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Rating system for Medicare Advantage plans slated for upgrade

Writing for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with The Washington Post, Susan Jaffe reports: "For consumers looking for bargains on refrigerators or restaurants, ratings can be helpful. But a score card doesn't work as well for selecting a Medicare private health plan" (Jaffe, 6/15).

16 Jun 2010

Cancer overtreatment raises concern; Physicians tend to use new technology even before solid evidence backs it

The Associated Press/Arizona Republic: "It's an unthinkable notion for a generation raised on the message that early cancer detection saves lives, but specialists say more tumors actually are being found too early. That is raising uncomfortable questions about how aggressively to treat early growths -- in some cases, even how aggressively to test -- along with a push for more of the informed-choice programs.

16 Jun 2010

Reid takes steps toward final vote on 'extenders' package after turning down GOP alternative

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a motion Monday to stop debate on a bill that includes $140 billion in spending on items such as extended unemployment benefits, enhanced Medicaid payments to states and a fix to keep Medicare reimbursements to doctors from being trimmed. The move suggests Reid thinks he is close to having the votes for passage.

16 Jun 2010

Health insurance issues: State regulators wary of health law, Medicare Advantage star system

News outlets report on changes to the individual health insurance market and Medicare Advantage plans under the new health law.

16 Jun 2010

Medicare will hold off processing payment claims until June 18

Congress is debating a bill that would eliminate a cut in Medicare reimbursements to physicians and other providers that officially went into effect June 1. Several news outlets report how the delay in congressional action has created confusion for doctors and Medicare billing procedures.

16 Jun 2010

Employer health costs slowing, but still face 9 percent increase in 2011

PriceWaterhouseCoopers is estimating that employer health costs will rise 9 percent in 2011, slightly less than they rose in 2010, Reuters reports. "The PriceWaterhouseCoopers team questioned 700 companies in 30 industries for the report. About 60 percent of Americans under the age of 65 get health insurance through an employer. Health benefits are often a major part of any employee compensation package. Most employers, 63 percent, offer a [managed-care] preferred provider organization or PPO, the survey found. And many have raised the deductible, with 43 percent having a deductible of $400 or more, compared to 25 percent in 2009."

16 Jun 2010

WellPoint to begin offering 'electronic' house calls

The Indianapolis Star: "Indianapolis-based health insurance giant WellPoint unveiled a new program to give its members access to doctors and other health-care providers via the Internet. The house call would be initiated by a patient logging in for a video chat from work to describe a sore throat, or a parent at home texting about a child with poison ivy.

16 Jun 2010

Teva prices $2.5 billion debt offering

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited announced today that it successfully priced the offering, by its special purpose finance subsidiaries, of a debt offering in three tranches:

16 Jun 2010

AmWINS Group Benefits re-launches EGWP program to help reverse negative effects of RDS

AmWINS Group Benefits launched the nation's first Employer Group Waiver Plan in 2006, and now in the wake of health care reform is re-launching their program as a direct and immediate approach to help reverse the negative effects of the Retiree Drug Subsidy, now taxable under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

15 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 15, 2010

Susan Jaffe, writing for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with The Washington Post, reports: "For consumers looking for bargains on refrigerators or restaurants, ratings can be helpful. But a score card doesn't work as well for selecting a Medicare private health plan" (Kaiser Health News).

15 Jun 2010

CombiMatrix Diagnostics receives final licensure documentation and approvals to begin Medicare billing

CombiMatrix Corporation announced today that its laboratory services subsidiary, CombiMatrix Diagnostics, has received the final licensure documentation and approvals from Medicare in order to begin billing for its suite of array-based diagnostics tests.

15 Jun 2010

Adeona's HartLab expands diagnostic testing services to include full array of microbiology testing

Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that its wholly-owned CLIA-certified clinical testing subsidiary, HartLab, has expanded its in-house diagnostic testing services to include a full array of microbiology testing. Adeona believes that that this expansion of services will be accretive to HartLab's revenues in the current quarter and beyond and is consistent with Adeona's plans to continue to build the revenues of its HartLab subsidiary.

15 Jun 2010

Medicare coverage of unproven mammography screening device leads to surge in usage

In a study illustrating the potentially powerful influence of political pressure on medical practice, a UC Davis physician-researcher has found that use of a largely unproven mammography screening device has surged since Medicare began covering its cost.

15 Jun 2010

Senate wrangling on bill with 'doc fix,' Medicaid payments, possible COBRA subsidy

President Barack Obama seems to be losing the battle to include in the jobs bill - also known as the "extender" bill - a continuation of federal subsidies for laid-off workers to help pay for health insurance through COBRA, The Associated Press reports. Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, "who are seeking a vote this coming week, want to attach their nearly $7 billion provision to must-pass legislation that would extend unemployment benefits and make changes in dozens of federal programs.

15 Jun 2010

Free clinics across the U.S. care for 1.8M uninsured patients annually: Survey

Free clinics across the U.S. provide care to about 1.8 million mostly uninsured patients annually and the majority of clinics receive no government support, according to the first comprehensive survey of all known free clinics since the 1960s.

15 Jun 2010

Texas prepares for health reform's changes despite opposition to new law; Other states brace for federal funding cuts

When Congress approved the sweeping federal health care overhaul in March, Texas Governor Rick Perry was one of the loudest critics. He blasted the initiative as unconstitutional, a government takeover of health care and an unfunded federal mandate on the states. … That sentiment remains widespread in Texas, which has joined with 20 other states in suing to block the law from taking effect.

15 Jun 2010

Behind the Numbers report: Employers' medical costs to increase by 9% in 2011

The nation's employers can expect medical costs to increase by 9 percent in 2011, a decrease of 0.5 percent from the 2010 growth rate, according to the annual Behind the Numbers report published today by the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Health Research Institute. For the first time, the majority of the American workforce is expected to have a health insurance deductible of $400 or more, as more employers return to "indemnity style" cost-sharing by raising out-of-pocket limits, replacing co-pays with co-insurance and adding high-deductible health plans.

15 Jun 2010

States, Feds look to expand ACOs and medical homes

Crain's New York Business, on ACOs in New York: "Authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in March, ACOs are intended to reward providers that shift their focus to preventive care and presumably reduce the need for expensive procedures.

15 Jun 2010

CMS to hold Medicare claims for four more days

Doctors treating Medicare patients won't be hit with a steep pay cut Tuesday, as previously scheduled, the Obama administration announced Monday. Instead, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is holding claims until Friday, anticipating that Congress will intervene this week. The move is the latest in a string of efforts to prevent Medicare doctors from receiving a 21 percent pay cut, which technically went into effect June 1."

15 Jun 2010

KHN column – Medicare Advantage: You get what you pay for

In this column for Kaiser Health News, Austin Frakt writes: "The Obama administration seems worried. In an election year, any change to Medicare that adversely affects beneficiaries is a political liability for incumbents.

14 Jun 2010

Medicare News and Research

Rating system for Medicare Advantage plans slated for upgrade

Cancer overtreatment raises concern; Physicians tend to use new technology even before solid evidence backs it

Reid takes steps toward final vote on 'extenders' package after turning down GOP alternative

Health insurance issues: State regulators wary of health law, Medicare Advantage star system

Medicare will hold off processing payment claims until June 18

Employer health costs slowing, but still face 9 percent increase in 2011

WellPoint to begin offering 'electronic' house calls

Teva prices $2.5 billion debt offering

AmWINS Group Benefits re-launches EGWP program to help reverse negative effects of RDS

First Edition: June 15, 2010

CombiMatrix Diagnostics receives final licensure documentation and approvals to begin Medicare billing

Adeona's HartLab expands diagnostic testing services to include full array of microbiology testing

Medicare coverage of unproven mammography screening device leads to surge in usage

Senate wrangling on bill with 'doc fix,' Medicaid payments, possible COBRA subsidy

Free clinics across the U.S. care for 1.8M uninsured patients annually: Survey

Texas prepares for health reform's changes despite opposition to new law; Other states brace for federal funding cuts

Behind the Numbers report: Employers' medical costs to increase by 9% in 2011

States, Feds look to expand ACOs and medical homes

CMS to hold Medicare claims for four more days

KHN column – Medicare Advantage: You get what you pay for

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