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Health care reform will have negative effect on cardiology patients, practices: American cardiologists

American cardiologists believe that recently passed health care reform will have a negative effect on both their cardiology patients and their practices, according to a new survey.

6 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 6, 2010

Among today's headlines is news about a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts insurers who are seeking to reverse the state insurance commissioner's decision and allow them to raise rates.

6 Apr 2010

New health law will ban future physician-owned hospitals; The trauma and cost of patient "dumping"

One of the more obscure components of the landmark health care reform bill passed by Congress includes a provision to ban future physician-owned hospitals and crimp the growth of this rising market niche. Northwest Indiana is home to five hospitals owned wholly or partly by doctors practicing here.

6 Apr 2010

CMS aids Medicare counseling programs

In the latest healthcare reforms there was a mandatory freeze in payments of $130 billion over the next decade. This was criticized by President Obama as a corporate giveaway. Initially Medicare had proposed a preliminary increase of 1.28% in February. Since this was vetoed due to the new health care law that mandates the rates remain unchanged, an announcement under the Medicare Advantage program from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was made yesterday. Under this program it was expected that it would be 14% of the total earning in 2011 at Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth and 42 percent for Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana, Dave Shove.

6 Apr 2010

Increase in proportion of older middle-aged Americans who report mobility-related difficulties: Study

The proportion of older middle-aged Americans who report disabilities related to mobility increased significantly from 1997 to 2007, in contrast to the disability decline that has been found among Americans ages 65 and over, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation and the University of Michigan.

6 Apr 2010

Humana adopts radiology benefit management programs to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure

Humana Inc. has reduced unnecessary radiation exposure for its members by the equivalent of more than five million chest x-rays since 2004, demonstrating how health benefits companies can lead the way in improving the quality and safety of health.

6 Apr 2010

Health IT funding raises security concerns; Some hospitals face barrier to funding

"Two big questions yet to be answered with electronic health records are: Do they save money? And can they be made 100 percent secure? The verdict is still out on both. The thought of one's personal medical information being just a computer click away does not sit well with many consumers." The paper reviews several surveys from last year to note that "security is on everyone's mind" (Smith, 4/5).

6 Apr 2010

Health law may worsen primary care doctor shortage

NPR: "The new health bill signed by President Obama includes an incentive for doctors to serve the poorest patients by increasing their federal Medicaid payments. This could be quite a significant inducement, as an additional 16 million people are expected to join the Medicaid rolls in the next 10 years."

5 Apr 2010

Ingen Technologies's SMART Nasal Cannula to be featured at upcoming Las Vegas MedTrade convention

Ingen Technologies, Inc., a leading manufacturer of respiratory medical devices, recently announced today that the SMART Nasal Cannula is a featured new product at the upcoming MedTrade convention in Las Vegas from May 10 through May 13, 2010. The Las Vegas MedTrade convention is the largest home health care expo in the world. Ingen is an exhibitor and will be part of the New Product showcase at MedTrade. The SMART Nasal Cannula is the Next-Generation of cannulas that improve oxygen therapy and reduce expenditures.

5 Apr 2010

Amedisys announces acquisition of Alabama hospice agency from Bluewater Healthcare

Amedisys, Inc., one of America's leading home health and hospice companies, today announced that it has acquired a hospice agency located in Killen, Alabama, a Certificate of Need state, from Bluewater Healthcare Inc.

5 Apr 2010

China's SFDA finds certain batches of Jiangsu Yanshen's human use rabies vaccine substandard

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a leading pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of branded generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals in China, today reported that China's State Food and Drug Administration ("SFDA") issued a statement on its investigation into the human use rabies vaccine manufactured by Jiangsu Yanshen Biological Technology Stock Co., Ltd.. Simcere obtained a controlling stake in Jiangsu Yanshen on October 24, 2009.

5 Apr 2010

Desert Valley Hospital, Montclair Hospital Medical Center named winners of Top 100 Hospitals

Thomson Reuters announced today that Desert Valley Hospital and Montclair Hospital Medical Center are among the winners of its prestigious Top 100 Hospitals® in the Nation award. Desert Valley Hospital, Victorville, CA, is now among an elite group of hospitals who have received this award five times in the category of small community hospitals. Montclair Hospital Medical Center, Montclair, CA. received the award for the first time in the class of medium size community hospitals.

5 Apr 2010

Health care reform law still generating lots of questions

News organizations continue looking into the effects of the new health care law.

5 Apr 2010

UnitedHealth Group announces relief for Rhode Island flood victims

UnitedHealth Group and its family of companies, including UnitedHealthcare, Ovations, AmeriChoice, OptumHealth and Prescription Solutions, are taking immediate action to assist individuals who may have been affected by the recent floods in parts of Rhode Island.

3 Apr 2010

Colo. gets federal approval for new patient fees to help fund Medicaid; Ga. Senate passes hospital tax

Denver Business Journal: "A federal agency has approved Colorado's plan to charge a per-patient fee to hospitals in order to expand Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus eligibility and insure more state residents. Gov. Bill Ritter's office said Thursday that it had received notice from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services that it had given its OK to the hospital provider fee. Receiving that approval means that the state can match each dollar collected by the fee with one from the federal government and double the amount it raises through the plan."

3 Apr 2010

Tea Party Democratic candidate Warren Mosler releases hybrid health care proposal

Warren Mosler, the Tea Party Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, released his hybrid health care proposal that gives Americans a powerful market based incentive to use only what they need, while slashing the true cost of health care for the U.S. economy.

3 Apr 2010

Dems tout savings from Medicare fraud crackdown, swindlers exploit health bill confusion

The Hill: "Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee are trying to make the case that the healthcare bill will strengthen Medicare and Medicaid by finding major savings through a crack down on fraud, waste and abuse."

3 Apr 2010

Debate and skepticism over the healthcare reforms

A few years back a law that was meant to cover millions of elderly extending their prescription drug coverage backfired with many who could not access their medicines or were charged more all because of computer generated errors. Administration, industry and consumer groups are gearing up to prevent the same thing from happening after the healthcare bill became law last week.

2 Apr 2010

No doughnut hole in global mail-order pharmacy

Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, Medicare enrollees who enter the dreaded "doughnut hole" -- the Medicare Part D coverage gap that has made seniors responsible for all their drug costs between $2,830 and $6,440 -- will save $250 in 2010. But Betterthanmedicare.com is already saving seniors thousands of dollars, because the global mail-order pharmacy has no doughnut hole.

2 Apr 2010

Findings support value of advance directives, living wills and other means of making end-of-life treatment preferences known

One in four elderly Americans require someone else to make decisions about their medical care at the end of their lives, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Apr 2010

Medicare News and Research

Health care reform will have negative effect on cardiology patients, practices: American cardiologists

First Edition: April 6, 2010

New health law will ban future physician-owned hospitals; The trauma and cost of patient "dumping"

CMS aids Medicare counseling programs

Increase in proportion of older middle-aged Americans who report mobility-related difficulties: Study

Humana adopts radiology benefit management programs to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure

Health IT funding raises security concerns; Some hospitals face barrier to funding

Health law may worsen primary care doctor shortage

Ingen Technologies's SMART Nasal Cannula to be featured at upcoming Las Vegas MedTrade convention

Amedisys announces acquisition of Alabama hospice agency from Bluewater Healthcare

China's SFDA finds certain batches of Jiangsu Yanshen's human use rabies vaccine substandard

Desert Valley Hospital, Montclair Hospital Medical Center named winners of Top 100 Hospitals

Health care reform law still generating lots of questions

UnitedHealth Group announces relief for Rhode Island flood victims

Colo. gets federal approval for new patient fees to help fund Medicaid; Ga. Senate passes hospital tax

Tea Party Democratic candidate Warren Mosler releases hybrid health care proposal

Dems tout savings from Medicare fraud crackdown, swindlers exploit health bill confusion

Debate and skepticism over the healthcare reforms

No doughnut hole in global mail-order pharmacy

Findings support value of advance directives, living wills and other means of making end-of-life treatment preferences known

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