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ACP urges Congress and Obama to enact comprehensive health care reform

"The unfortunate truth is that by many measures, the State of America's health care is in decline," Joseph W. Stubbs, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), reported today at ACP's annual State of the Nation's Health Care briefing. "We have too many uninsured, too few primary care physicians, and the cost of health care is rising faster than we can afford."

17 Feb 2010

Former Senate parliamentarian questions reconciliation, Senators want public option back

A former Senate parliamentarian said Tuesday that using reconciliation to pass health care reform will be difficult because the procedure wasn't meant to make policy, Politico's Live Pulse blog reports. The former parliamentarian, Robert Dove, who now teaches at George Washington University, said there are many things that cannot be put into the reconciliation bill. "Dove would know. In 1974, in the midst of his 36-year Senate career, he helped design the Congressional Budget Act, which first created the rules for reconciliation.

17 Feb 2010

Deficit panel to tackle worries of federal debt, including health spending

The New York Times reports that President Obama's appointment of a special panel to study the nation's debt will come "(a)fter decades of warnings that budgetary profligacy, escalating health care costs and an aging population would lead to a day of fiscal reckoning."

17 Feb 2010

COBRA expansion, Medicare payments to doctors 'fix' looming over Congress

Lawmakers seek ways to expand COBRA and address the Medicare doctor payment "fix."

17 Feb 2010

Health Canada approves Talecris Biotherapeutics' PROLASTIN-C for AAT deficiency

Talecris Biotherapeutics announced today that it has received approval from Health Canada for PROLASTIN®-C (Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor [Human]), a more purified and concentrated version of PROLASTIN® produced using advances in manufacturing technology. A similar approval for PROLASTIN-C was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on October 17, 2009.

17 Feb 2010

St. David's Healthcare to acquire Texas-based multi-hospital regional healthcare system

St. David's HealthCare and MedCath Corporation today announced an agreement for St. David's HealthCare to acquire the Heart Hospital of Austin. St. David's HealthCare is a multi-hospital regional healthcare system based in Austin, Texas.

17 Feb 2010

Office Ally experienced strong growth in previous year, sees record-breaking expansion in 2010

Office Ally, a true health information network connecting patients, providers and payers, experienced strong growth in the previous year and sees further record-breaking expansion in 2010.

17 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 17, 2010

Today's headlines reflect more chatter about President Obama's upcoming health summit, as well as talk about budget deficits, the COBRA extension and party gridlock.

17 Feb 2010

AHF to protest Merck’s Isentress pricing and policies at CROI

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a protest Wednesday morning, February 17 at 8:00am targeting Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals over the pricing and policies for its key HIV/AIDS drug, Isentress, the most expensive first-line AIDS treatment in the US, during the 17th Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco.

17 Feb 2010

Picis launches LYNX CareBridge software to help hospitals address medical necessity challenges

To admit or not to admit? That’s the question being asked by many emergency department (ED) physicians and hospital administrators hundreds of times a day. Hospitals often place patients into observation who might otherwise be admitted, because intensity of service and medical necessity for these patients are not clearly defined or documented.

17 Feb 2010

MBF to invest nearly $50M of equity capital to support Florida HMO

MBF Healthcare Partners, L.P. (“MBF”), a healthcare services focused private equity firm, announced its plans to invest up to $50 million of equity capital to support Simply Healthcare Plans of Florida, Inc. (“SHP”), an HMO based in Coral Gables, Florida. The equity investment will be used to fund expansion and acquisition efforts in Medicare and Medicaid. SHP is a licensed HMO in Florida that has been approved by the State to expand into the Medicare and Medicaid markets.

17 Feb 2010

AZ&Me Prescription Savings programs help 13% more patients in 2009

AstraZeneca announced today that it provided $769.6 million in savings to 507,475 patients in the United States last year through its AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings programs.

17 Feb 2010

CMS study predicts healthcare spending may double by 2019

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc.. Unlike other industries, spending on healthcare showed no signs of slowing down and the sector made its biggest one-year jump ever according to a new study by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

17 Feb 2010

States struggle with insurance cost and coverage in Ohio, Rhode Island and Nebraska

The Columbus Dispatch reports that a health-insurance co-operative founded by Tom Rose, a retired businessman from Marietta, Ohio, "hopes to give people who feel alone in the health-care market that power-in-numbers feeling. ... Benefits Unlimited Inc. started in 2007 and started accepting dues-paying members across the nation last month. ... Annual dues range from $25 for an individual or household to $1,500 for employers or associations with 500 or more people.

17 Feb 2010

Investigation: Dangerous caregivers missing from federal database of disciplinary records

News outlets report on health care fraud and legal issues, including missing disciplinary records in a federal database of dangerous caregivers and a new federal bill that would target fake Medicare claims for prescriptions and equipment.

17 Feb 2010

Study shows value-based plans can improve adherence for diabetes medicines

A study by CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), published this week in the American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, finds that insurance benefit designs that reduce the cost of medications for plan participants result in patients being more likely to start and stay on their medication therapy.

17 Feb 2010

Two prominent Georgia physicians call for Senate action to stop 21% Medicare cut

Making a plea to Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, two prominent Georgia physicians who head national physician organizations joined with American Medical Association (AMA) President J. James Rohack, M.D. to call for Senate action this month to stop a 21 percent Medicare cut that will hurt seniors and military families on March 1.

17 Feb 2010

Will health care savings be used to reduce the deficit?

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey writes: "In their effort to overhaul the health system, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats pressed hospitals, drug makers and other providers to accept billions of dollars in government payment cuts and new fees to help finance the legislation.

16 Feb 2010

WellPoint cancels Investor Day, schedules conference call to review 2010 financial outlook

WellPoint, Inc. today cancelled its Investor Day previously scheduled for February 23, 2010, and announced that management will review the Company's 2010 financial outlook during a conference call on March 17, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Company continues to expect full year 2010 net income to be at least $6.00 per share, subject to its ability to secure and maintain sufficient premium rates.

16 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 16, 2010

Today's health policy headlines cover a range of topics -- from using health savings to reduce the deficit to how tort reform fits into the current health reform negotiations.

16 Feb 2010

Medicare News and Research

ACP urges Congress and Obama to enact comprehensive health care reform

Former Senate parliamentarian questions reconciliation, Senators want public option back

Deficit panel to tackle worries of federal debt, including health spending

COBRA expansion, Medicare payments to doctors 'fix' looming over Congress

Health Canada approves Talecris Biotherapeutics' PROLASTIN-C for AAT deficiency

St. David's Healthcare to acquire Texas-based multi-hospital regional healthcare system

Office Ally experienced strong growth in previous year, sees record-breaking expansion in 2010

First Edition: February 17, 2010

AHF to protest Merck’s Isentress pricing and policies at CROI

Picis launches LYNX CareBridge software to help hospitals address medical necessity challenges

MBF to invest nearly $50M of equity capital to support Florida HMO

AZ&Me Prescription Savings programs help 13% more patients in 2009

CMS study predicts healthcare spending may double by 2019

States struggle with insurance cost and coverage in Ohio, Rhode Island and Nebraska

Investigation: Dangerous caregivers missing from federal database of disciplinary records

Study shows value-based plans can improve adherence for diabetes medicines

Two prominent Georgia physicians call for Senate action to stop 21% Medicare cut

Will health care savings be used to reduce the deficit?

WellPoint cancels Investor Day, schedules conference call to review 2010 financial outlook

First Edition: February 16, 2010

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