Medicare News and Research

RSS

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee will make Medicare prescription drug benefit oversight priority in 2007

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health will examine oversight of the Medicare prescription drug benefit among other priorities for the 110th Congress, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Jim McCrery (R-La.) wrote in a letter sent last Wednesday to leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Administration Committee, CQ HealthBeat reports.

23 Jan 2007

Major variations in Medicare drug costs

Soon, Congress may vote on whether to require the Medicare system to negotiate lower prices for medicines taken by millions of seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans.

10 Jan 2007

Advancing medical technology increases health-care costs

Advances in medical technology are a main factor driving the trend of increasing health care costs, and industry stakeholders agree that improved evaluation methods are needed to better measure the benefits and risks of new technologies and procedures in order to avoid misallocation of health care dollars.

9 Jan 2007

First year of cancer treatment costs patients $2.3 billion in lost time

The time that cancer patients nationwide spend when they travel to, wait for and receive inpatient and outpatient treatment costs an estimated $2.3 billion in the first year after diagnosis, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

7 Jan 2007

New Medicare payment method for prescription drugs covered under Part B reducing spending

Medicare's new payment method for reimbursing physicians for prescription drugs under Part B has reduced spending, according to a report to Congress prepared by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, CQ HealthBeat reports.

7 Jan 2007

Democrats plan to introduce bills addressing stem cell research, Rx benefit

House Democrats plan to introduce bills that would reduce restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and allow HHS to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices for medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Wednesday, CQ Today reports.

7 Jan 2007

Medicare begins to cover ultrasounds to detect aortic aneurysms

Medicare on Jan. 1 began to cover ultrasounds to detect abdominal aortic aneurysms in beneficiaries at high risk for the condition, the Charlotte Observer reports.

7 Jan 2007

Low-income Medicare beneficiaries will have trouble getting medications in January 2007

Some pharmacists and advocates have raised concerns that many low-income Medicare beneficiaries "will again have trouble getting medications next month, as they did in January of this year," when the Medicare prescription drug benefit began, the New York Times reports.

5 Dec 2006

Medicare prescription drug benefit cost almost $13B less in 2006 than expected

The Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost $30 billion in 2006, a 30% decrease from a previous estimate of $43 billion, according to CMS, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/29).

2 Dec 2006

Pataki and Spitzer endorse commission's recommendations to overhaul New York State health care system

New York Gov. George Pataki (R) and Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer (D) on Wednesday endorsed a report recommending nine hospital closures and the reconfiguration of 48 additional hospitals in the state, Long Island Newsday reports (Clancy, Long Island Newsday, 11/30).

2 Dec 2006

Government has overpaid private Medicare Advantage plans by billions of dollars

Incoming House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Thursday said that the federal government has overpaid private Medicare Advantage plans by billions of dollars, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

2 Dec 2006

Hospital-acquired infections in most cases are the result of poor hygiene

Hospital-acquired infections in most cases are the result of poor hygiene within the facilities and not of how sick patients were at the time of admission, according to three studies published on Monday in the American Journal of Medical Quality, the Washington Post reports.

23 Nov 2006

Quality of life for dementia patients improved by occupational therapy

According to researchers in the Netherlands, occupational therapy improves the quality of life for dementia patients and their carers.

20 Nov 2006

Bush Administration says it opposes Democrats' plan to allow Government to negotiate Medicare drug prices

The Bush administration will oppose any attempts by congressional Democrats to pass legislation that would authorize the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, the New York Times reports.

13 Nov 2006

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

Medicare News and Research

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee will make Medicare prescription drug benefit oversight priority in 2007

Major variations in Medicare drug costs

Advancing medical technology increases health-care costs

First year of cancer treatment costs patients $2.3 billion in lost time

New Medicare payment method for prescription drugs covered under Part B reducing spending

Democrats plan to introduce bills addressing stem cell research, Rx benefit

Medicare begins to cover ultrasounds to detect aortic aneurysms

Low-income Medicare beneficiaries will have trouble getting medications in January 2007

Medicare prescription drug benefit cost almost $13B less in 2006 than expected

Pataki and Spitzer endorse commission's recommendations to overhaul New York State health care system

Government has overpaid private Medicare Advantage plans by billions of dollars

Hospital-acquired infections in most cases are the result of poor hygiene

Quality of life for dementia patients improved by occupational therapy

Bush Administration says it opposes Democrats' plan to allow Government to negotiate Medicare drug prices

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

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition) eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News