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New study shows VBID program can save money

Value-based insurance design programs — which reduce patient co-payments for highly effective treatments — can break even financially or possibly save money, according to a new study from University of Michigan, Harvard and other researchers.

22 Jan 2010

Doctor offers tips for parents on how to speak with children about disasters

David Schonfeld, MD, Director, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Director, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, gives parents the following tips on how to speak with their children after disasters have occurred.

22 Jan 2010

Reducing dietary salt can offer significant health benefits

Reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon (or three grams) per day could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year, according to a new study. Such benefits are on par with the benefits from reductions in smoking and could save the United States about $24 billion in healthcare costs, the researchers add.

21 Jan 2010

VNSNY receives funding for testing IT strategies to aid elderly cognitive impairment patients

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) Center for Home Health Care Policy & Research, the only research center focused on studying home health care in the U.S., has received funding from The Center for Technology and Aging to test state-of-the art information technology (IT) strategies designed to help elderly patients with cognitive impairment and their caregivers safely manage multiple medications.

21 Jan 2010

Republican leaders: Dems aren't reaching out to pass health reform bill

The Christian Science Monitor: Even after the GOP win in Massachusetts that cost Democrats their "filibuster-proof margin in the Senate," congressional Republican leaders say Democrats don't appear to want to work with them on a health care plan that could clear Congress, according to The Monitor Breakfast.

21 Jan 2010

AMA, AARP and MOAA join in unprecedented multi-state event to focus on Medicare physician cuts

Focusing on looming Medicare physician cuts of 21 percent that begin on March 1, the American Medical Association (AMA), AARP and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) joined together today in an unprecedented multi-state event.

21 Jan 2010

State organizers mobilize against national health reform

State organizers are creating obstacles to national health care reform. In Colorado, Republican organizer Jon Caldara has vowed to derail national reforms with a ballot initiative. The Wall Street Journal reports about similar steps being taken across the country. "Republican attorneys general and governors ... are threatening to file suit to block a particular provision of the Senate bill that gives a special financial deal to Nebraska.

21 Jan 2010

States struggle with budget cuts, increased Medicaid pressure

News outlets look at developments in Medicaid issues. The Associated Press/ABC News reports on Louisiana: "Sen. Mary Landrieu defended the Senate's version of health care overhaul legislation — and language in it that provides up to $365 million in Medicaid money for Louisiana — as she discussed what her fellow Democrats should do after losing a crucial Senate seat to a Massachusetts Republican."

21 Jan 2010

Democrats weigh imperfect options for moving forward on health reform

USA Today reports that "Democratic leaders say [Mass. Republican Scott] Brown's win hasn't killed the $1 trillion health care bill," but after a series of meetings Wednesday they still had no "clear plan for how to proceed."

21 Jan 2010

Medicare fraud round-up: N.D. beneficiaries getting illegal phone calls, doctor indicted in Ohio

The Bismarck Tribune reports on a new scheme "asking seniors to pay up for not having Part D coverage. The scammers have been calling beneficiaries saying they owe a penalty for not having the Part D prescription drug coverage and that they need to pay the fine right away, said a release from the office of the Insurance Commissioner" (1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Brown: Mass. voters shouldn't have to pay for national health reform

The Washington Post: "While many are describing the election to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat as a referendum on national health-care reform, the Republican candidate rode to victory on a message more nuanced than flat-out resistance to universal health coverage: Massachusetts residents, he said, already had insurance and should not have to pay for it elsewhere." The Post notes that Scott Brown "voted for the state's health-care legislation, which was signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R)" and has "not disavowed his support for the state's law."

21 Jan 2010

News outlets focus on Pelosi, Nelson, Grassley, Harkin, Snowe and McCaskill

News outlets report on some of the major players in the health care debate, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Iowa Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

21 Jan 2010

Democrats consider scaling back health reform package

ABC News interviewed President Barack Obama, who said: "The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated. People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process. ... I think point number two is that it is very important to look at the substance of this package and for the American people to understand that a lot of the fear mongering around this bill isn't true. I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on" (Stephanopoulos, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

For now it appears that Washington's polarizing ways, and public anxiety about change, have again left Americans with the most expensive, least reliable health care system in the developed world. No matter who you are, that's hardly cause to celebrate (1/21).

21 Jan 2010

Stem Cell Assurance, MDwerks announce financing and marketing partnership

Stem Cell Assurance, Inc. and MDwerks, Inc. announced today a financing and marketing partnership today wherein MDwerks, through it's Xeni Finance subsidiary, has provided the first tranche of financing to Stem Cell for the purchase of various medical devices from Cytori Therapeutics, Inc.

21 Jan 2010

ResCare chooses GuardianEdge to assist in HIPAA compliance

GuardianEdge, the leader in endpoint data protection, today announced that ResCare, one of the nation's leading providers of services to people with disabilities and the elderly, has selected GuardianEdge to secure the company's more than 6,000 endpoint devices and to assist in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. To ensure that sensitive patient data is secure, ResCare has deployed GuardianEdge Hard Disk Encryption, GuardianEdge Removable Storage Encryption and GuardianEdge Device Control.

21 Jan 2010

Health IT news: Grassley queries hospitals, Microsoft's CEO sees need to boost tech for doctors, hospitals

Modern Healthcare: "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter asking 31 hospitals to report on their relationships with healthcare IT vendors, focusing on errors caused by IT systems and on so-called 'gag order or non-disclosure clauses' in vendor contracts that might prohibit the hospitals from disclosing information about system flaws." Grassley made a similar request to the IT vendors themselves last fall, and said his new letter was prompted by concern about taxpayers' investment in health IT as part of the economic stimulus (Conn, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Health care companies assess where they stand on health reform after election

The Wall Street Journal reports that several firms reiterated support for a health care reform bill Wednesday, a day after the overhaul's viability was called into question by the victory of Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown in Massachusetts. "PhRMA, the drug industry association, as well as companies including Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc., voiced support for an overhaul of some kind, despite objections among insurers about the efforts to date."

21 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 21, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the idea that health reform stakeholders -- be it the White House, congressional Democrats or others -- are all trying to figure out how to proceed in this changed political landscape.

21 Jan 2010

FRC's statement on Massachusetts Senate election results

"President Obama's defeat yesterday is the culmination of the town halls, tea parties, and other efforts of the millions of Americans who continue speaking out against the takeover of our health care system.

21 Jan 2010