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Evaluating all Medicare plan options can reduce healthcare costs

Nearly 8 million former workers have disabilities so severe that they rely on Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, and an estimated 3.3 million more will apply for disability benefits this year. For these people and others suffering from serious conditions and disabilities, taking the right steps quickly to manage costs is essential for their financial and health well-being, according to Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security disability representation and Medicare plan selection services.

18 Mar 2010

MediCare International offers insurance for all nationalities

The Lebanon is an important centre for international workers - Post conflict international health cover hard to arrange - Good hospital facilities can only be accessed with the right cover - MediCare International offers insurance for all nationalities

18 Mar 2010

NIST and HHS to develop software tools to support health IT testing infrastructure

Fully incorporating modern information technology into the healthcare system promises many benefits, including better quality care, less paperwork and fewer medical errors while reducing unnecessary costs. In any such critical application, however, it's important to ensure that the new technology behaves as expected.

18 Mar 2010

Senate parliamentarian wields authority over Democrats' health care efforts

The Associated Press: "When Congress battles over thorny bills, parliamentarian Alan Frumin has been known to sleep in his office — on call 24/7 as the Senate's Solomon, divining the answers. Frumin's ability to review long-standing rules and centuries of precedent to resolve Senate questions makes the mustachioed parliamentarian something of a Washington rock star these days.

18 Mar 2010

SBCA urges Congressional representatives to consider detrimental impact of health care reform bill

The Small Business Council of America urges Members of the House of Representatives to vote against the Senate health care reform bill. The SBCA believes the details of this legislation will not only harm small businesses and their ability to provide health care to their employees, but that it could lead to the ultimate demise of this country's private health care system.

18 Mar 2010

House Democratic leader twisting arms of the rank-and-file; Tracking health reform vote tally

Democrats are pressuring fellow members to accept the health care reform legislation and are playing hardball to secure votes for the health reform package.

18 Mar 2010

Drugmakers are 'under-exposed' in emerging markets, report says

Growing markets for pharmaceuticals in China, Brazil, Russia and India are outpacing national markets in Europe and the U.S., but major drugmakers have been slow to expand in these markets and may lose opportunities, a new study finds, The New York Times reports. To put the shift in perspective, China will overtake both France and Germany next year in terms of drug spending, while Brazil will overtake Britain, according to the report by research firm IMS Health.

18 Mar 2010

Idaho Health Freedom Act does nothing to tackle state's health care crisis, says AARP

The health care crisis hundreds of thousands of Idahoans face every day may have just gone from bad to worse with the stroke of a pen. Today, Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter signed the Idaho Health Freedom Act into law, a bill strongly opposed by AARP.

18 Mar 2010

Democrats take aim at deficit targets, continue to wait for CBO numbers on health overhaul

"With Congress just days away from an expected vote, Democrats still hadn't settled on final language of the bill and until they do the Congressional Budget Office can't release an estimate for how much the complete package would cost." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) said yesterday that "he hoped Democratic leaders would be able to lock down final details soon.

18 Mar 2010

I-SPY 2: The Biomarkers Consortium launches clinical trial for high risk, fast-growing breast cancers

The Biomarkers Consortium, a unique public-private partnership that includes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and major pharmaceutical companies, led by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), today announced the launch of a highly anticipated clinical trial to help screen promising new drugs being developed for women with high risk, fast-growing breast cancers—women for whom an improvement over standard treatment could dramatically change the odds of survival.

18 Mar 2010

As Medicare pay shrinks, some California doctors hike patient fees

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver writes about a California cardiology group that has confronted steep Medicare cuts with a tactic that may irk patients who already face soaring health costs.

18 Mar 2010

Cut looms for Medicare payments to doctors

Marketwatch/The Seattle Times reports on the looming 21 percent cut to physicians' Medicare payments. "The cut was to take effect March 1 until Congress delayed it by 30 days. The Senate then voted last Wednesday to postpone the cut an additional six months as part of a larger bill that extends unemployment benefits. The measure now moves to the House."

17 Mar 2010

Full Medicare coverage for IVF: CFAS felicitates Quebec government

The Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) congratulates Premier Jean Charest and his Government on their announcement of full Medicare coverage for in-vitro fertilization treatments in Quebec.

17 Mar 2010

New chemotherapy agents improve survival time for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

New chemotherapy agents appear associated with improvements in survival time for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer but at substantial cost.

17 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 17, 2010

Today's news continues to focus on Democratic leaders' efforts to finalize their health reform package and gather the votes necessary to gain House passage.

17 Mar 2010

Systemic underfunding of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis puts millions of Americans' health at risk

Warning that "systemic underfunding of the Centers for Disease Control's Division of Viral Hepatitis puts millions of Americans' health and well-being at risk," the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable today called on the Administration to work with Congress to take decisive action this year to fix the funding failure for viral hepatitis screening, surveillance, and early intervention programs.

17 Mar 2010

EBRI analysis shows increasing number of older Americans are staying in work force

Reflecting the changing economic landscape, more older workers are staying in the work force, but increasingly in part-time rather than full-time jobs, according to new research released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

17 Mar 2010

Consumers are becoming more price-sensitive toward brand-name drugs

The results of a new Pharma Insight study released today by Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of scientific information and analytics to the pharmaceutical and biotech fields, is not exactly what the doctor ordered. The company's annual analysis of the U.S. pharma market suggests that the economy has led to increased patient participation in decisions about prescription drugs.

17 Mar 2010

MedSolutions launches oncology management program for cancer patients

MedSolutions (www.medsolutions.com), a leading provider of medical cost management services, today announced the launch of its oncology management program, which uses evidence-based guidelines to ensure appropriate use of diagnostic imaging, radiation therapy and drugs for cancer patients.

17 Mar 2010

Obama makes a final overhaul pitch in Ohio

With a possible deciding vote on health care overhaul legislation nearing, President Obama traveled Monday to Ohio to make a last-minute plea for political "courage" to pass the legislation, The Washington Post reports. "Making an impassioned pitch in a part of the country where unemployment runs high and insurance coverage is uncertain, Obama said in a speech at a senior center here, 'I don't know about the politics, but I know what's the right thing to do'" (Slevin and Branigin, 3/15).

17 Mar 2010

Medicare News and Research

Evaluating all Medicare plan options can reduce healthcare costs

MediCare International offers insurance for all nationalities

NIST and HHS to develop software tools to support health IT testing infrastructure

Senate parliamentarian wields authority over Democrats' health care efforts

SBCA urges Congressional representatives to consider detrimental impact of health care reform bill

House Democratic leader twisting arms of the rank-and-file; Tracking health reform vote tally

Drugmakers are 'under-exposed' in emerging markets, report says

Idaho Health Freedom Act does nothing to tackle state's health care crisis, says AARP

Democrats take aim at deficit targets, continue to wait for CBO numbers on health overhaul

I-SPY 2: The Biomarkers Consortium launches clinical trial for high risk, fast-growing breast cancers

As Medicare pay shrinks, some California doctors hike patient fees

Cut looms for Medicare payments to doctors

Full Medicare coverage for IVF: CFAS felicitates Quebec government

New chemotherapy agents improve survival time for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

First Edition: March 17, 2010

Systemic underfunding of CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis puts millions of Americans' health at risk

EBRI analysis shows increasing number of older Americans are staying in work force

Consumers are becoming more price-sensitive toward brand-name drugs

MedSolutions launches oncology management program for cancer patients

Obama makes a final overhaul pitch in Ohio

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

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