Managed Care News and Research

RSS

Some in health industry raising concerns about Accountable Care Organizations

CQ HealthBeat: "The medical device industry told the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it's concerned about whether accountable care organizations could give providers financial incentives to hold back on needed patient care, particularly on technology. Meanwhile, insurance plan executives warned CMS officials that the ACOs could give hospitals and doctors new bargaining leverage in negotiations with insurers.

8 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 7, 2010

In today's headlines, Senate leaders appear to be nearing a one-year deal on Medicare's physician pay problem.

7 Dec 2010

Caraco board to discuss Sun Pharma proposal

Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. reports receipt of a proposal from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ("Sun") and Sun Pharma Global, Inc ("Sun Global") for a going private transaction by which Sun, Sun Global, and/or one or more of their affiliates would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Caraco common stock not held by Sun or Sun Global for a per share consideration of $4.75 in cash. This represents a 5% premium over the closing price of Caraco Common Stock on Dec 2, 2010.

7 Dec 2010

Transgenomic signs definitive agreement to acquire diagnostic business of Clinical Data

Transgenomic, Inc. announced today the signing of a definitive agreement for Transgenomic to acquire the diagnostic business of Clinical Data, Inc. This acquisition includes a suite of proprietary genetic commercial tests, certain proprietary biomarker assays, and the CLIA-certified laboratory operations of Clinical Data for a purchase price of approximately $15.4 million, primarily in cash and notes.

29 Nov 2010

State lawmakers consider Medicaid changes

The Houston Chronicle: "Some Republicans who talk about Texas potentially opting out of Medicaid are quick to say the changes wouldn't throw people out on the street — but not House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts." Pitts didn't advocate the Medicaid change but "gave a stark answer when an audience member asked about an ill friend who is on Medicaid."

29 Nov 2010

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Dallas Morning News: "Tea party members and other conservative activists pushed state lawmakers Tuesday to vote to nullify the federal health care law and get out of Medicaid, though one GOP senator said the largely federally funded program pays for nursing home care for the elderly and disabled and is 'not all bad.' … Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and dozens of others said the Legislature should declare the federal law void and also refuse to set up a state health insurance exchange.

24 Nov 2010

New treatment model to incorporate systematic depression screening at primary care visits

A treatment model designed to accommodate the beliefs and concerns of Chinese immigrants appears to significantly improve the recognition and treatment of major depression in this typically underserved group

20 Nov 2010

Cardinal Health announces plan to acquire Kinray

Cardinal Health today announced plans to acquire Kinray, Inc., a leading pharmaceutical distributor serving the New York metropolitan area, for $1.3 billion in an all-cash transaction that will significantly expand its ability to serve retail independent pharmacies in the northeastern United States.

19 Nov 2010

States consider options for funding Medicaid

The Billings Gazette: Montana lawmakers questioned the state's top health official "about plans to hire a private company to manage part of Medicaid, asking why the administration hasn't had a more public discussion on the proposal." The Legislative Finance Committee also listened to "health care providers and former officials who experienced the state's 1995 foray into private management of Medicaid for the mentally ill — and how it became a disaster for its low-income patients and their providers."

18 Nov 2010

Maine has most improved health care quality; Kansas needs more dentists

Maine Public Broadcasting Network News: "Nationwide, Maine is most improved when it comes to health care quality, according to 2009 statistics from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In one year, Maine jumped from 12th place to fourth best in categories ranging from cancer to patient safety, from maternal and child health to long-term care.

17 Nov 2010

States seek ways to balance Medicaid budget, contemplate dropping out of program

Kaiser Health News: "As budget-weary state officials contemplate dropping out of the state-federal Medicaid program, a potentially game-changing question has arisen in Washington: Would poor people who lose Medicaid be eligible for subsidies to buy private coverage in an insurance exchange beginning in 2014? Cindy Mann, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations, last week said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was considering the question.

16 Nov 2010

MEDecision earns NCQA Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set Software Certification

MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has earned the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) Software Certification for its programs that identify "care opportunities."

15 Nov 2010

Health law expected to boost Medicaid enrollees in managed care

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with USA Today, reports: "HealthCare USA is one of dozens of private managed health care plans providing care to nearly half the nearly 50 million Americans on Medicaid, a state-federal program for the poor and disabled.

15 Nov 2010

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

After Republicans in the Texas legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal to opt out of Medicaid last week, experts are trying to determine how serious they are, and whether other states are likely to follow suit, Kaiser Health News reports.

15 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Today's headlines include examinations of Medicaid and state budget issues as well as the next round of the congressional health overhaul fight.

12 Nov 2010

Meridian fourth quarter net sales decrease 16% to $35.5 million

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., reported fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2010 net sales of $35.5 million and $143.0 million, respectively, decreases of 16% and 4%, respectively, from the same periods of the prior fiscal year.

11 Nov 2010

Ky. Health Plan audit; employee costs in Massachusetts; state reform implementation politics

An organization that manages taxpayer-funded health services for Kentucky's poor and disabled spent freely on luxury hotels, meals, salaries, lobbying and consulting, a state auditor found in a 200-plus-page report which calls for stricter accountability for Passport Health Plan, a Medicaid managed-care provider that serves 164,000 people in Louisville and more than a dozen nearby counties.

10 Nov 2010

Mont. Medicaid managed care plan chills health industry

A plan to privatize some Medicaid services trumpeted by Montana's Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer has received a chilly reception from the health industry, leaving no clear resolution to the state's Medicaid funding problems, The Billings (Mont.) Gazette reports.

10 Nov 2010

Zalicus third quarter total revenue decreases to $1.2 million

"We made solid product development progress this quarter," commented Mark H.N. Corrigan, MD, President and CEO of Zalicus. "We finalized our development plans for Synavive, and also related to Synavive, we were awarded a Therapeutic Discovery Project grant to help fund Synavive development going forward.

10 Nov 2010

States slash budgets for tobacco-prevention programs; Florida lawmakers consider Medicaid revision; Md. to probe nonprofit mental health clinic

"Many cash-strapped U.S. states are slashing budgets for tobacco-prevention programs, raising alarms among public-health groups as the nation's progress toward getting adult smokers to quit has stalled. The adult smoking rate was 20.6% in 2009, the same as a year earlier and largely unchanged since 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

10 Nov 2010

Managed Care News and Research

Some in health industry raising concerns about Accountable Care Organizations

First Edition: December 7, 2010

Caraco board to discuss Sun Pharma proposal

Transgenomic signs definitive agreement to acquire diagnostic business of Clinical Data

State lawmakers consider Medicaid changes

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

New treatment model to incorporate systematic depression screening at primary care visits

Cardinal Health announces plan to acquire Kinray

States consider options for funding Medicaid

Maine has most improved health care quality; Kansas needs more dentists

States seek ways to balance Medicaid budget, contemplate dropping out of program

MEDecision earns NCQA Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set Software Certification

Health law expected to boost Medicaid enrollees in managed care

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Meridian fourth quarter net sales decrease 16% to $35.5 million

Ky. Health Plan audit; employee costs in Massachusetts; state reform implementation politics

Mont. Medicaid managed care plan chills health industry

Zalicus third quarter total revenue decreases to $1.2 million

States slash budgets for tobacco-prevention programs; Florida lawmakers consider Medicaid revision; Md. to probe nonprofit mental health clinic

Industry Focus eBook - Forensics & toxicology (2nd edition) eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Latest News