Medicare News and Research

RSS

Amedisys' first-quarter 2010 net service revenues up 20.8%

Amedisys, Inc., one of America's leading home health nursing companies, today reported its financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2010. We posted record financial performance with net service revenue and net income attributable to Amedisys, Inc., increasing 20.8% and 35.6%, respectively, over the three-month period ended March 31, 2009.

27 Apr 2010

Centene's first-quarter Premium and Service Revenues up 12.5% to $1.022 billion

Centene Corporation today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. The results of operations for our New Jersey health plan, University Health Plans, are classified as discontinued operations. The discussions below, with the exception of cash flow information, are in the context of continuing operations and all financial ratios exclude premium taxes.

27 Apr 2010

Complaint filed in Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara against TPL

Patriot Scientific Corporation today reported that on April 22, 2010 it filed an action in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara against Technology Properties Limited, LLC, the Company's joint venture partner in the management of the MMP portfolio of microprocessor patents, and Alliacense, LLC, the licensing division of TPL.

27 Apr 2010

Watson Laboratories sued by Teva Women's Health over generic Cenestin ANDA

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., a Nevada Corporation, has been sued by Teva Women's Health, Inc., in connection with the filing of Watson's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for synthetic conjugated estrogens, A, in the 0.3 mg, 0.45 mg, 0.625 mg, 0.9 mg and 1.25 mg tablet strengths. Watson's ANDA is for the generic equivalent of Teva's Cenestin®. The suit was filed on April 23, 2010, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

27 Apr 2010

Humana posts first quarter earnings despite health reform 'uncertainty'

Reuters: Humana, a large provider of Medicare plans, projected second-quarter profits ahead of estimates. Reuters reports that pre-market trading reflected gains but shares then fell 2.8 percent in the morning as a result of "uncertainty" stemming from the new health law. "Humana is the second major health insurer to report results since Congress passed an overhaul of the health system.

27 Apr 2010

High incidence of MDS among seniors, elderly at increased risk of premature death: Study

Myelodysplastic syndromes - a group of serious blood cancers - are nearly five times more common in seniors than previously thought, according to a new study by researchers from the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center.

27 Apr 2010

Schools, systems get more funding to expand electronic medical records

The (Allentown, Penn.) Morning Call: Beginning next year, doctors and hospitals that share computerized medical records "including a list of prescriptions, drug allergies, doctor visits, and test results — will qualify for a share of $1.5 billion in incentives from the federal government. By 2015, those that don't will face Medicare funding cuts."

27 Apr 2010

Aetna Better Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reach agreement for Medicaid program

Aetna Better Health in Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced today that they have reached agreement on a new contract that adds the hospital to the Medicaid provider's network in Pennsylvania. The new contract is effective immediately.

27 Apr 2010

Costs, effects on business questioned as health overhaul analysis continues

The Associated Press: The biggest unanswered question in the health overhaul debate remains what the new law will mean for ordinary Americans. "Many experts believe the law falls short on taming costs, and that will force Congress to revisit health care in a few years.

27 Apr 2010

Wellcare faces allegations about director's resignation; Wellpoint confronts reports regarding breast cancer recissions

"A prominent director at WellCare Health Plans Inc. resigned Wednesday and raised questions about accounting practices at the Medicare and Medicaid company. Regina Herzlinger, the head of the board's audit committee and a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, said internal audits found WellCare overbilled the Illinois Medicaid program by $1 million in 2009 and potentially overcharged states for almost $500,000 worth of maternity care."

27 Apr 2010

A first step in the long road to health reform

Australia provides good health care to the majority of its citizens most of the time and compares well with like countries. The capacity for illness to destroy families financially, seen in the US and in many less economically advanced countries where governments make small or no contributions to the cost of health care, is much diminished by Medicare, public hospitals and subsidised pharmaceuticals.

27 Apr 2010

Experts warn doctors to be aware of new requirements in health bill's false claims act

"A longtime Miami-Dade healthcare operator and his son have been charged with bilking more than $2.8 million from Medicare in an undercover FBI case. The father has fled the country and the son is cooperating with authorities. Ernesto Angel Montaner and his son, Ernesto Montaner, are accused of operating a network of physical rehabilitation clinics in Miami-Dade that submitted millions of dollars in phony bills to the federal healthcare program for the elderly and disabled between 2003 and 2008" (Weaver, 4/24).

26 Apr 2010

General Dynamics Information Technology awarded task order to support HHS' CMS

General Dynamics Information Technology's VIPS business sector, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a task order to support the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

26 Apr 2010

Today's opinions: Health overhaul reflects history of government intervention; Importance of repairing clinical trials system; Stopping Medicare fraud

The system's opacity gives insurers the upper hand in debates over government payment rates (Austin Frakt, 4/26).

26 Apr 2010

WorkSmart MD launches Offsite Practice Support and Meaningful Use consulting services for doctors

WorkSmart MD, a Florida based physician services company, announces the launch of Offsite Practice Support and Meaningful Use consulting services for doctors.

26 Apr 2010

American board-certified prosthetist develops custom-made ankle-foot orthosis

With over ten million diabetics in the U.S. alone and approximately 150,000 amputations performed yearly, inventor and American board-certified prosthetist John E. Rooney developed a custom-made ankle-foot orthosis with the trade name Ulcer Healing Orthosis or UHO.

26 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 26, 2010

Today's headlines reflect state-level health policy developments as well as forward-looking stories related to the cost of federal health reforms.

26 Apr 2010

Humana reports first-quarter EPS of $1.52

Humana Inc. today reported diluted earnings per common share (EPS) for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 (1Q10) of $1.52, ahead of management's guidance of $1.10 to $1.20. EPS for 1Q10 included earnings of approximately $0.37 per share from higher-than-anticipated favorable prior-period development of medical claims reserves as well as $0.04 per share in higher-than-projected income tax expense due to recently enacted health reform legislation. Excluding these items, 1Q10 EPS was at the top end of the company's previous guidance range.

26 Apr 2010

Health care law's ability to control costs will be closely watched

The Associated Press/ABC news explore the question of how of cost containment under the new health law: "What's it going to cost me? That's the single biggest unanswered question about President Barack Obama's new health care overhaul law — and its weak spot. Many experts believe the law falls short on taming costs, and that will force Congress to revisit health care in a few years. … For now, the political parties are too polarized — and lawmakers too exhausted — to contemplate health care 2.0.

26 Apr 2010

NPAF urges Colorado Governor to exercise line item veto of $17.9M reduction in 2011 Medicaid program

The National Patient Advocate Foundation, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of creating avenues of improved patient access to health care through public policy reform at the state and federal levels, delivered a letter to Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, urging him to exercise a line item veto of a $17.9 million reduction in Medicaid funding passed recently by the Colorado legislature as part of the fiscal year 2011 budget.

24 Apr 2010

Medicare News and Research

Amedisys' first-quarter 2010 net service revenues up 20.8%

Centene's first-quarter Premium and Service Revenues up 12.5% to $1.022 billion

Complaint filed in Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara against TPL

Watson Laboratories sued by Teva Women's Health over generic Cenestin ANDA

Humana posts first quarter earnings despite health reform 'uncertainty'

High incidence of MDS among seniors, elderly at increased risk of premature death: Study

Schools, systems get more funding to expand electronic medical records

Aetna Better Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reach agreement for Medicaid program

Costs, effects on business questioned as health overhaul analysis continues

Wellcare faces allegations about director's resignation; Wellpoint confronts reports regarding breast cancer recissions

A first step in the long road to health reform

Experts warn doctors to be aware of new requirements in health bill's false claims act

General Dynamics Information Technology awarded task order to support HHS' CMS

Today's opinions: Health overhaul reflects history of government intervention; Importance of repairing clinical trials system; Stopping Medicare fraud

WorkSmart MD launches Offsite Practice Support and Meaningful Use consulting services for doctors

American board-certified prosthetist develops custom-made ankle-foot orthosis

First Edition: April 26, 2010

Humana reports first-quarter EPS of $1.52

Health care law's ability to control costs will be closely watched

NPAF urges Colorado Governor to exercise line item veto of $17.9M reduction in 2011 Medicaid program

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News