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Drug industry concerned about California Law allowing State to seek drug discounts

A new California law set to take effect in January 2007 "provides a glimpse of the type of government price controls the drug industry fears," the Boston Globe reports.

13 Nov 2006

Fewer Colorado residents enroll in HMOs, hospital profits increase

Fewer Colorado residents enrolled in HMO plans in 2005, but Denver-area hospitals "enjoyed their strongest profits in recent memory," according to findings released Friday from the Colorado Managed Care Review 2006, the Denver Post reports.

13 Nov 2006

Congress to focus on labor-HHS, other unfinished appropriations Bills during Lame-Duck session

Congress likely will focus on the fiscal year 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill and other unfinished spending bills during a lame-duck session that began on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 Nov 2006

Majority of Medicare beneficiaries satisfied with prescription drug plans

Three-fourths of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription drug benefit are satisfied with their plans, according to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll, Wall Street Journal Online reports.

8 Nov 2006

Problems with billing for Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums persist

About 50,000 of the 4.7 million Medicare beneficiaries who opted to have their Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums automatically withdrawn from their Social Security checks still are having incorrect amounts deducted, CMS officials said, USA Today reports.

8 Nov 2006

Black Medicare beneficiaries "fare worse" than white beneficiaries

Black Medicare beneficiaries "fare worse" than white beneficiaries "even when they belong to the same health plan," an indication that health care disparities "cannot be attributed to individual, inferior doctors," according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Boston Globe reports.

26 Oct 2006

Big pharma contributes millions to Republican congressional campaigns in close races

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how pharmaceutical companies are "pouring millions of dollars" into congressional campaigns in close races, "giving some Republicans a financial edge."

26 Oct 2006

Washington, D.C., hospital house call program provides care for elderly residents

A program developed by the geriatric department of Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., hopes to reduce health care costs by providing house calls to elderly residents, the Washington Times reports.

26 Oct 2006

PBM Medco Health Solutions agrees to settle Medicare fraud, kickback allegations for $155 million

Medco Health Solutions, the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit manager, on Monday agreed to pay $155 million to settle fraud allegations brought by the federal government and several former company employees, the Newark Star-Ledger reports (Silverman, Newark Star-Ledger, 10/24).

24 Oct 2006

Use of subcutaneous injections of Epogen for dialysis patients could save Medicare $537 million annually

Administering the anti-anemia drug Epogen to kidney dialysis patients by subcutaneous injections rather than intravenously could save the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the Boston Globe reports.

24 Oct 2006

Sen. Grassley seeks funding extension for hospitals to ensure Medicare reimbursements reflect local wages

Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Friday said that during the lame-duck session of Congress he will seek a six-month extension of a provision -- Section 508 of the 2003 Medicare law -- that allows reclassification of certain hospitals into different geographic regions for the application of the wage index to receive higher reimbursements, CQ HealthBeat reports.

23 Oct 2006

Democrats should 'stand up strongly' for principles, columnist writes

If the Democrats gain control of at least one chamber of Congress, "the best thing that [they] can do, not just for their party and their country, but for the cause of bipartisanship, is ... stand up strongly for their principles," columnist Paul Krugman writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

23 Oct 2006

Medicare cuts to wheelchair reimbursements prompt opposition from lawmakers, suppliers

Lawmakers from several states recently criticized Medicare cuts that will change reimbursement rates for power wheelchairs, the AP/Columbia State reports.

22 Oct 2006

More than 600,000 Medicare prescription drug benefit beneficiaries must apply for low-income subsidy

More than 600,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries who were automatically enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit and received a subsidy toward premium costs this year will have to apply to receive the subsidy for 2007 because their eligibility status has changed, CMS officials said on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

22 Oct 2006

Columnist explores reasons for discrepancy in U.S., foreign health spending, related life expectancies

The answer to why many countries spend less on health care than the U.S. and have higher life expectancies is "fantastically complicated -- but also fantastically important," New York Times columnist David Leonhardt writes.

19 Oct 2006

Competition in health care industry can help reduce costs

"Choice and competition work in health care," but "most of us aren't lucky enough to have access to a market shaped by them," Robert Moffit, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece.

19 Oct 2006

Louisiana residents open to reforming or eliminating charity hospital system

Seventy-two percent of Louisiana residents believe the state's health care system needs to be changed or completely rebuilt in order to provide better care to the uninsured, according to a poll released Monday by the non-partisan Council for a Better Louisiana, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

19 Oct 2006

Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

The racial gap in preventive health care -- such as Pap tests, mammograms, and prostate and colorectal cancer screenings -- persists and might be larger than previously thought, a study published online in BMC Heath Services Research finds, the Washington Post reports.

17 Oct 2006

Hospitals reduce elderly mortality rate, though gap between best, worst hospitals in U.S. widened in 2005

Patients ages 65 and older last year were 69% less likely to die at hundreds of the best hospitals than hundreds of the worst, according to a study conducted by Colorado-based Health Grades, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

17 Oct 2006

Check out hospital rating before checking in

According to the latest study, the gap between the best and worst performing hospitals in the United States has widened by as much as 5 percent since last year.

17 Oct 2006

Medicare News and Research

Drug industry concerned about California Law allowing State to seek drug discounts

Fewer Colorado residents enroll in HMOs, hospital profits increase

Congress to focus on labor-HHS, other unfinished appropriations Bills during Lame-Duck session

Majority of Medicare beneficiaries satisfied with prescription drug plans

Problems with billing for Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums persist

Black Medicare beneficiaries "fare worse" than white beneficiaries

Big pharma contributes millions to Republican congressional campaigns in close races

Washington, D.C., hospital house call program provides care for elderly residents

PBM Medco Health Solutions agrees to settle Medicare fraud, kickback allegations for $155 million

Use of subcutaneous injections of Epogen for dialysis patients could save Medicare $537 million annually

Sen. Grassley seeks funding extension for hospitals to ensure Medicare reimbursements reflect local wages

Democrats should 'stand up strongly' for principles, columnist writes

Medicare cuts to wheelchair reimbursements prompt opposition from lawmakers, suppliers

More than 600,000 Medicare prescription drug benefit beneficiaries must apply for low-income subsidy

Columnist explores reasons for discrepancy in U.S., foreign health spending, related life expectancies

Competition in health care industry can help reduce costs

Louisiana residents open to reforming or eliminating charity hospital system

Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

Hospitals reduce elderly mortality rate, though gap between best, worst hospitals in U.S. widened in 2005

Check out hospital rating before checking in

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