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Medicare at 40: Past Accomplishments and Future Challenges

As Americans commemorate Medicare's 40th Anniversary, AARP's Public Policy Institute (PPI) has released the report, "Medicare at 40," which examines the program's successes as well as the challenges that lie ahead. It found that Medicare has largely accomplished its original goals of ensuring access to care and establishing financial protections for medical costs.

2 Aug 2005

Quality of care may vary in association with the characteristics of individual physicians and their practices

Certain physician characteristics and practice-setting characteristics are associated with Medicare beneficiaries receiving routine preventive services below the national goals, according to a study in the July 27 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

27 Jul 2005

Doctors not responsible for patient gaps

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said it was mischievous of the Australian Health Industry Association (AHIA) to be running around in the media this morning blaming doctors for private patients being confronted with high gap payments.

26 Jul 2005

Immigrants in the United States receive less than half the health-care services than do native-born Americans

Immigrant children get even lower levels of care, receiving 84 percent less than U.S.-born children, according to researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

26 Jul 2005

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders, according to data from a national performance measurement project released today in New York City at the American Medical Association Media Briefing, Alcohol Dependence: From Science to Solutions.

24 Jul 2005

High rates of cervical cancer are indicators of larger problems in access to health care

The report also finds that cervical cancer mortality, which is higher in certain geographic areas and populations, is a marker for other health disparities.

21 Jul 2005

Eighty-three percent of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic condition

Eighty-three percent of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic condition, such as congestive heart failure, Alzheimer's disease or diabetes. Two-thirds of Medicare spending is incurred by the 9.5 million beneficiaries with five or more chronic conditions. These percentages suggest that the Medicare program needs to address chronic conditions rather than the acute, episodic illnesses that have been the focus of the Medicare program since it began in 1966.

20 Jul 2005

Evaluating how hospitals deliver medical care standardizes practices and improves care

In recent years, American hospitals have made significant improvements on standardized, evidence-based measures of clinical performance for several medical conditions, including heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia.

20 Jul 2005

Quality of care in U.S. hospitals

Ashish Jha, assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, have for the first time assessed the quality of care in U.S. hospitals.

20 Jul 2005

ACE inhibitors should be available at no cost to the 8 million Americans over age 65 who have diabetes

Nothing in life is free, the old saying goes. But maybe some things should be, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study.

18 Jul 2005

Study focuses on peripheral arterial disease - availability of vascular surgeons impacts amputation rate

Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are more likely to have a foot or leg amputated if they live in a region that has few vascular surgeons, according to a Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine study published in the July issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

12 Jul 2005

Quebec wants delay in ban on private medical insurance

The Supreme Court of Canada is considering a request from Quebec for an 18-month delay of its landmark judgment banning private medical insurance.

5 Jul 2005

Americans oppose budget cuts to Medicaid

According to a new national survey released this week in the U.S., the majority of Americans regard the state-federal low-income health care program as very important and strongly oppose budget cuts to Medicaid.

30 Jun 2005

The picture looks grim for older Americans when it comes to health insurance

A new survey has found that almost 70 percent of older Americans in order to cover medical expenses in their later years, endorse the concept of individual health savings accounts.

29 Jun 2005

1.7 million will be anxious when Medicare coverage of anxiety drugs ceases

When the U.S. Government's new prescription drug benefit begins next year a category of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures will not be included.

28 Jun 2005

The CMS demonstration project in oncology

The PricewaterhouseCoopers study that the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) commissioned shows that an estimated $13 billion will be saved from Medicare spending for cancer care through 2013. This is $8.8 billion more than the original intent of Congress in passing the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA).

22 Jun 2005

Medicare News and Research

Medicare at 40: Past Accomplishments and Future Challenges

Quality of care may vary in association with the characteristics of individual physicians and their practices

Doctors not responsible for patient gaps

Immigrants in the United States receive less than half the health-care services than do native-born Americans

Less than 1 percent of health plan members are actually diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders

High rates of cervical cancer are indicators of larger problems in access to health care

Eighty-three percent of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic condition

Evaluating how hospitals deliver medical care standardizes practices and improves care

Quality of care in U.S. hospitals

ACE inhibitors should be available at no cost to the 8 million Americans over age 65 who have diabetes

Study focuses on peripheral arterial disease - availability of vascular surgeons impacts amputation rate

Quebec wants delay in ban on private medical insurance

Americans oppose budget cuts to Medicaid

The picture looks grim for older Americans when it comes to health insurance

1.7 million will be anxious when Medicare coverage of anxiety drugs ceases

The CMS demonstration project in oncology

Medicare's investment in quality improvement may not be paying off

Surgical tools were washed in hydraulic fluid, many report lingering health problems

Pharmacists support generic drug substitution, but need more information to advise customers

Private health insurance given the go-ahead in Canada

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit 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

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