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Mass. Senate approves health costs bill to help small biz pay health costs and other state news

The Massachusetts Senate Tuesday approved a bill that would make wealthy hospitals pay $100 million in a one-time contribution to help small businesses ease insurance premiums. "The bill would let businesses with 50 or fewer workers form cooperatives to purchase insurance at a lower cost. Another provision presses insurers to spend at least 90 percent of premium dollars on care and 10 percent or less on administrative costs.

20 May 2010

Fraud and abuse cases come to conclusions

Los Angeles Times: "A man who recruited destitute HIV patients to be straw purchasers in a prescription drug scheme was convicted by a federal jury Tuesday in Los Angeles. Nathaniel Newhouse, 53, showed no expression as the verdict was read in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson." Newhouse was caught with 29 bottles of powerful painkillers two years ago. Investigators said they had a street value of up to $80,000. HIV patients arranged for doctors to prescribe the drugs, which were passed on to Newhouse (Glover, 5/19).

20 May 2010

Democrats debating how to handle Medicare 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

Some Democrats are concerned that adding a Medicare physician payment "fix" to tax legislation will add to the debt and are considering dropping the provision.

20 May 2010

First Edition: May 19, 2010

Today's headlines highlight issues related to the federal debt, developments regarding the Medicare physician payment fix and news from the states.

19 May 2010

eMedonline telemonitoring system developed to help patients transition from inpatient to outpatient setting

A clinical study is underway at Nyack Hospital to evaluate the use of cellphone-based technology to monitor medication adherence in discharged heart failure patients. The study is using the eMedonline telemonitoring system developed by Leap of Faith Technologies to help patients transition from the inpatient to outpatient setting.

19 May 2010

HHS sends letter to Committee on Education and Labor over improper practices by Head Start grantees

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to Chairman George Miller and the Committee on Education and Labor regarding the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into improper practices by Head Start grantees. The investigation is the subject of the Committee's upcoming hearing. Secretary Sebelius' letter outlines HHS's plans and steadfast commitment to upholding the integrity of this critical program.

19 May 2010

Vaccinations recommended for adults

Yearly vaccinations aren't just for kids any more. You probably heard a lot about a seasonal or H1N1 flu shot last fall, but you should know that a battery of other adult vaccinations might also become part of your health care routine. Pneumonia and shingles vaccines are preventive-care essentials for older adults, and meningitis and tetanus shots are now college rites of passage. Even the vaccines of childhood—measles, mumps and rubella, and whooping cough—are recommended for adults who missed out in their younger years.

19 May 2010

Physicians opting out of some insurance create two-tiered medical system

The Fiscal Times: "A small but growing number of physicians are ... abandoning traditional insurance-based practice to offer VIP treatment, including more time with patients, in return for upfront fees. In one common setup, often called concierge or retainer-based medicine, a primary care doctor charges an annual fee ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 just to get in the door.

19 May 2010

PCMA releases statement on AARP's report on price increase in brand name prescriptions

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association released the following statement on a new report from AARP that found that the price of brand name prescriptions most widely used by Medicare beneficiaries increased by 9.7 percent in the 12 months ending with March 2010 and was much higher than the rate of increase observed during any of the prior eight years

19 May 2010

Health law already affecting consumers, insurers, brokers

The New York Times profiles one man's current insurance dilemma, one which is not likely to happen in the future under the new health law: "Ever since Thomas DeLorenzo was accepted to three law schools outside his home state of California, he has spent entire days on the phone with health insurers in other states, compiling information that he enters on a giant spreadsheet." DeLorenzo, "who has AIDS, will lose his health coverage in California if he moves out of state.

19 May 2010

States combat health costs, workforce and safety issues

"The Massachusetts Senate is weighing a bill aimed at curbing soaring health care costs for individuals and small businesses. Senate President Therese Murray says the bill will ease market instability, smooth out annual fluctuations in premiums and require insurers [to] offer affordable small business plans" (5/18).

19 May 2010

AARP: Cost of brand name drugs rose 9.7% last year

"The AARP says that manufacturer prices for brand-name prescription drugs commonly used by people on Medicare rose 9.7% for the year ending in March — the biggest annual jump since the group started tracking prices in 2002," The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports.

19 May 2010

Federal health IT investments get cautious reception

The federal government is investing tens of billions of dollars in health information technology, but the medical groups that stand to benefit from the money are less enthusiastic than their government benefactors, arguing that the push is "too much, too soon," Politico reports.

19 May 2010

Baptist Health System implements eGuardian eICU Program from Philips VISICU

Baptist Health System completes final steps to become the first in South Central Texas to implement an eICU® program designed to improve critical care delivery and save lives. "eGuardian" utilizes the eICU® Program from Philips VISICU, that combines early warning software and remote monitoring to connect off-site critical care physicians and nurses to ICU patients around the clock.

18 May 2010

CMS selects Northrop Grumman to develop National Level Repository task order

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to develop a National Level Repository for accurate electronic health record incentive payment processing transactions to healthcare professionals, agencies and institutions.

18 May 2010

Teva agrees to settle patent litigation regarding generic version of AstraZeneca's Entocort EC capsules

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca to settle patent litigation regarding Teva's U.S. generic version of AstraZeneca's Entocort EC (budesonide) capsules.

18 May 2010

Phase II ALSTAR trial: Talampanel is safe for ALS patients

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today announced results from the Phase II ALSTAR trial. The trial was designed to assess efficacy, safety and tolerability of Talampanel (a selective AMPA antagonist) in reducing disease-related functional deterioration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients.

18 May 2010

Investigators pursue N.Y. leads on hospital corruption; Crack down in Fla. fraud probe

A New York hospital system has become entwined in a corruption scandal that sent a state lawmaker to prison for six years, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Former trustees of one of the hospitals operated by MediSys Health Network, speaking for the first time, say MediSys executives kept board members in the dark about business dealings between company management and Anthony Seminerio, the former lawmaker who pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge."

18 May 2010

Employer-provided health insurance to remain dominant under health law

News outlets report on employer-provided health insurance and suggest that the overall number of Americans who are insured through their workplace is unlikely to change substantially under the health law.

18 May 2010

152 research and training grants awarded to researchers at 93 institutions nationwide

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 152 new national research and training grants totaling $50,717,000 in the first of two grants cycles for 2010. The grants, primarily to early career researchers, cover a broad range of investigator-initiated ideas at 93 institutions nationwide, from whether cadmium exposure increases the risk of endometrial cancer, to studies of plant and bacterial-bourne compounds, to a study on a protein called survivin that could lead to novel drugs targeting prostate cancer.

18 May 2010

Medicare News and Research

Mass. Senate approves health costs bill to help small biz pay health costs and other state news

Fraud and abuse cases come to conclusions

Democrats debating how to handle Medicare 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

First Edition: May 19, 2010

eMedonline telemonitoring system developed to help patients transition from inpatient to outpatient setting

HHS sends letter to Committee on Education and Labor over improper practices by Head Start grantees

Vaccinations recommended for adults

Physicians opting out of some insurance create two-tiered medical system

PCMA releases statement on AARP's report on price increase in brand name prescriptions

Health law already affecting consumers, insurers, brokers

States combat health costs, workforce and safety issues

AARP: Cost of brand name drugs rose 9.7% last year

Federal health IT investments get cautious reception

Baptist Health System implements eGuardian eICU Program from Philips VISICU

CMS selects Northrop Grumman to develop National Level Repository task order

Teva agrees to settle patent litigation regarding generic version of AstraZeneca's Entocort EC capsules

Phase II ALSTAR trial: Talampanel is safe for ALS patients

Investigators pursue N.Y. leads on hospital corruption; Crack down in Fla. fraud probe

Employer-provided health insurance to remain dominant under health law

152 research and training grants awarded to researchers at 93 institutions nationwide

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