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Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states.

New program to help maintain bone health in men with prostate cancer on ADT announced

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced a new program encouraging health professionals to help maintain the bone health of prostate cancer patients who are on long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

15 Dec 2009

Medicare actuary: Health costs would rise after overhaul

The Senate's health overhaul plan would cover 33 million more people but fail to curb rising health costs, could threaten some Medicare patients' access to care, and may sink profits for one-fifth of hospitals and nursing homes, according to news accounts of an HHS report released Friday afternoon.

15 Dec 2009

Long-term care proposal raises cost, sustainability concerns

"Embedded in sweeping health legislation passed by the House and being debated on the Senate floor is a major new federal insurance program," called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, or Class Act, The New York Times reports.

15 Dec 2009

New reports highlight health care costs

Several new studies on health care costs reveal interesting findings.

15 Dec 2009

White House: Health reform would curb cost growth

The White House's Council of Economic Advisers has released a report that finds health reform would slow the growth of health costs in the United States and buttress the economy.

14 Dec 2009

Medipattern and OMIC team up to provide breast ultrasound imaging service

The Medipattern Corporation ("Medipattern"), a pioneer in the development of medical software solutions that help improve imaging workflow and productivity, has announced that it has partnered with Ocean Medical Imaging Center (OMIC), developed through a partnership with Lake Forest, Calif.-based InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. ("Insight Imaging") (OTCBB:ISGT), to provide the service of B-CAD® computer aided detection of breast ultrasound imaging under the B-CAD-FOR-LIFETM program.

14 Dec 2009

Detroit-area residents plead guilty in connection with health care fraud schemes

Detroit-area residents Baskaran Thangarasan, Sandeep Aggarwal and Wayne Smith pleaded guilty this week for their roles in connection with several Detroit-area health care fraud schemes, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Terrence I. Berg, Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI's Detroit Field Office and Daniel Levinson, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today.

14 Dec 2009

Maine-based EMHS recognized for creating system-wide culture of safety

A poor economy in a rural area might seem like overwhelming obstacles to creating a sophisticated culture of safety in a health care system that serves the largest aging population in the country, but leaders at Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) beat those odds in 2009.

14 Dec 2009

Senator Arlen Specter proposes new amendment to current healthcare reform bill

Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) today proposed a new amendment to the current healthcare reform bill which will preserve access to care for millions of Medicare patients seen by a medical specialist.

14 Dec 2009

Senate plan may raise costs and cut healthcare access for senior citizens, says new report

A new report released by the Medicare Chief Actuary, Richard Foster, and the Center for Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees Medicaid, says that the proposed health care overhaul plan will dramatically increase health care costs and senior citizens will suffer from Medicare cuts.

14 Dec 2009

UnitedHealthcare completes previously announced acquisition of Health Net

UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group company, and Health Net, Inc. today announced that UnitedHealthcare has completed the previously announced acquisition of Health Net of the Northeast’s licensed subsidiaries and has obtained rights to renew Health Net’s membership in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

14 Dec 2009

Some Democratic Senators raise red flag on Medicare expansion idea

The possibility of allowing some 55-64 year olds to buy-in to Medicare is in the news today.

14 Dec 2009

Some rural communities concerned reform provisions could hurt Medicare services

Newspapers in Alaska and Washington state explore how health reform provisions might affect Medicare services in rural areas, while a Colorado newspaper looks at one senator's efforts to increase the number of doctors in rural areas.

14 Dec 2009

State Medicaid programs face cuts, backlog of applications

The Associated Press reports Minnesota Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that they hope to save health coverage for 35,000 low-income adults after state funding runs out in March. "Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration already plans to switch patients into another subsidized program, MinnesotaCare.

12 Dec 2009

Disabilities account for a quarter of U.S. adult health care costs

"Just over one-quarter of U.S. adult health care spending was associated with disability in 2006, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention," Insurance Journal reports.

11 Dec 2009

Talk To Me Technologies to help customers get funding through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance

AbleNet, Inc. announces a new program to offer Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance funding support through Talk To Me Technologies, LLC. This service is effective December 2009 for the AbleNet SuperTalker™ progressive communicator and FL4SH™ scanning communicator products.

11 Dec 2009

PharmMD raises $8.8 million in capital from The Riverside Company and FCA Ventures IV

PharmMD recently raised $8.8 million in capital from The Riverside Company and FCA Ventures IV, a fund of Clayton Associates.

11 Dec 2009

Proposed changes to breast cancer screening criticized

The Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Investigation and one of the country's most respected medical policy professors has written a new commentary which criticizes proposed changes to breast cancer screening.

11 Dec 2009

MedPAC home care cuts can harm home health agencies and impact senior Americans, says NAHC

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) once again has used a flawed data analysis to recommend cuts that would severely damage the ability of thousands of home health care agencies to provide valuable services to the most vulnerable of Americans, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) said today.

11 Dec 2009

Perspective on HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10 testing presented by Edifecs

Edifecs, Inc., the proven leader in HIPAA 5010 and Healthcare Channel Modernization solutions, announced today that Sunny Singh, Edifecs CEO, was invited by the NCVHS (National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics) to present his perspective regarding HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10 testing.

11 Dec 2009