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LCA-Vision second-quarter revenues decrease to $26.3 million

LCA-Vision Inc., a leading provider of laser vision correction services under the LasikPlus® brand, today announced financial and operational results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010.

27 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 27, 2010

Today's health policy news includes reports about the continuing Senate backlash to Dr. Donald Berwick's appointment to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as findings from a new poll that reveal seniors really don't understand health reform.

27 Jul 2010

Centene second-quarter premium and service revenues increase 12.8% to $1.051 billion

Centene Corporation today announced net earnings from continuing operations for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, of $23.0 million, or $0.45 per diluted share.

27 Jul 2010

L2FU reports 100% recovery of recent study's lost clinical trial patients

Recovering unnecessarily lost patient information is now a viable reality. Lost to follow up rates in clinical research trials can range from 20- 60%. As a result, patients who drop from a clinical trial and 'go missing' can impart a major set-back in pharmaceutical research. Failure to contact patients and obtain final closure data, or bring them back into the clinical trial (if the protocol allows) results in study delays, increased patient recruitment costs, compromised study data, and in some cases an insufficient amount of information to prove the safety and efficacy of a drug.

26 Jul 2010

Effective prevention therapy, early critical care and rehabilitation needed to overcome cost burden of stroke

The consequences of stroke, reported to be the third leading cause of death in the U.S., can extend beyond the physical to impose devastating financial burdens on families and society in general. According to the American Heart Association, the total direct and indirect costs of stroke in 2008 have been estimated at $65.5 billion.

23 Jul 2010

Prototype ring with sensors helps to detect, prevent preterm labor

The birth of a baby is usually a joyous event, but when a child is born too early, worrisome complications can occur, including serious health problems for the baby and steep medical bills for the family. To address this, Johns Hopkins graduate students and their faculty adviser have invented a new system to pick up very early signs that a woman is going into labor too soon.

22 Jul 2010

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group reported a second quarter profit jump of 31 percent as enrollment in the insurer's plans went up, The Associated Press/The New York Times reports. "The company's total enrollment grew about 1 percent, to 32.5 million compared with last year, with gains in Medicare and Medicaid businesses offsetting commercial health insurance losses." The company's commercial enrollment fell 440,000 as the sector deals with job cuts and the recession (7/20).

22 Jul 2010

Insurer earnings strong, but new health law may take toll

"As health insurers release earnings starting this week, the focus will likely be on clues as to how the U.S. health overhaul affects margins and growth," Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports. "Led by managed-care bellwether UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), the sector is seen posting hardy earnings for the second quarter.

21 Jul 2010

Meridian Bioscience third-quarter net sales decrease 11% to $33.9 million

Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 were $33,857,000 as compared to $38,240,000 for the same period of the prior fiscal year, a decrease of 11%. Net earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 were $6,424,000 or $0.16 per diluted share, both decreases of 24%, compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2009. (Net earnings include $673,000 in Bioline acquisition costs or $0.01 per diluted share.) Diluted common shares outstanding for fiscal 2010 and 2009 were 41,151,000 and 41,191,000, respectively.

20 Jul 2010

Rockport announces network partner alliance agreement with Evolutions Healthcare Systems

Rockport Healthcare Group, a national preferred provider organization (PPO) focused exclusively on workers' compensation, has announced a network partner alliance agreement with Florida-based Evolutions Healthcare Systems, one of the largest independently owned PPO networks serving employers, carriers and third party administrators nationwide.

20 Jul 2010

New report compares efficacy of Plavix, Effient in treating patients with ACS

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome, 56 percent of surveyed interventional cardiologists who prescribe Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi-Aventis' Plavix in high doses, consider it to be comparable in efficacy to Daiichi Sankyo/Eli Lilly's recently-launched Effient.

20 Jul 2010

Florida Medicaid recipients make fewer trips to doctors; Calif. payments to health clinics in jeopardy; Texas addresses nursing shortage

Northeast Florida's Medicaid recipients are making fewer trips to the doctor for chronic illnesses since state officials outsourced the government-subsidized health insurance program to private managed care companies. But it remains unclear from the analysis performed by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, whether they're healthier for it. Medicaid reform was launched in 2006 in Duval and Broward counties to test whether HMOs could rein in the state's Medicaid spending.

15 Jul 2010

WL Ross and Mac Crawford announce joint venture to co-invest in and restructure healthcare companies

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., CEO of WL Ross & Co. LLC, and Edwin "Mac" Crawford announced today a joint venture, Crawford-Ross, to co-invest in and restructure healthcare companies. Mr. Ross said, "We are prepared to invest more than $1 billion to support Mac and his team as we jointly build a major position in healthcare."

14 Jul 2010

Molina Healthcare signs definitive agreement to acquire Abri Health Plan

Molina Healthcare, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abri Health Plan, a provider of Medicaid managed care services to BadgerCare Plus and SSI Managed Care enrollees in Wisconsin. The purchase price for the acquisition is expected to be approximately $16 million, subject to adjustments, and will be funded with available cash and/or the Company's credit facility.

13 Jul 2010

MHPA responds to CMS annual report on Medicaid managed care enrollment

Medicaid Health Plans of America, the leading trade association solely focused on representing Medicaid health plans, responded today to an annual report just released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Medicaid managed care enrollment, which showed Medicaid health plan enrollment grew by almost 2.4 million members in 2009 to more than 23.4 million Americans nationwide.

8 Jul 2010

Health information technology improves quality of care, study shows

Secure patient-physician e-mail messaging improves the effectiveness of care for patients with diabetes and hypertension, according to new research by Kaiser Permanente. The study, published in the July issue of Health Affairs, shows that health information technology improves quality of care scores.

8 Jul 2010

Cymetrix announces expanded partnership with Torrance Memorial Medical Center

Cymetrix, a leader in providing hospitals and healthcare networks with revenue cycle management solutions, today announced an expanded partnership with Torrance Memorial Medical Center to provide self-pay accounts receivable management services. Cymetrix's outstanding performance, and its ability to help the medical center increase its payments from managed care organizations during an earlier contract, contributed to Torrance Memorial's decision to expand its partnership.

7 Jul 2010

State Roundup: Florida to investigate WellCare; Calif. budget cuts; Computer system helps states find Medicaid savings

Nextgov: "A 17-year-old computer data matching system designed to prevent welfare recipients from drawing benefits in more than one state at a time is now helping cash-strapped states save millions of dollars -- but not as originally intended.

3 Jul 2010

Coventry's Fitch ratings unaffected by Louisiana Court of Appeals' adverse ruling

Fitch Ratings commented today that its ratings on Coventry Health Care, Inc. (Coventry) are unaffected by the company's announcement this morning that it will take a $278 million charge against second-quarter earnings related to an adverse ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the state of Louisiana.

3 Jul 2010

Insurer stocks drop; Drugmakers shed 35,000 jobs

News outlets report on a drop in health insurance stocks and the elimination of 35,000 jobs in the drug industry this year.

3 Jul 2010

Managed Care News and Research

LCA-Vision second-quarter revenues decrease to $26.3 million

First Edition: July 27, 2010

Centene second-quarter premium and service revenues increase 12.8% to $1.051 billion

L2FU reports 100% recovery of recent study's lost clinical trial patients

Effective prevention therapy, early critical care and rehabilitation needed to overcome cost burden of stroke

Prototype ring with sensors helps to detect, prevent preterm labor

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Insurer earnings strong, but new health law may take toll

Meridian Bioscience third-quarter net sales decrease 11% to $33.9 million

Rockport announces network partner alliance agreement with Evolutions Healthcare Systems

New report compares efficacy of Plavix, Effient in treating patients with ACS

Florida Medicaid recipients make fewer trips to doctors; Calif. payments to health clinics in jeopardy; Texas addresses nursing shortage

WL Ross and Mac Crawford announce joint venture to co-invest in and restructure healthcare companies

Molina Healthcare signs definitive agreement to acquire Abri Health Plan

MHPA responds to CMS annual report on Medicaid managed care enrollment

Health information technology improves quality of care, study shows

Cymetrix announces expanded partnership with Torrance Memorial Medical Center

State Roundup: Florida to investigate WellCare; Calif. budget cuts; Computer system helps states find Medicaid savings

Coventry's Fitch ratings unaffected by Louisiana Court of Appeals' adverse ruling

Insurer stocks drop; Drugmakers shed 35,000 jobs

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