Health Care News and Research

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Health reform implementation issues: Emergency room costs, consumer websites and small business questions

Kaiser Health News: The new health reform law guarantees insurance companies must cover emergency care for their beneficiaries at hospitals in- or out-of-network at the same rate. "The law also bars health plans from requiring prior authorization for emergency services. And it mandates that plans follow the 'prudent layperson' rule.

14 May 2010

Smoking, obesity and alcohol use associated with poorer survival of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients

A new study led by researchers from Mayo Clinic in collaboration with six other U.S. institutions has found that patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who smoked, consumed alcohol or were obese before their cancer diagnosis had poorer overall survival, compared to patients who did not have these risk factors.

14 May 2010

Upcoming primaries involve tough fights over health votes

Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and some other lawmakers are facing stiff fights to retain their party's nomination for their own seats as they spend time defending their records and health care positions from the left.

14 May 2010

White House says new CBO estimates do not signify high health spending

"The new healthcare law doesn't include more spending and less deficit reduction than previously reported, an Obama administration official said Wednesday," The Hill reports.

14 May 2010

Studies explore geography's influence on medical practice, spending

Reuters: "Doctors in some parts of the United States are more likely to tell Medicare patients they are sick than in other parts, researchers said on Wednesday in a finding that could explain regional differences in health spending. The study is the latest from the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which [has uncovered] wide differences in spending by region, a finding that became a touchstone in the debate about the need for healthcare reform in the United States."

14 May 2010

New England Journal offers perspectives on health law

The New England Journal of Medicine dedicates a significant amount of its current issue to research and perspectives on the new health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is abbreviated as ACA (5/12).

14 May 2010

CIGNA adds CTCA to national network

Recognizing the importance of access, quality and choice for its many customers who have been touched by cancer, CIGNA has entered into a new agreement that opens the doors to comprehensive, integrative care at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).

14 May 2010

Study: Healthy retirees pay more for health care over the long term

A new study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that people "who enter retirement in good health are likely to pay more for medical expenses throughout the rest of their life than those who retire after developing a chronic condition," writes U.S. News & World Report.

14 May 2010

States take different actions in plans for implementing health overhaul law

WPRI: Rhode Island Governor, Donald Carcieri, continues to ask Attorney General Patrick Lynch to file a lawsuit against the federal health reform law. "But Lynch says he will not do it. In a statement, Lynch says he believes quality health care is a right for all citizens. He also says the law does not infringe on the rights of states" (Gouthro, 5/10).

14 May 2010

UGA researchers discover SERS method to identify rotavirus strains, genotypes

Using nanotechnology and a patented signal enhancing technique developed at the University of Georgia, UGA researchers have discovered a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method to detect and identify a number of rotavirus strains and genotypes in less than one minute with greater than 96 percent accuracy.

14 May 2010

Insight Imaging third-quarter revenues decrease 12.9% to $46.4 million

InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2010.

14 May 2010

Interruptions in ER may harm patient care, researchers find

CNN: "Interruptions in the emergency room may exact an unhealthy toll on patient care, a group of Australian researchers reported Thursday. The researchers, from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales, found that interruptions led emergency department doctors to spend less time on the tasks they were working on and, in nearly a fifth of cases, to give up on the task altogether.

14 May 2010

Minnesota lawmakers debate budget, Medicaid expansion

More budget talks were expected Thursday as Minnesota's legislative session hurtled toward a midnight Sunday deadline with no deal on a $3 billion deficit. The Democratic-controlled Legislature defied another veto threat from Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty late Wednesday and sent him a health and welfare package he opposes.

14 May 2010

Justice Dept. defends health law implementation from court injunction

The Justice Department released a statement yesterday defending the federal health overhaul law from legal critics. "A conservative public interest group, the Thomas More Law Center, had filed a lawsuit in Michigan on March 23, the day Obama signed the law, and asked the court for an injunction to block it from taking effect.

14 May 2010

GOP launches attacks on CMS nominee Berwick

Republicans have begun attacking Donald Berwick, a doctor and Harvard professor nominated to head the Obama administration's Medicare and Medicaid agency, The Boston Globe reports. If confirmed, Berwick would run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency with 4,500 employees and an annual budget of $780 billion.

14 May 2010

Federal officials say crackdown on Medicare fraud recovers $2.5 billion

The Associated Press: "The government says it recovered $2.5 billion in overpayments for the Medicare trust fund last year as the Obama administration focused attention on fraud enforcement efforts in the health care industry. Investigators have new tools this year to help crack down on health care fraud, with the Justice Department and the Health and Human Services Department working cooperatively to police companies.

14 May 2010

Today's Opinions: CBO numbers undercut health law promises; Concerns about Berwick nomination; The recission myth

The Democrats' reform is barely out of the gate and the Congressional Budget Office already says its previous cost estimate was too low. Either the bill's supporters lied or they're profoundly ignorant. Either way, they are not fit to serve the country, much less rule it, which many of them seem to believe is their divine right. As noted on these pages and elsewhere, government programs always cost far more than their original projections (5/12).

14 May 2010

Home health care stocks fall with Senate Finance Committee inquiry

Shares of four home health care providers tumbled Thursday after the Senate Finance Committee raised questions about how the companies bill Medicare for home health therapy visits, The Associated Press/ABC News reports.

14 May 2010

First Edition: May 13, 2010

Among today's headlines are reports that some Republican senators are taking aim at President Obama's pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

13 May 2010

Solta Medical honored with Provectus Award at first annual Bright Lights Conference

Solta Medical, Inc., a global leader in the medical aesthetics market, today announced that it has received the Provectus Award presented by MDB Capital Group at the first annual Bright Lights Conference, the first public company conference to focus exclusively on companies with disruptive and market changing intellectual property (IP).

13 May 2010