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Schwarzenegger budget proposal cuts in-home care

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his latest spending plan for the financially strapped state on Friday, and news coverage focused on the deep cuts he is proposing.

17 May 2010

SEIU ULTCW responds to Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to In-Home Supportive Services

Below is a statement released today by Laphonza Butler, President of SEIU ULTCW, in response to Governor Schwarzenegger's May Revise and his proposed $750 million in cuts to In-Home Supportive Services:

15 May 2010

Gentiva Health Services to cooperate with Senate Finance Committee's requests

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of home health and hospice services, announced that it is reviewing a letter that it has been sent by the Senate Finance Committee to all of the publicly traded home healthcare companies and were mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

15 May 2010

New research shows healthy retirees face higher total health care costs

Healthy retirees actually face higher total health care costs over their remaining lifetime than the unhealthy, according to new research conducted by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and underwritten by Prudential Financial.

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

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

Minn. negotiators seek compromise to expand Medicaid while a nursing home tax and cuts to a screening program grab headlines in other states

The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: Members of a legislative conference committee in Minnesota "agreed Sunday that expanding Medicaid should be part of the eventual compromise they will take to the House and Senate as early as Monday in a package of health and human service measures to cut the state's budget deficit. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has strongly opposed expanding Medicaid to cover health care for childless adults earning less than 75 percent of the poverty guideline.

11 May 2010

AARP and coalition group urge Governor to enact legislation

Legislation that will bring a sweeping reform to the way in which for-profit nursing homes operate in Illinois and that will greatly improve the quality of care and safety for institutionalized residents passed the State Senate today, and is on its way to the Governor's desk.

10 May 2010

Texas CHIP program faces budget uncertainties while Arizona Governor restores funds for health care programs for the poor

Seven years ago, state leaders working to close a $9.9 billion budget gap took a hatchet to government health insurance for children of the working poor. Thousands of children paid the price when officials tightened eligibility rules and whacked dental, vision and mental health benefits. Gradually, benefits were restored to the Children's Health Insurance Program and, this month, enrollment reached roughly the same level as in 2003.

7 May 2010

WWP applauds President Obama for signing new law to care for wounded warriors

Wounded Warrior Project applauds President Obama for signing into law a measure that, for the first time, will ensure that families of veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan receive comprehensive, coordinated financial and other support that will enable them to provide these warriors with needed home-care.

6 May 2010

New FineThanx phone system gives peace of mind to elderly patients

In a new system, telephone calls twice a day find out how an aging loved one is doing. Then the system reports back the good news or bad.

29 Apr 2010

Costs for long-term care rise while home health care costs remain fairly stable

"Institutional costs for long term care continued to post big increases last year even as the economy sputtered along, according to the seventh annual Cost of Care survey from Genworth Financial, a major seller of long term care insurance. The good news in the survey is that costs for in-home care -- where nearly 80 percent of people prefer being cared for -- have risen very little during the past five years."

29 Apr 2010

Companies providing home care receive large Medicare reimbursements

An analysis of Medicare payments to home health care companies by The Wall Street Journal indicates that some might be taking advantage of the system. According to the analysis, the industry's largest company, Amedisys Inc., "provided many of its patients just enough therapy visits to trigger the extra $2,200 payment.

28 Apr 2010

Experts debate rationing and end-of-life care; Hospice use rises in Colorado

PBS NewsHour reports on end-of-life decisions and rationing by examining a recent debate at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs. "Arguing for rationing: Ira Byock, a doctor and director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

28 Apr 2010

3M first-quarter worldwide sales up 25% to $6.3 billion

3M today reported first-quarter earnings of $1.29 per share on sales of $6.3 billion. Operating income margins were 22.8 percent, up 7 percentage points year-on-year. Sales and per-share earnings increased 24.7 percent and 74.3 percent, respectively, versus the first quarter of 2009.

27 Apr 2010

NHS funding a major issue in the coming election

The state of the British economy has made the cut backs in NHS funding a major issue in the coming election. However no matter what the posturing is right now, and no politician wants to be seen making cuts here, there may be no other viable alternatives. No matter who forms the government after 6th May, they will be under great strain to keep their earlier promises of no health fund cuts.

27 Apr 2010

New health law offers protection against elder abuse, but advocates complain provision is not funded

As baby boomers and their parents age, many stumble across an unsettling surprise — elder abuse that occurs in both institutions and the home. The problem, and the lack of a national strategy to combat it, is something that advocates for the elderly have been complaining about for years. So they fought for, and won, provisions in the new health law (PL 111-148) that are designed to address the issue.

26 Apr 2010

Health care law's ability to control costs will be closely watched

The Associated Press/ABC news explore the question of how of cost containment under the new health law: "What's it going to cost me? That's the single biggest unanswered question about President Barack Obama's new health care overhaul law — and its weak spot. Many experts believe the law falls short on taming costs, and that will force Congress to revisit health care in a few years. … For now, the political parties are too polarized — and lawmakers too exhausted — to contemplate health care 2.0.

26 Apr 2010

Research roundup: Arthritis racial disparities, hospital mortality data, voters on long-term care

Differences In The Prevalence And Impact Of Arthritis Among Racial/Ethnic Groups In The United States, National Health Interview Survey, 2002, 2003, and 2006 - "Blacks and Hispanics were approximately 1.3 times as likely as whites to have activity limitation, 1.8 to 1.9 times as likely to have severe joint pain, and 1.6 to 1.7 times as likely to have work limitation," caused by arthritis.

24 Apr 2010

Georgia investigators increasingly use computer data to catch Medicaid fraud

Georgia investigators "are collecting millions more dollars each year as they catch more Medicaid fraud and mistakes" and they are increasingly relying on computer data analysis as a helpful tool. These cases often uncover unscrupulous medical providers who develop schemes such as overbilling to defraud the state Medicaid program.

24 Apr 2010