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Dems may add health provisions - including COBRA subsidies and Medicare fixes - to jobs bill

Lawmakers may include a number of Medicare "fixes" in the jobs bill, now that the health overhaul bill has stalled, The Hill reports. They would include restoring Medicare provisions that expired Jan. 1 or are set to expire later this year. "Nursing homes and rehabilitation therapy providers, along with patient groups, are pushing legislation to undo a hard-dollar cap on Medicare coverage of physical, speech and occupational therapy. Hospitals are seeking to restore special payments to large rural and small urban hospitals.

8 Feb 2010

AmerisourceBergen offers rapid implementation methodology for meaningful use of EHRs

AmerisourceBergen announced a unique offering designed to help hospitals and health systems achieve meaningful use readiness for electronic health records (EHR), regardless of the technology they are using.

8 Feb 2010

CVS Caremark reports fourth-quarter and fiscal 2009 results

CVS Caremark Corporation today announced record revenues, operating profit, and income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2009.

8 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 8, 2010

Today's headlines highlight news regarding President Obama's planned summit on health care -- Republicans will be invited.

8 Feb 2010

HealthSpring reports net income of $38.8M for fourth-quarter 2009

HealthSpring, Inc. today announced its results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

8 Feb 2010

Increased Medicare reimbursement leads to rise in outpatient bladder cancer surgeries

Increased Medicare payments to physicians for outpatient surgeries for bladder cancer have led to a dramatic rise in the number of these procedures being performed and an overall increase in cost to the healthcare system. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The findings indicate that some Medicare policies aimed at decreasing costs may instead be contributing to an increase in healthcare expenditures.

8 Feb 2010

Health reform big week ahead: Insurance antitrust exemption, COBRA, Obama's bipartisan meeting

While the talk in the Senate will largely be about jobs, both houses of Congress are expected to take some action on health reform.

7 Feb 2010

HealthSpring nurse practitioner identifies impending heart attack

Olive Branch, Miss. resident Glenn Lusk has a special perspective on the value of his Medicare Advantage plan. It was a HealthSpring-contracted nurse practitioner who discovered during a home visit in November that Lusk was experiencing serious heart trouble.

6 Feb 2010

Kidney care advocates urge passage of key legislation for Georgia’s kidney patients

On Tuesday, February 9, kidney patients from across the state of Georgia will join Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) – a national, non-profit, patient-led organization representing approximately 1,300 members in Georgia and 22,000 members nationwide – in holding a briefing at the State Capitol, followed by a series of meetings with lawmakers and staff, urging the passage of key legislation this year that would help thousands of Georgia’s kidney failure patients who are struggling to access health insurance for the medical care they need.

6 Feb 2010

Research roundup: Medicare spending, community health centers, children's dental services

Health Affairs: Prices Don't Drive Regional Medicare Spending Variations - "Per capita Medicare spending is more than twice as high in New York City and Miami than in places like Salem, Oregon.

6 Feb 2010

About 8% of Americans report difficulty in accessing specialty care

Among the 36 percent of U.S. adults age 18 and older who needed to see a specialist in 2007, about 8 percent reported that getting to see one was a big problem, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

6 Feb 2010

Two U.S. insurers approve coverage of radioembolization for treatment of unresectable liver cancer

MDS Nordion, a global leader in providing products and services for medical imaging and radiotherapeutics, today announced that two of the largest health insurers in the United States have recently approved coverage of radioembolization to treat unresectable liver cancer, which includes the use of MDS Nordion's TheraSphere(R) treatment. The two insurance companies and their affiliates together serve more than one-quarter of Americans and do business in all 50 states.

6 Feb 2010

In jobs bill, Democrats push to include extension of COBRA benefits, Medicare 'doc fix'

The New York Times reports that Democrats are trying to address some health coverage considerations in their jobs bill even as they grasp "for ideas to keep alive their health care legislation." Negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee may be close to a jobs agreement. "Democrats were also pushing to include an extension of unemployment benefits and of health care coverage for those out of work." Also under discussion was the possibility of "attaching other initiatives, including a provision to prevent a steep cut in Medicare payment rates for doctors" (Hulse and Zeleny, 2/4).

6 Feb 2010

FDA's issues guidance on Bayesian statistical methods in medical device clinical trials

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued guidance on Bayesian statistical methods in the design and analysis of medical device clinical trials that could result in less costly and more efficient patient studies.

6 Feb 2010

FDA grants Talecris Biotherapeutics orphan drug designation for Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor to treat AAT deficiency

Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced today that it was granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the development of an aerosol formulation of Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor (Human, A1PI) to treat congenital alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. AAT deficiency is a chronic, hereditary condition that increases the risk of certain diseases, especially emphysema, which typically emerges in the fourth decade of life. Currently, there are no approved, inhaled treatments available for the treatment of AAT deficiency.

5 Feb 2010

New ICD-9-CM database provides FDA-approved and off-label uses for therapeutic drugs

A recently released Drug Diagnosis Coding database from RJ Health Systems provides accurate FDA-approved and Compendia-listed off-label uses for therapeutic classes such as Oncology, Anti-Emetics, Erythropoietin Stimulating Agents and Multiple Sclerosis Agents. The

5 Feb 2010

Nearly 50% of essential services provided for cancer treatment not reimbursed by Medicare

A comprehensive study of the components of the delivery of modern-day cancer care in community oncology practices revealed that Medicare covers only 56% of the actual costs of administering chemotherapy and providing related infusion room services to seniors with cancer. The remaining costs -- for essential services provided such as treatment planning, care coordination, and follow-up care planning -- are not reimbursed by Medicare, causing many oncology practices to struggle to continue to provide care under the Medicare program.

5 Feb 2010

Over 3.5 million crash victims were treated in hospital emergency departments in 2006, says AHRQ report

About 3.5 million motor vehicle crash victims were treated in emergency departments in 2006 for injuries ranging from scrapes and bruises to life-threatening trauma, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

5 Feb 2010

Hope for back pain: Minimally invasive facet arthrodesis and spinal cord stimulation

Results from the first prospective study of minimally invasive facet arthrodesis and long-term data on spinal cord stimulation demonstrate the viability of these options to achieve pain relief in patients with various back pain conditions. The studies were presented today at the American Academy of Pain Medicine's 26th Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX.

5 Feb 2010

New report finds low adult vaccination rates in U.S.

A new report, Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives, released today by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found that more than 30 percent of adults ages 65 and older had not been immunized against pneumonia in 36 states as of 2008.

5 Feb 2010

Medicare News and Research

Dems may add health provisions - including COBRA subsidies and Medicare fixes - to jobs bill

AmerisourceBergen offers rapid implementation methodology for meaningful use of EHRs

CVS Caremark reports fourth-quarter and fiscal 2009 results

First Edition: February 8, 2010

HealthSpring reports net income of $38.8M for fourth-quarter 2009

Increased Medicare reimbursement leads to rise in outpatient bladder cancer surgeries

Health reform big week ahead: Insurance antitrust exemption, COBRA, Obama's bipartisan meeting

HealthSpring nurse practitioner identifies impending heart attack

Kidney care advocates urge passage of key legislation for Georgia’s kidney patients

Research roundup: Medicare spending, community health centers, children's dental services

About 8% of Americans report difficulty in accessing specialty care

Two U.S. insurers approve coverage of radioembolization for treatment of unresectable liver cancer

In jobs bill, Democrats push to include extension of COBRA benefits, Medicare 'doc fix'

FDA's issues guidance on Bayesian statistical methods in medical device clinical trials

FDA grants Talecris Biotherapeutics orphan drug designation for Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor to treat AAT deficiency

New ICD-9-CM database provides FDA-approved and off-label uses for therapeutic drugs

Nearly 50% of essential services provided for cancer treatment not reimbursed by Medicare

Over 3.5 million crash victims were treated in hospital emergency departments in 2006, says AHRQ report

Hope for back pain: Minimally invasive facet arthrodesis and spinal cord stimulation

New report finds low adult vaccination rates in U.S.

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