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Medicare spending growth varies widely around the country

This Kaiser Health News table lists the top ten regions in the nation regarding growth in Medicare spending, comparing the total Medicare reimbursement per enrollee in 2000 and 2007 (Rau, 5/25).

26 May 2010

Genzyme's suit stays final FDA approval of Watson's generic Renvela ANDA

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc. filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to market sevelamer carbonate 800mg tablets. Watson's sevelamer carbonate tablet is the generic version of Genzyme's Renvela®. Renvela ® is a phosphate binder indicated for the control of serum phosphorus in patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis.

26 May 2010

Health law bodes well for young people's coverage, isn't helping Democrats

The New York Times reports that young people — representing nearly one-third of the 46 million uninsured in America — stand to "reap substantial benefits" from expanded coverage for them in the new health law.

26 May 2010

State Roundup: Oklahoma, S.C. and Ill. facing tough choices on health costs

States around the country are debating how to deal with health costs and tight budgets.

26 May 2010

Gentiva purchase of Odyssey would create largest U.S. home health and hospice provider

A plan from Gentiva Health Services to buy Odyssey HealthCare for almost $1 billion would create the largest U.S. provider of home health and hospice care, The Associated Press reports. "The boards of both companies have approved the acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter, pending approval by regulators and Odyssey stockholders.

25 May 2010

HHS 'special mailing' on health law's immediate Medicare benefits sparks GOP grumbles

CQ HealthBeat: "Education or propaganda? Or 'beyond propaganda?' The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday that it will soon send Medicare beneficiaries a special mailing on 'the immediate benefits they may see' from the health care overhaul law. Getting accurate information about key provisions of the law will help Medicare enrollees 'to be on the alert for any scams asking for personal information,' explained acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner in an agency news release Monday.

25 May 2010

Experts question 'doc fix' as Reid threatens weekend work on bill with COBRA, Medicare provisions

Politico: Experts are questioning the virtues of the three-year Medicare "doc fix" that would stave off cuts to Medicare doctors' pay but set up a larger fight down the road. ... In health policy circles, the 'doc fix' has become emblematic of Washington's worst habits: a potentially solvable policy problem run amok for about a decade now, bogged down in pure politics and accounting gimmicks. The 'doc fix,' a last-minute infusion of funds to head off a looming doctor pay cut under Medicare, hits the floor this week via the tax extenders bill ..."

25 May 2010

First Edition: May 25, 2010

Today's headlines reflect health policy action at the federal level as the Obama administration issues a warning to the insurance industry about mergers and urges the courts to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the health reform law.

25 May 2010

Aging-at-home concept should provide mobility assistance, says AAHomecare president

At a town hall meeting a year ago, President Obama said that home-based care could play a major role in controlling Medicare costs by keeping older people out of more expensive institutional care.

25 May 2010

FDA approves Watson Pharmaceuticals' generic version of VALTREX tablets

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration on its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Valacyclovir Hydrochloride tablets, USP, in the 500 and 1000 mg strengths, the generic equivalent to GlaxoSmithKline, LLC's VALTREX tablets.

25 May 2010

Advances in health IT

The New York Times: A "broad transformation in health care underway" is "fueled in good part by technology" that "promises to shift a lot of the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease from hospitals and specialized clinics, where treatment is expensive, to primary care physicians and patients themselves — at far less cost."

25 May 2010

Hospitals facing new payment squeezes

News outlets report on payment issues for hospitals, including those stemming from the new health law.

24 May 2010

Lawmakers could vote this week on three-year 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

Before they leave for the Memorial Day recess, lawmakers face legislation which includes a provision on Medicare payments to physicians and an extension of the COBRA subsidy to newly laid-off workers.

24 May 2010

Data from MiDAS I trial of mild for treatment of LSS to be released

Medical device company Vertos Medical, Inc. has announced the release of additional patient outcomes data from the MiDAS I trial, a prospective, 75-patient study of mild for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. As presented at the Florida Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Annual Meeting in Orlando on May 23, investigators found that study participants reported statistically significant improvement in both their physical and mental well-being six weeks following the mild procedure.

24 May 2010

First Edition: May 24, 2010

Irene Wielawski writes for Kaiser Health News that electronic medical records may be as important as stethoscopes. "Dr. David Blumenthal was not happy to find a new computer installed on his desk when he showed up for work one morning eight years ago at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He knew the hospital had been hard at work on developing an electronic medical record system, but Blumenthal wasn't keen on changing practices that had served him and his patients just fine over the years.

24 May 2010

Research roundup: Lessons from Medicare Part D; Evaluating medical homes; Insuring young adults

Lessons Learned: Who Didn't Enroll In Medicare Drug Coverage In 2006, And Why? - With data from the 2005 and 2006 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, this study examines enrollment of those who were previously without either public or private sources of prescription drug coverage. The authors report "63 percent of all eligible seniors and 69 percent of low-income beneficiaries were enrolled in Part D in 2006.

24 May 2010

MediConnect Global renames PassportMD online portal to myMediConnect

MediConnect Global today announced that it has changed the name of its personal health record and consumer health portal, PassportMD, to myMediConnect.

24 May 2010

House poised to consider COBRA subsidy extension, Medicare payment 'fix'

Caught up in the congressional politics swirling around a pending tax bill are two proposals to extend — once again — subsidies for COBRA health insurance and a 'fix' of Medicare payments to doctors.

24 May 2010

Democrats moving to extend COBRA subsidy expansion through end of year

Tucked into a $190 billion jobs and tax bill the House plans to take up next week is an extension of the subsidy to help laid-off workers pay for COBRA health insurance benefits.

24 May 2010

Baucus: No guarantee of Berwick confirmation hearing by July 4

Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee "said Thursday he hopes to have a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Donald Berwick to become administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services before the Fourth of July recess.

24 May 2010