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Health care disparities found for female veterans

Female veterans do not receive the same quality of outpatient care as male veterans at about one-third of the 139 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities that offer it, according to a report released on Friday by VA, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

17 Jun 2008

Warning about use of psychiatric drugs with the elderly

Health officials in the U.S. are warning doctors that prescribing certain psychiatric drugs to elderly people suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death.

17 Jun 2008

Advanced cancer patients often unaware of life expectancies, effects of chemotherapy, according to perspective

Patients with advanced cancer often are not aware of their life expectancies or the effect that chemotherapy will have on their lives, according to a perspective published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, USA Today reports.

11 Jun 2008

CMS to launch Medicare pilot project that will provide physicians with incentives to use health IT

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Tuesday announced the 12 cities and states that have been chosen to participate in a $150 million Medicare pilot program to encourage physicians to use electronic health records, CQ Today reports.

11 Jun 2008

Study finds obese people have higher lifetime medical costs despite shorter life expectancies

Obese U.S. residents in their 20s will incur lifetime medical bills between $5,340 and $29,460 more than their healthy-weight peers despite shorter life spans, according to a study published online in the journal Obesity, USA Today reports.

11 Jun 2008

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report feature highlights recent blogs

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

11 Jun 2008

CMS announces $15 million funding increase for Medicare counseling programs

CMS officials on Friday announced that the agency this year will increase funding by $15 million to a total of $50 million to organizations that advise Medicare beneficiaries on prescription drug and health plan choices, CQ HealthBeat reports.

11 Jun 2008

Philadelphia Inquirer examines health care price transparency issue

The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday examined the issue of "price transparency," in which hospitals and health systems make their charges for treatments more apparent.

10 Jun 2008

Panel discusses expanding health coverage to uninsured via 'early Medicare' program

At a panel discussion on Friday, lawmakers and health experts considered a Commonwealth Fund proposal that would provide health insurance to 44 million of the 48 million uninsured U.S. residents, CQ HealthBeat reports (Wyckoff, CQ HealthBeat, 6/6).

10 Jun 2008

CQ's Carey discusses Democratic, GOP Medicare proposals, VA mental health bill, health care IT measure

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate Democratic and Republican measures to halt a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees; Senate legislation involving veterans' mental health; and a House bill that encourages greater adoption of electronic health records in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

10 Jun 2008

Congressional Democrats move to impose new limits on specialty hospitals

The New York Times on Sunday examined how Democrats -- who for years "have been trying to stop the proliferation of doctor-owned hospitals in the belief that they drive up costs by encouraging doctors to order more procedures" -- have moved to "impose new restrictions on these for-profit hospitals" as part of a Senate supplemental war appropriations bill, although they have "carved out exemptions for a few institutions represented by influential senators and well-connected lobbyists."

10 Jun 2008

Nearly 75% of Medicare drug plan beneficiaries will pay 16% more for coverage this year

Monthly premiums for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the 10 largest prescription drug plans this year increased by an average of 16% to $26.39, according to an analysis released on Wednesday by Avalere Health, the Los Angeles Times reports.

8 Jun 2008

House panel hearing focuses on health IT privacy, cost concerns

Lawmakers, patient-privacy and health care advocates, and information technology experts on Tuesday "debated ... how Congress can strike a balance between accelerating the adoption of a nationwide system of electronic medical records while protecting patient privacy," CongressDaily reports (Noyes, CongressDaily, 6/4).

8 Jun 2008

Senate approves $3.1 trillion FY 2009 budget resolution without proposed reductions in Medicare, Medicaid spending

The Senate on Wednesday voted 48-45 to approve a $3.1 trillion fiscal year 2009 budget resolution (S Con Res 70), which includes large increases in funds for domestic programs and excludes reductions in funds for Medicare and Medicaid proposed by President Bush, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

8 Jun 2008

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report feature highlights recent blog entries

8 Jun 2008

Study finds wide racial, geographic health care disparities among Medicare beneficiaries

Race and place of residence can have a significant effect on the quality of care a Medicare beneficiary receives, according to a report released Thursday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the New York Times reports.

8 Jun 2008

Majority of U.S. House supports repeal of Medicare therapy caps

With about one month to go before the current exceptions process for clinically based care above the Medicare therapy caps expires, a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives has endorsed legislation to repeal the arbitrary financial limit on therapy benefits.

5 Jun 2008

Health IT legislation stalled by privacy concerns

Legislation that would promote the adoption and standardization of health information technology is "knotted up" in Congress over privacy issues, CQ Today reports (Wayne, CQ Today, 6/2).

3 Jun 2008

Finance Committee staffers meet with stakeholders about Medicare physician cuts

Democratic staffers for the Senate Finance Committee on Monday met with physician specialty groups to discuss a legislative package proposed by committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) that would halt a scheduled 10.6% cut to Medicare physicians' payments and institute a 0.5% increase in the payments for next year, CongressDaily reports.

3 Jun 2008

CMS launches campaign to enroll more low-income Medicare beneficiaries in prescription drug assistance program

CMS launched a $12 million outreach campaign last month to encourage low-income Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in the prescription drug assistance program, CongressDaily reports.

2 Jun 2008

Medicare News and Research

Health care disparities found for female veterans

Warning about use of psychiatric drugs with the elderly

Advanced cancer patients often unaware of life expectancies, effects of chemotherapy, according to perspective

CMS to launch Medicare pilot project that will provide physicians with incentives to use health IT

Study finds obese people have higher lifetime medical costs despite shorter life expectancies

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report feature highlights recent blogs

CMS announces $15 million funding increase for Medicare counseling programs

Philadelphia Inquirer examines health care price transparency issue

Panel discusses expanding health coverage to uninsured via 'early Medicare' program

CQ's Carey discusses Democratic, GOP Medicare proposals, VA mental health bill, health care IT measure

Congressional Democrats move to impose new limits on specialty hospitals

Nearly 75% of Medicare drug plan beneficiaries will pay 16% more for coverage this year

House panel hearing focuses on health IT privacy, cost concerns

Senate approves $3.1 trillion FY 2009 budget resolution without proposed reductions in Medicare, Medicaid spending

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report feature highlights recent blog entries

Study finds wide racial, geographic health care disparities among Medicare beneficiaries

Majority of U.S. House supports repeal of Medicare therapy caps

Health IT legislation stalled by privacy concerns

Finance Committee staffers meet with stakeholders about Medicare physician cuts

CMS launches campaign to enroll more low-income Medicare beneficiaries in prescription drug assistance program

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