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Proposed Federal budget cuts will put seniors at risk

The Health Facilities Association of Maryland (HFAM) today brought together U.S. Representative Frank Kratovil (MD-1) and residents, workers and leaders from the Salisbury Rehabilitation and Nursing Center to personalize the pending effects of a proposed $32 billion federal cut to Medicare.

20 Aug 2009

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance projected to double in 10 years

Nationally, family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 119 percent between 1999 and 2008, and could increase another 94 percent to an average $23,842 per family by 2020 if cost growth continues on its current course, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.

20 Aug 2009

House healthcare reform legislation and administrative rule combined cut $44 billion in Medicare funds for long term care

The Community Cares Coalition (CoCares) - a national coalition of community long term care businesses and organizations providing key services to the skilled nursing community - today said that while long term care businesses support reform measures to increase efficiencies in the healthcare system and promote cost savings, the current reform proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives and a recent administrative rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') that cut $44 billion Medicare funds to long term care will have the opposite impact on nursing home care and the businesses and organizations that support the nation's long term care sector.

20 Aug 2009

House Democrats ask to examine health insurers' finances

House Democrats examine pay and profit for health insurers as health insurance stocks dip lower than market.

20 Aug 2009

Enterprise Technology Solutions and Health Net Federal Services to provide recovery audit services to VA HAC

Enterprise Technology Solutions (ETS) LLC, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Health Net Federal Services LLC, the government operations division of Health Net, Inc., (NYSE:HNT) today announced they have been awarded a contract by the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Administration Center (VA HAC) to provide recovery audit services of VA payments made for non-VA hospital care to veterans. As the prime contractor for this agreement, ETS will provide program management, and Health Net Federal Services, the prime subcontractor, will provide technical and operational expertise.

20 Aug 2009

Seasonal flu vaccinations to cost less in Safeway's U.S. Stores

Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) added to its leadership reputation in health care reform and cost control by offering seasonal flu vaccines in its U.S. stores at a substantial savings compared with the cost of doctor-administered vaccines. The lower cost will help consumers and businesses control health care spending in a challenging economy.

20 Aug 2009

State round-up: New Jersey hospitals, Utah's Medicaid troubles, and more

Wednesday's state news includes a hospital demonstration in New Jersey, Medicaid fraud in Utah, an abortion ruling in Oklahoma, and a White House decision to maintain Wisconsin's unique drug program for seniors.

20 Aug 2009

Wellcare discloses to Florida Elections Commission questionable campaign contributions

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. announced that it voluntarily disclosed to the Florida Elections Commission questionable campaign contributions by certain subsidiaries from 2003 through 2007.

20 Aug 2009

PACE programs focus on health and wellness of senior citizens

In celebration of National Senior Citizens Day, this Friday, August 21(st), the National PACE Association is working with many of the individual Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) around the country to educate their surrounding communities about PACE through health fairs and open houses.

20 Aug 2009

Study reveals that patient care is better in nonprofit nursing homes than in for-profit nursing homes

A major new statistical review of 82 individual research studies has revealed that nonprofit nursing homes deliver, on average, higher quality care than for-profit nursing homes. The findings could have a bearing on the present debate about the role of for-profit firms in U.S. health reform.

20 Aug 2009

Poll reveals that thin majority of Americans continue to support health care reforms

A slim majority of Americans continues to favor moving forward on health care reform now despite an intensifying ad war and a political climate of contentious town hall meetings that coincide with rising concerns about the reform effort, according to the August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll.

20 Aug 2009

Extend Health announces plans to recruit more employees at its Utah location

Extend Health, a leading provider of defined contribution health care solutions to Fortune 500 corporations, today announced that the company is looking to expand its Utah location workforce by 200+ employees over the next four to eight weeks. As of August 5, two hundred positions have been filled during the third quarter bringing the company’s Utah based employee headcount to over 400.

20 Aug 2009

Co-op proposal continues to draw White House defensiveness, Liberals' ire

The Hill reports on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' backpedaling on comments she made Sunday that a public option "isn't essential" to a reform package: "'Here's the bottom line. Absolutely nothing has changed. We continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice and keep private insurers honest,' Sebelius said. 'The public option is a very good way to do this,' she added" (Youngman, 8/18).

20 Aug 2009

Intracacies of doctors' fees difficult to unravel

"For the most part, doctor fees are a mystery. If people see a doctor who is part of their insurance network, they are responsible only for deductibles and co-payments, and the price the health insurer pays is often a secret," The New York Times reports. "And if people see a doctor outside their network, they usually have no idea what the charge will be - even though they are responsible for most of it - until the bill comes."

19 Aug 2009

Polls: Americans less confident about their future health care, skeptical about reform proposals

"A monthly survey of consumer sentiment on health care issues shows that Americans' confidence in insurance coverage, affordability and access dropped more than 5 points in July, after having risen slightly in June," The Associated Press/CBS News reports.

19 Aug 2009

News outlets continue to explain how end-of-life care counseling works

NPR talks with Dr. David Casarett, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who started the palliative care service at the VA hospital in Philadelphia, about "the rhetoric around the end-of-life issues addressed in some of the proposed health care legislation" (Block, 8/18).

19 Aug 2009

It may be August, but lawmakers aren't taking a break from health reform rhetoric

The New York Times: "An aide to the (Senate Finance) Committee said Monday that (the six senators trying to forge bipartisanship on a health care reform bill) would hold a teleconference call this week. Senators Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and the committee chairman, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican, have talked many times during the recess, the aide said. But the call will mark the entire group's first discussion since the recess began" (Seelye, 8/18).

19 Aug 2009

Facing roadblocks, The White House hones message on health care reform

White House officials say President Obama will shift the health care reform debate in September to include more talk of a moral imperative to provide health insurance to all, The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Aug 2009

70 percent of specialty doctors oppose health-care reform proposals

Chairman of the ASMD, Alfred O. Bonati, M.D., said that, "As a physician, the results of this poll are not surprising to me. Any doctor who has ever dealt with Medicare knows that government coverage severely limits our abilities to deliver care that best fits the needs of the patient and the patient's family. We know that government coverage does not allow for flexibility, creativity, or, sometimes, even compassion."

19 Aug 2009

Cutting Medicare Advantage costs may be politically difficult

The Los Angeles Times reports: "President Obama, struggling to discredit bogus charges that his healthcare overhaul would create 'death panels,' soon could face another emotionally charged obstacle -- a plan to trim the federal subsidy for a program used by nearly a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries.

19 Aug 2009

Medicare News and Research

Proposed Federal budget cuts will put seniors at risk

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance projected to double in 10 years

House healthcare reform legislation and administrative rule combined cut $44 billion in Medicare funds for long term care

House Democrats ask to examine health insurers' finances

Enterprise Technology Solutions and Health Net Federal Services to provide recovery audit services to VA HAC

Seasonal flu vaccinations to cost less in Safeway's U.S. Stores

State round-up: New Jersey hospitals, Utah's Medicaid troubles, and more

Wellcare discloses to Florida Elections Commission questionable campaign contributions

PACE programs focus on health and wellness of senior citizens

Study reveals that patient care is better in nonprofit nursing homes than in for-profit nursing homes

Poll reveals that thin majority of Americans continue to support health care reforms

Extend Health announces plans to recruit more employees at its Utah location

Co-op proposal continues to draw White House defensiveness, Liberals' ire

Intracacies of doctors' fees difficult to unravel

Polls: Americans less confident about their future health care, skeptical about reform proposals

News outlets continue to explain how end-of-life care counseling works

It may be August, but lawmakers aren't taking a break from health reform rhetoric

Facing roadblocks, The White House hones message on health care reform

70 percent of specialty doctors oppose health-care reform proposals

Cutting Medicare Advantage costs may be politically difficult

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