Medicare News and Research

RSS

Liberator Medical Holdings reports net revenues of $9.65M for second fiscal quarter 2010

Liberator Medical Holdings, Inc. announced today net revenues of $9.65 million for its second fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2010. Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2010, increased by $161,000, or 169%, to $256,000, compared with net income of $95,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2009.

12 May 2010

First Edition: May 12, 2010

Today's headlines include reports about new congressional budget office projections that increase the 10-year costs of the health overhaul law.

12 May 2010

R.I. overhauls Medicaid payments for elderly, disabled; Medicaid delays reported in Kansas

Rhode Island received a waiver from the Bush administration to revamp its Medicaid program for the elderly and disabled, despite concerns from "community health activists [who] feared that it would push some of the neediest onto waiting lists or worse — throw some poor people off the Medicaid rolls altogether.

12 May 2010

Sebelius heralds early successes of health law

"In a letter to leaders of Congress, the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, reported on Monday that the Obama administration is moving quickly to carry out the expansive new health care law, particularly provisions that she referred to as 'early insurance market reforms,'" The New York Times reports.

12 May 2010

CMS will keep a close eye on 'innovation' funding

Funds for new Medicare experiments -- appropriated as part of the health law -- may require special scrutiny to ensure they are spent correctly, a Medicare official said, CongressDaily/NextGov reports.

12 May 2010

Nurses lobby for more protections; Med school enrollment misses target

News outlets are covering medical professionals: a rally to combat the nursing shortage, medical school enrollment shortfalls and internationally-trained doctors.

12 May 2010

NeuroMetrix first-quarter total revenues decrease to $3.7 million

NeuroMetrix, Inc., a health care company transforming patient care through neurotechnology, today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

11 May 2010

Reinsurance program will help companies provide health insurance for early retirees

Kaiser Health News and USA Today explain the Obama administration's $5 billion program "to provide financial relief to companies that offer health coverage to early retirees. Officials say the effort, mandated by the new health care overhaul law, will help keep firms from ditching those benefits because of the high costs involved, a trend that has accelerated in recent years.

11 May 2010

Cancer costs double in 20 years but are still in line with overall health spending, study finds

USA Today: "The cost of treating cancer has doubled over the past 20 years, but those costs are in line with overall trends in health spending. And while more people are getting cancer as the U.S. population ages, treatment has shifted away from hospitals to outpatient settings, finds a study in Monday's edition of the journal Cancer.

11 May 2010

New law could help hospice patients continue aggressive medical treatments

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau, in collaboration with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reports: "After an excruciating bout of chemotherapy, Linda Meisenhelder gave up fighting colon cancer and last fall entered end-of-life hospice care.

11 May 2010

Overhaul will bring changes, improve quality for Medicare Advantage plans

The Wall Street Journal: "Over the next 10 years, the new health-care law will divert some $132 billion from Medicare Advantage, according to a recent report by George Washington University's Department of Health Policy. This has sparked concern that these plans may reduce benefits, raise premiums, or both. But the impact is likely to vary from plan to plan.

11 May 2010

Consumers, officials work to sort out new health law

For at least one state, implementing health reform is starting to appear easier said than done. The Daily Record, a Baltimore legal newspaper, reports, "Maryland's new Health Care Reform Coordinating Council held its first meeting last week, resolving to find the best way to implement provisions of the landmark federal health care overhaul.

11 May 2010

Companies get help to insure early retirees

Reporting for Kaiser Health News and USA Today, KHN staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "The White House unveiled details last week of a $5 billion program to provide financial relief to companies that offer health coverage to early retirees.

10 May 2010

Companies await health IT windfall

The Washington Post: A Virginia firm, Vangent, is positioning "itself for a surge of federal spending on health information technology" by setting up a health IT strategy group. "Vangent is likely to face stiff competition for those dollars, but company officials say they expect the firm's reputation as a health-related services provider to serve it well as it bids on contracts." The firm is also involved in civil, defense and national security work, but health services are its largest business.

10 May 2010

Watson Pharmaceuticals first-quarter net revenue up 28% to $856.5M

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported a 28 percent increase in net revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 to $856.5 million, compared to $667.4 million in the first quarter 2009. On an adjusted cash basis, net income increased 25 percent to $100.3 million or $0.81 per share, compared to $80.2 million or $0.69 per share in the first quarter 2009. GAAP earnings for the first quarter 2010 were $0.57 per share, compared to $0.43 per share in the prior year period.

10 May 2010

First Edition: May 10, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include the feature coverage of aspects of health reform implementation, including how "gradfathering" will be defined in regulations and the latest details on the early retiree reinsurance program.

10 May 2010

Radnet first-quarter revenue down, net loss up

RadNet, Inc., a national leader in providing high-quality, cost-effective, fixed-site outpatient diagnostic imaging services through a network of 190 fully-owned and operated outpatient imaging centers, today reported financial results for its first quarter of 2010.

10 May 2010

NIAMS, NINDS announce 5-year, $7.5M natural history study of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) are launching a five-year, $7.5 million natural history study of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), a degenerative genetically-linked neuromuscular disease. The study aims to validate non-invasive approaches to monitor the progression and treatment of Duchenne, and holds potential to facilitate the development of promising new therapies for people with the disease.

10 May 2010

Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent safe and effective for treating SFA lesions

Patients treated with the Zilver® PTX™ Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent maintained clinical improvement at two years, according to interim results from the Zilver® PTX™ Global Registry presented today as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions.

10 May 2010

Costs and quality of cancer care in the U.S.

A new analysis finds that the costs of treating cancer have nearly doubled over the past two decades and that the shares of these costs that are paid for by private health insurance and Medicaid have increased.

10 May 2010