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Obama makes impassioned argument for health reform, tough measures to combat health fraud

A shirt-sleeved President Barack Obama took his closing arguments for health care reform to the St. Louis area Wednesday.

12 Mar 2010

Detroit federal jury convicts doctor in Medicare fraud scheme

Farmington Hills, Mich., physician Jose Castro-Ramirez was convicted today by a Detroit federal jury on all 13 charged counts in connection with his role in an $18.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

12 Mar 2010

Watson Pharmaceuticals' TRELSTAR receives FDA approval for treatment of advanced prostate cancer

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of TRELSTAR® 22.5 mg (triptorelin pamoate for injectable suspension), a new twice-yearly formulation of TRELSTAR®, a proven, simple and effective palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

11 Mar 2010

Private sector auditors to root out fraud in Medicare and Medicaid: CAGW lauds decision

The nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), today applauded President Obama for announcing that he will use private sector auditors to root out fraud in the country’s two massive government-run healthcare plans, Medicare and Medicaid. The practice of using private sector auditors to identify and recover improper overpayments to healthcare contractors and providers, technically called recovery audit contractors (RACs), has been a staple in the private sector for many years.

11 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 11, 2010

Today's headlines offer details of President Obama's continued full-court press on health reform with an appearance in Missouri. Meanwhile, work to move the bill toward a vote continues on Capitol Hill.

11 Mar 2010

Proposed rule to exchange EHR's without patients' consent will affect Americans' health privacy

The proposed federal rule to create and exchange electronic health records without patients' consent threatens Americans' health privacy, warns the Institute for Health Freedom.

11 Mar 2010

PCMA poll: 74% of people oppose Congress' effort to change FEHBP’s prescription drug benefits

Seventy-four percent of those enrolled in the Federal Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) oppose a new effort by Congress to change the program’s prescription drug benefits, according to a new poll released by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.

11 Mar 2010

New policy document examines options to integrate care for dual eligible beneficiaries

The SCAN Foundation released a policy options document by the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc. (CHCS) summarizing four options to integrate care for dual eligibles, the nearly 9 million seniors and adults with disabilities who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.

11 Mar 2010

RetireSafe: Seniors should call on Congress to stand up for better hospital care and lower hospital costs

Today RetireSafe, representing 400,000 senior citizen supporters across America, urged seniors nationwide to call on Congress to save high-quality physician hospitals from the restrictive health care reform language now pending in Congress. House and Senate "reform" efforts would ration high-quality physician hospital care to Medicare patients, as a "cost savings."

11 Mar 2010

Insight Imaging commences operations in partnership with ARA in the Dallas metro-area

InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. announced today that it has commenced operations in partnership with American Radiology Associates, P.A. in the Dallas metro-area. Insight Imaging will manage the partnership, which has acquired ARA’s Willowbend Diagnostic Imaging Center. ARA has also agreed to provide professional services in the coming months at Insight Diagnostic Center – Forest Lane.

11 Mar 2010

President announces plans to crack down on health care fraud

The Boston Globe: "President Barack Obama said Tuesday he'll bring in high-tech bounty hunters to help root out health care fraud, grabbing a populist idea with bipartisan backing in his final push to overhaul the system. ... Obama's anti-fraud announcement was aimed directly at the political middle."

11 Mar 2010

Non-profit operations plugging health care gap in Chicago

Medill Reports presents a story on community health centers in Chicago that try to fill access-to-care gaps for people too sick to get health care coverage or too poor to afford other care.

11 Mar 2010

Passage of legislation could spell disaster for Idaho's health care system

Hundreds of thousands of Idahoans struggling with the high cost of health care received bad news last night -- no relief and more problems are on the way. With the passage of the Idaho Health Freedom Act (House Bill 391), the Senate moved forward legislation that could spell disaster for Idaho's health care system, while addressing none of the health care issues plaguing families across the state.

11 Mar 2010

Liberator Medical Holdings closes private placement of 4.66M common stock shares

Liberator Medical Holdings, Inc. announces today the closing of a private placement of 4,666,667 shares of its common stock for gross proceeds of $7.0 million on March 9, 2010, to a single institutional investor. Littlebanc Advisors, LLC. acted as the sole placement agent and financial advisor to the Company. Liberator's Board of Directors unanimously approved the transaction. As part of the transaction, the institutional investor has the right to add a member of its choice to Liberator Medical's Board of Directors.

11 Mar 2010

Senate poised to pass COBRA subsidy extension, Medicare 'doc fix'

The Senate is set to vote Wednesday on a jobs bill that would extend the COBRA subsidy program and Medicaid funding for states and prevent a Medicare reimbursement cut for doctors.

11 Mar 2010

Senate passes extension of COBRA and other unemployment benefits

The Hill: Six Senate Republicans joined most Democrats to approve a package of unemployment aid and tax provisions. The bill, which its backers say is "a necessary step during the economic recovery," passed on a 62-36 vote. "The bulk of the bill's cost -- about $80 billion -- goes toward prolonging increased levels of federal unemployment aid and COBRA healthcare benefits for the jobless through the end of December." The measure's remaining cost would extend "the current rate of Medicare payments to doctors, which is scheduled to see a 21 percent rate cut" as well as a number of tax breaks.

10 Mar 2010

Five facts about Obama's proposed changes to Medicare payroll tax

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver outlines some key issues, starting with: "Should affluent Americans have to pay Medicare payroll tax on their investment income?

10 Mar 2010

FDA clears Oculus Innovative Sciences' Microcyn Skin and Wound HydroGel

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc., a commercial medical technology company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, today announced that it has received new 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new dermatology indications for Microcyn® Skin and Wound HydroGel.

10 Mar 2010

FDA approves Abbott's TECNIS Multifocal 1-Piece intraocular lens for cataract patients

Abbott announced today it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the TECNIS® Multifocal 1-Piece intraocular lens (IOL) for cataract patients with and without presbyopia.

10 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 10, 2010

Protests, million-dollar ad campaigns, deepening partisan fault lines and president's stepped-up health reform end game dominate today's health care headlines.

10 Mar 2010

Medicare News and Research

Obama makes impassioned argument for health reform, tough measures to combat health fraud

Detroit federal jury convicts doctor in Medicare fraud scheme

Watson Pharmaceuticals' TRELSTAR receives FDA approval for treatment of advanced prostate cancer

Private sector auditors to root out fraud in Medicare and Medicaid: CAGW lauds decision

First Edition: March 11, 2010

Proposed rule to exchange EHR's without patients' consent will affect Americans' health privacy

PCMA poll: 74% of people oppose Congress' effort to change FEHBP’s prescription drug benefits

New policy document examines options to integrate care for dual eligible beneficiaries

RetireSafe: Seniors should call on Congress to stand up for better hospital care and lower hospital costs

Insight Imaging commences operations in partnership with ARA in the Dallas metro-area

President announces plans to crack down on health care fraud

Non-profit operations plugging health care gap in Chicago

Passage of legislation could spell disaster for Idaho's health care system

Liberator Medical Holdings closes private placement of 4.66M common stock shares

Senate poised to pass COBRA subsidy extension, Medicare 'doc fix'

Senate passes extension of COBRA and other unemployment benefits

Five facts about Obama's proposed changes to Medicare payroll tax

FDA clears Oculus Innovative Sciences' Microcyn Skin and Wound HydroGel

FDA approves Abbott's TECNIS Multifocal 1-Piece intraocular lens for cataract patients

First Edition: March 10, 2010

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

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