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Former Columbia/HCA CEO Rick Scott spends millions on Florida governor campaign

News outlets report on the campaign of multimillionaire Rick Scott, the former CEO of the Columbia/HCA health care company, who is running in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Florida.

2 Jun 2010

Medicare patients may face accessibility crisis to medical care

According to an article in the June issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), Medicare patients - many who suffer from disabling arthritis of the hip and knee, among other age-related ailments - may end up facing an accessibility crisis to medical care.

2 Jun 2010

Infighting threatens COBRA subsidy extension, longer Medicare doc pay 'fix'

Roll Call reports that infighting over some unemployment benefits and a scheduled "fix" of Medicare physician payments has left Democratic congressional leaders at a "dramatic low" in their relationship. "And while publicly, House and Senate leaders refused to assign blame, the behind-the-scenes story was far different. The deadline for the benefits package had been looming for weeks.

2 Jun 2010

Health law implementation: Insurance, coverage and Medicare payment questions

Kaiser Health News reports that the insurance industry — traditionally a state-regulated industry — is facing new federal scrutiny by four officials in the new Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. "On this year's to-do list: writing rules to define when premium increases are 'unreasonable,' creating new coverage for people who can't get it because of health conditions and making sure insurers comply with consumer protections. The new director of the office is Jay Angoff, a former Missouri insurance commissioner.

2 Jun 2010

Teva Pharmaceutical launches Gianvi Tablets

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has commercially launched Gianvi (Drospirenone and Ethinyl Estradiol) Tablets, the Company's generic version of Bayer's Yaz® Tablets.

2 Jun 2010

CoaguSense unveils first portable point-of-care PT/INR Monitoring System for patients on oral anticoagulants

CoaguSense™, Inc., a diagnostic device company that has been in stealth mode for the past two years, today unveiled the first portable point-of-care Prothrombin Time/International Normalized Ratio (PT/INR) analyzer to directly detect blood clotting time for patients stabilized on oral anti-coagulation medications such as Coumadin® or warfarin.

2 Jun 2010

AMA President to unveil multi-million dollar ad campaign

Today, the 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut goes into effect, leaving health care for seniors and military families in jeopardy. On June 3, AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, will hold a telephone news conference to unveil a multi-million dollar AMA ad campaign urging Americans to call their senators to help avoid a Medicare meltdown.

1 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 1, 2010

A number of today's headlines focus on the continuing role of health reform in national political calculations and strategies.

1 Jun 2010

Race matching among donors and recipients has no effect on survival rates: Study

Transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins who have reviewed the medical records of more than 20,000 heart transplant patients say that it is not simply racial differences, but rather flaws in the health care system, along with type of insurance and education levels, in addition to biological factors, that are likely the causes of disproportionately worse outcomes after heart transplantation in African Americans.

1 Jun 2010

Health law mandates higher Medicare payment for osteoporosis tests

The Boston Globe: "A $3 million campaign by doctors, scanner operators, manufacturers, and groups devoted to women's health helped persuade lawmakers to overrule Medicare administrators this year and restore much of the reimbursement for osteoporosis tests. In a little-noticed provision buried deep in the sweeping new health care bill, Congress decreed that Medicare shall pay $97 for each test, instead of $50.

1 Jun 2010

Family businesses may miss out on insurance tax credits; Doctors' angry with Congress

The Boston Globe explores a largely overlooked provision in the tax credits offered to small businesses by the new health law to help cover the costs of insuring workers. "[M]any Massachusetts small business owners who employ mostly family members are discovering fine print in the new law that disqualifies, or substantially limits, their tax credit. That language says family-owned businesses are not allowed to count employees who are also family members toward the credit, which is retroactive to January.

31 May 2010

Congress needs to replace current outdated Medicare payment system

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine, representing over 100,000 specialty physicians nationwide, released the following statement on Congress's unwillingness to improve and permanently fix the Medicare reimbursement system:

29 May 2010

Congress needs to save Medicare, TRICARE programs for seniors, military families

"The Senate has turned its back on seniors, and America's physicians are outraged that Congress has deserted patients by failing to address this year's Medicare cut before the June 1 deadline. Senators are more interested in heading home for the holiday than in preventing a Medicare meltdown for seniors. The 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has been looming all year, and yet all Congress has managed to do is repeated short-term delays.

29 May 2010

Anthem launches new "modernized" Medicare Supplement plans

Today Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine (Anthem) introduced new "modernized" Medicare Supplement plans that have been updated to consider the needs of today's Medicare beneficiaries.

29 May 2010

Jobs bill: Dems keep 'doc fix' but jettison COBRA benefits, extra state Medicaid funding

House Democrats, under pressure from fiscal conservatives to cut spending, have dropped from a jobs bill both a COBRA subsidy extension to help newly laid-off pay for health coverage as well as more federal aid to boost state Medicaid budgets, The Associated Press reports. Although several programs covered by the bill will expire during the congressional recess that begins this weekend, final action isn't expected because even if House members reach agreement on the measure, it must still go to the Senate, which has not scheduled any votes today.

29 May 2010

MU awarded $6.8M to help patients benefit from use of health information technology

Considered one the great advances of modern medicine, electronic health records can provide a patient's entire medical history and a wealth of other information at the click of a button. They also have the potential to save countless lives and billions of dollars. Now, the University of Missouri has a two-year, $6.8 million cooperative agreement to help patients throughout the state benefit from increased use of this health information technology.

29 May 2010

Republicans criticize CMS brochure on Medicare improvements

As the secretary of health and human services explains it, the government has an obligation to spread the word about the new health-care law. To that end, the department spent millions of dollars printing a glossy brochure and mailing it this week to 40 million Medicare beneficiaries detailing what Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called 'the facts.'

29 May 2010

Ocean Medical Imaging Center acquires X-Ray Associates in NJ

Ocean Medical Imaging Center (OMIC), developed through a partnership with Lake Forest, Calif.-based InSight Health Services Holdings Corp., today announced that it acquired X-Ray Associates, P.A. in Toms River, NJ from the Sonix Medical Resources, Inc. bankruptcy proceeding in New York. OMIC purchased the new center for approximately $1.475 million.

29 May 2010

Text of brochure mailed to Medicare beneficiaries

The federal government sent a brochure to more than 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, "Medicare and the New Health Care Law - What It Means for You," which is generating political controversy.

29 May 2010

Medicare 'doughnut hole' rebate checks are in mail, Obama adminstration announces

Senior citizens who hit the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare's drug benefit will begin getting $250 rebate checks in two weeks, the Obama administration announced Thursday — providing one of the first tangible benefits of the recently enacted healthcare law. The rebates, designed in part to bolster support for the controversial law, are the first steps in a decade-long phase-out of the unpopular gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage.

29 May 2010

Medicare News and Research

Former Columbia/HCA CEO Rick Scott spends millions on Florida governor campaign

Medicare patients may face accessibility crisis to medical care

Infighting threatens COBRA subsidy extension, longer Medicare doc pay 'fix'

Health law implementation: Insurance, coverage and Medicare payment questions

Teva Pharmaceutical launches Gianvi Tablets

CoaguSense unveils first portable point-of-care PT/INR Monitoring System for patients on oral anticoagulants

AMA President to unveil multi-million dollar ad campaign

First Edition: June 1, 2010

Race matching among donors and recipients has no effect on survival rates: Study

Health law mandates higher Medicare payment for osteoporosis tests

Family businesses may miss out on insurance tax credits; Doctors' angry with Congress

Congress needs to replace current outdated Medicare payment system

Congress needs to save Medicare, TRICARE programs for seniors, military families

Anthem launches new "modernized" Medicare Supplement plans

Jobs bill: Dems keep 'doc fix' but jettison COBRA benefits, extra state Medicaid funding

MU awarded $6.8M to help patients benefit from use of health information technology

Republicans criticize CMS brochure on Medicare improvements

Ocean Medical Imaging Center acquires X-Ray Associates in NJ

Text of brochure mailed to Medicare beneficiaries

Medicare 'doughnut hole' rebate checks are in mail, Obama adminstration announces

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