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Reid planning to start debate on COBRA, Medicaid help extensions

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is planning to start debate Monday on a bill that would extend COBRA health coverage benefit subsidies for people who have been laid-off. The measure, part of a larger package of expired government programs, also would help states with Medicaid reimbursements.

2 Mar 2010

Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights opposes Medicare payment cuts

Due to Congressional inaction, Medicare’s reimbursement rates to doctors for their care of our nation’s elderly population will be cut a staggering 21 percent today.

2 Mar 2010

MedPac urges Feds to cut payments to private insurers

Reuters: The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) on Monday issued nonbinding recommendations that Medicare "cut U.S. government payments to private insurers and home healthcare providers." The panel, which is an independent body set up to advise Congress on Medicare, "repeated its earlier call for the federal government to pay private insurers that offer coverage known as Medicare Advantage the same as it pays when Medicare reimburses providers directly."

2 Mar 2010

Acorda Therapeutics' AMPYRA now available in the U.S. and Puerto Rico

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that AMPYRA™ (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg is now available by prescription in the United States and Puerto Rico. AMPYRA was approved on January 22, 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This was demonstrated by an increase in walking speed. AMPYRA is indicated for use in all types of MS, and can be used either alone or with existing therapies, including disease-modifying agents.

1 Mar 2010

Palliative care helps improve quality, cut end of life care costs

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on palliative care and focuses on a fairly typical American hospital in Abington.

1 Mar 2010

Thirty-six organizations urge Congress to pass health reform legislation

State, regional and national public health associations today called on Congress to send comprehensive health reform legislation to the president in the coming weeks. Thirty-six organizations representing tens of thousands of public health professionals from Alaska to Maine, Iowa to Kentucky and states in between signed on to a letter to members of Congress urging action.

1 Mar 2010

Physicians urge Senators to repeal Medicare cuts

The U.S. Senate's failure to act before today's 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has put seniors at grave risk of reduced access to health care and choice of physician.

1 Mar 2010

Medicare cuts to doctors payments go into effect today

Starting today, doctors face a 21 percent cut in their reimbursements from Medicare based on a federal budget law that sets physican payments based on other economic factors. In past years, Congress has routinely waived such cuts. The House passed a bill to again postpone the cuts but a similar attempt in the Senate stalled last week.

1 Mar 2010

Amerigroup introduces long-term care program to address complex health concerns

Amerigroup Corporation today announced that its Tennessee health plan began offering long-term care (LTC) services to approximately 4,000 existing middle Tennessee members through the state's TennCare CHOICES in LTC program.

1 Mar 2010

Elsevier to present tactical solutions for advancing healthcare quality at HIMSS 2010

Advancing healthcare quality to help improve patient outcomes and economic efficiency continues to be a primary focus in 2010 for Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information. During HIMSS 2010 (Atlanta, GA, March 1-3), Elsevier Clinical Decision Support will feature solutions that directly impact the quality of care, including evidence-based clinical content and tools; interdisciplinary documentation, planning and guidelines; drug decision support; interactive skills and procedures; data mining and outcomes analysis; and eLearning.

1 Mar 2010

Axolotl celebrates 15 years of software development and HIE implementation

Axolotl Corp., the nationwide leader in health information exchange (HIE) services and solutions, celebrates fifteen successful years of software development and HIE implementation. Since its founding in 1995, Axolotl has been providing advanced Clinical Networking™ solutions to meet the diverse and changing needs of physicians, hospitals, regional health information organizations (RHIOs) and statewide HIEs to achieve interoperability across entire medical trading areas.

1 Mar 2010

Growth rate among non-radiologists who own/lease PET equipment is on the rise: Study

Just as with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the growth rate among non-radiologists who own or lease positron emission tomography (PET) equipment is also on the rise, contributing significantly to the ongoing issues surrounding self-referral and unnecessary utilization of imaging in the United States, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org)

1 Mar 2010

Senate fails to repeal Medicare physician payment formula

A Medicare meltdown now seems certain, as the U.S. Senate has left early for the weekend, abandoning seniors, military families and baby boomers. The Senate failed to repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 21 percent payment cut to physicians who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients.

28 Feb 2010

Republicans press campaign against reconciliation; Mccain seek to strip Medicare out of health bill

Republicans and Democrat hit the Sunday talk shows today to debate whether a complex congressional process called 'reconciliation' should be used to consider a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system. Reconciliation is normally used for 'taxing and spending and reducing deficits,' said Sen.

28 Feb 2010

Aetna.com: Most visited health insurance website

The recently redesigned Aetna.com is a hit with web surfers, who made it the most visited website among health insurers in the fourth quarter of 2009. In fact, 20 percent of Americans who visited a health insurance website during the quarter visited an Aetna site, according to “The Online Health Insurance Landscape,” an independent online audience measurement of health insurance websites recently released by comScore.

27 Feb 2010

Two Atlanta-based nursing homes and their principals to pay the U.S. and several states $14M

Atlanta-based Mariner Health Care Inc. and SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services LLC, as well as their principals, Leonard Grunstein, Murray Forman and Rubin Schron, have agreed to pay the United States and several states $14 million, the Justice Department announced today.

27 Feb 2010

MSKIC accomplishes Obama's challenge by leveraging technology to health information sharing

Musculoskeletal Imaging Consultants announces release of “Inside Business with Fred Thompson” documentary. MSKIC accomplishes Obama challenge of “more for less” by leveraging technology and bypassing obstructions to health information sharing.

27 Feb 2010

Blacks less likely to know they have atrial fibrillation or about use of warfarin

A large nationwide study that includes neurologists from Mayo Clinic has found that blacks are substantially less likely than whites to know that they have atrial fibrillation or to use warfarin, the most common treatment for the condition. Atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm, significantly increases risk of stroke. Warfarin is known to reduce that risk.

27 Feb 2010

Frequent error in medicine occurs nearly one out of three times a patient is referred to specialist: Study

The most frequent error in medicine seems to occur nearly one out of three times a patient is referred to a specialist. A new study found that nearly a third of patients age 65 and older referred to a specialist are not scheduled for appointments and therefore do not receive the treatment their primary care doctor intended.

27 Feb 2010

Hospital Roundup: Recession takes toll on NY hospital, investigation of heart surgeries in Maryland and California's soaring fees

The New York Times: Harlem's North General hospital may fold. Despite "often successful" efforts by "Harlem's civic, political and religious leaders … to get more money and more state subsidies to keep it going," the hospital may not survive this period of general "economic malaise." The hospital serves many low-income and uninsured patients in addition to middle-income patients. A rehabilitation center operated by a city-run hospital appears to be eyeing its location for an expansion as hospital officials consider restructuring and linking up with partners (Hartocollis, 2/25).

27 Feb 2010

Medicare News and Research

Reid planning to start debate on COBRA, Medicaid help extensions

Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights opposes Medicare payment cuts

MedPac urges Feds to cut payments to private insurers

Acorda Therapeutics' AMPYRA now available in the U.S. and Puerto Rico

Palliative care helps improve quality, cut end of life care costs

Thirty-six organizations urge Congress to pass health reform legislation

Physicians urge Senators to repeal Medicare cuts

Medicare cuts to doctors payments go into effect today

Amerigroup introduces long-term care program to address complex health concerns

Elsevier to present tactical solutions for advancing healthcare quality at HIMSS 2010

Axolotl celebrates 15 years of software development and HIE implementation

Growth rate among non-radiologists who own/lease PET equipment is on the rise: Study

Senate fails to repeal Medicare physician payment formula

Republicans press campaign against reconciliation; Mccain seek to strip Medicare out of health bill

Aetna.com: Most visited health insurance website

Two Atlanta-based nursing homes and their principals to pay the U.S. and several states $14M

MSKIC accomplishes Obama's challenge by leveraging technology to health information sharing

Blacks less likely to know they have atrial fibrillation or about use of warfarin

Frequent error in medicine occurs nearly one out of three times a patient is referred to specialist: Study

Hospital Roundup: Recession takes toll on NY hospital, investigation of heart surgeries in Maryland and California's soaring fees

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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