and will be funded with available cash and/or the Company's credit facility.

13 Jul 2010

Seniors face unexpected medical bills amid disputes between hospitals and Medicare auditors

Elderly patients caught between U.S. hospitals and Medicare auditors pushing to cut costs are increasingly facing tens of thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills.

13 Jul 2010

Governors press Washington for more help, Mass. municipalities seek new authority to cut health care plan costs

The National Governors Association, meeting in Boston, pressed Washington for more help to states. The "NGA renewed its bipartisan appeal for Congress to pass stalled jobs legislation. ... [Last month,] the House and Senate failed to complete legislation that would have extended, through June 2011, important parts of the federal stimulus program enacted last year to provide unemployment insurance and help offset recession-driven cuts to education, health care and public safety.

13 Jul 2010

AMA finds lobbying power eroding; Payment rates vary

Three months the health law passed, the American Medical Association is finding itself "itself with fewer friends on Capitol Hill and more critics questioning its lobbying savvy," Politico reports. "Its troubles couldn't come at a worse time: It is more dependent than ever on having allies in Congress, thanks to the growing number of Medicare patients.

12 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: Churchillian Berwick?; Government's obesity fight; WSJ on paying for health reform

In an ideal world, Berwick would be Medicare's Winston Churchill, a prophetic voice who emerges from the wilderness and ends years of appeasement and denial. He tells the truth about federal health care and medicine generally. It's no wonder the Obama administration didn't think the Senate could handle it (Jay Hancock, 7/11).

12 Jul 2010

Eclipsys' PeakPractice EMR solution receives NEyePA's preferred provider endorsement

Eclipsys Corporation, The Outcomes Company®, today announced that Eclipsys' PeakPractice™ electronic medical record (EMR) solution recently received preferred provider endorsement by the National EyePA Coalition (NEyePA), a large independent physician association (IPA) representing 4,900 optometrists and ophthalmologists in 28 IPAs in 26 states.

12 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 12, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include previews of the expected release of a national strategy to curb the AIDS epidemic and reviews of a White House official's Sunday talk show defense of the Berwick nomination.

12 Jul 2010

Manuscript based on study of Clarient InsightDx Mammostrat to be published in Breast Cancer Research

Clarient, Inc., a premier technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today announced that a manuscript based on a study of Clarient InsightDx Mammostrat, a test used to classify the risk of recurrence of breast cancer following surgery and chemotherapy, will be published in an upcoming edition of Breast Cancer Research, a prominent peer-reviewed medical journal.

12 Jul 2010

FDA grants Catheter Connections 510(k) clearance for DualCap disinfecting product

Catheter Connections, Inc., a manufacturer of innovative vascular access and infection control products, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the company 510(k) clearance to market its DualCap™ product. DualCap is the only device that nests two disinfecting caps together - for both IV access points, the needleless injection site (NIS) and the male luer at the end of the IV tubing. Previously overlooked as a route of microbial colonization, Catheter Connections has developed the first disinfecting cap for the male luer.

12 Jul 2010

GOP questions Berwick's ties to industry

The Hill reports that Republicans are charging the Obama administration with evading questions on Dr. Donald Berwick's ties to the health care industry. President Barack Obama used a recess appointment this week to install Berwick as head of the agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid after key Republicans had raised concerns about Berwick's views.

12 Jul 2010

Axelrod defends recess appointment of Berwick to head Medicare

"This morning on ABC News' 'This Week,' Senior White House Advisor David Axelrod insisted that President Obama's recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to be the administrator of The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was simply 'too important' to wait for a Congressional hearing" (7/11).

12 Jul 2010

Diabetes reform plans do not please the AMA

In a bid to reform the way long term illnesses like diabetes are managed in Australia, the federal government announced a $436 million scheme to be introduced from 2012.

11 Jul 2010

Length of average Medicare-certified hospice stay in nursing home doubled: Study

Researchers at Brown University have found that the length of an average Medicare-certified hospice stay in a nursing home has doubled during the last 10 years. The study, which will appear in the August issue of The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, evaluated hospice use in U.S. nursing homes between 1999 and 2006. It found the typical treatment time has increased from 46 to 93 days. The researchers cited a standard daily payment rate for most Medicare hospice enrollment days as an incentive for some of the longer stays.

9 Jul 2010

CVS Caremark awarded gold medal for Best Customer Service, silver medal for Best Community Spirit

CVS Caremark's Pharmacy Benefit Management Customer Care team was awarded a gold medal for Best Customer Service (America's region) and a silver medal for Best Community Spirit by ContactCenterWorld.com at the organization's Top Ranking Performers Awards Conference in Orlando. The awards recognize the best in the contact center industry.

9 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: More commentary on the Berwick appointment, the financial and political costs of health reform, thoughts on hospital consolidation

President Obama got serious this week about the ticking time bomb in his new health-care legislation -- the lack of any clear plan to reduce costs and improve quality. What he did was install someone who can use our behemoth Medicare and Medicaid programs as laboratories for change -- so that reform doesn't bankrupt the country (David Ignatius, 7/9).

9 Jul 2010

Second round of checks to close Medicare doughnut hole sent out

"The Obama administration is sending $250 checks to more than 300,000 older Americans who paid higher drug costs in the Medicare coverage gap known as the 'doughnut hole,' officials announced Thursday. The one-time, tax-free checks are the first tangible benefit of the health care package that became law this year."

9 Jul 2010

Aetna offers premium payments, file claims extensions to customers affected by storms

Aetna is offering fully insured health plan customers, including Medicare members, in Ohio's Wood, Ottawa and Fulton counties an extra two months to make premium payments and file claims, among other assistance. People in those counties were affected by tornados and severe weather in early June.

9 Jul 2010

Medicare News and Research

Watson Laboratories files ANDA with FDA for generic Renvela for oral suspension

Debt unsustainable, Obama commission chairs say; Orszag's successor to be left with a tough job

APIC survey uncovers barriers in adoption of best practices for CRBSI prevention in hospitals

Molina Healthcare signs definitive agreement to acquire Abri Health Plan

Seniors face unexpected medical bills amid disputes between hospitals and Medicare auditors

Governors press Washington for more help, Mass. municipalities seek new authority to cut health care plan costs

AMA finds lobbying power eroding; Payment rates vary

Today's OpEds: Churchillian Berwick?; Government's obesity fight; WSJ on paying for health reform

Eclipsys' PeakPractice EMR solution receives NEyePA's preferred provider endorsement

First Edition: July 12, 2010

Manuscript based on study of Clarient InsightDx Mammostrat to be published in Breast Cancer Research

FDA grants Catheter Connections 510(k) clearance for DualCap disinfecting product

GOP questions Berwick's ties to industry

Axelrod defends recess appointment of Berwick to head Medicare

Diabetes reform plans do not please the AMA

Length of average Medicare-certified hospice stay in nursing home doubled: Study

CVS Caremark awarded gold medal for Best Customer Service, silver medal for Best Community Spirit

Today's OpEds: More commentary on the Berwick appointment, the financial and political costs of health reform, thoughts on hospital consolidation

Second round of checks to close Medicare doughnut hole sent out

Aetna offers premium payments, file claims extensions to customers affected by storms

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