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Viewpoints: How much power should the AMA have to set Medicare prices?; GOP's 'disastrous' march to defund health law

S.G.R. More than 99 percent of Americans have no idea what these three letters stand for. And yet they are extremely valuable: worth about $140 billion. This week, a House committee will finally take up the issue. The S.G.R., or the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, was enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to restrain the inevitable increase in Medicare's annual spending on physician services. ... Nice idea in theory. Never worked out in practice (Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Topher Spiro, 7/29).

31 Jul 2013

N.C. Governor signs law tightening abortion clinic regulations

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday signed into law a measure directing state officials to regulate abortion clinics based on the same standards as those for outpatient surgical centers, a change that critics say will force most to close (7/29).

31 Jul 2013

Medical noncompliance estimated to increase healthcare costs by $100 billion per year in US

Medical noncompliance -- or failure to follow the doctor's orders -- is estimated to increase healthcare costs in the US by $100 billion per year. Patients sometimes opt not to take medicines, for instance, because the side effects are unbearable or the dosing regimens are too complicated. But medical noncompliance may also stem from sheer inertia -- the tendency to stay in the current state, even when that state is undesirable.

31 Jul 2013

Lawmakers' aides fret over requirement to buy Obamacare coverage

The New York Times explores how congressional staffs are anxious about a health law provision requiring them to buy coverage in online insurance markets because the federal government may no longer pay a share of their premiums.

31 Jul 2013

Obama administration touts slower health care cost increases

According to USA Today, personal health care costs rose at the slowest rate in the last 50 years, based on statistics for the past year ending in May.

31 Jul 2013

ACR Foundation secures donation from GE to support Leading Radiology into Future campaign

The American College of Radiology (ACR) Foundation announced today it has secured a significant donation from GE to support the Leading Radiology into the Future campaign. The gift will be used to further develop and strengthen the Radiology Leadership Institute (RLI) — radiology's first professional development and leadership academy.

31 Jul 2013

State highlights: Mandatory treatment for mental illness working in NY, study finds; Ore. regulators lower insurance rates $69M

A year ago, Montana opened the nation's first clinic for free primary health care services to its state government employees. The Helena, Mont., clinic was pitched as a way to improve overall employee health, but the idea has faced its fair share of political opposition. A year later, the state says the clinic is already saving money (Boyce, 7/30).

31 Jul 2013

Uninsured people in rural areas could benefit big under the health law

MedPage Today reports on how rural residents could gain as a result of the overhaul, while other news outlets offer reports from a variety of states regarding the health law's implementation.

31 Jul 2013

Sinai Hospital earns 3 year echocardiography accreditation in the area of adult transthoracic

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore has earned a three year echocardiography accreditation in the area of adult transthoracic, also known as cardiac ultrasound, from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). This vital test is part of the comprehensive care provided to patients receiving treatment at the Heart Center at Sinai.

31 Jul 2013

Task force recommends annual CT scans for high-risk smokers

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that high-risk current and former smokers get an annual CT Scan to look for cancer. If the draft recommendation becomes final, insurers will likely have to cover the scan at no co-pay cost to consumers.

31 Jul 2013

HHS Inspector General raises concerns about Medicare policy on observation care

The report also finds that policies on admitting patients or keeping them under observation -- a distinction that can have dramatic financial impact on the patients -- varies substantially among hospitals.

31 Jul 2013

Study finds doctors not following medical guidelines on back pain

Researchers report that physicians are often overly aggressive by prescribing addictive narcotics to patients instead of other recommended drugs and too often using surgery and unneeded imaging tools.

31 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: Rove warns against government shutdown; 'despicable' GOP tactics; Medicare database a tool to control costs

President Obama would love nothing more than Republicans' providing him a bully pulpit and big stick with which he can beat them daily through the 2014 midterm elections. That's what the Republicans would give Mr. Obama if they shut down the government by trying to defund Obamacare in the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government after October 1. That's because the Continuing Resolution only affects discretionary spending. Virtually all of Obamacare costs are mandatory spending, unaffected by what's in the CR (Karl Rove, 7/26).

30 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 30, 2013

Today's headlines include a USA Today story reporting that personal health care costs rose in the 12 months ending in May at the slowest rate in the last 50 years -- a finding that makes the White House happy.

30 Jul 2013

This week on Capitol Hill: Repeal vote number 40

The House of Representatives will consider a bill that would prevent the Internal Revenue Service from implementing the law. Specifically, it states that neither the Treasury secretary nor any designee of the Treasury secretary may implement any part of the Affordable Care Act.

30 Jul 2013

Federal appeals court rejects company's contraception coverage challenge

The court's divided decision makes it more likely the Supreme Court will have to decide if companies making a secular product have to provide contraception coverage to their employees -- a major tenet of the 2010 health care law.

30 Jul 2013

U.S. bans new home health, ambulance providers in three high-fraud cities from Medicare, Medicaid

Federal officials are temporarily banning certain types of home health and ambulance providers in three major, high-fraud cities from enrolling in Medicare or Medicaid.

30 Jul 2013

Patient-reported outcomes may lead to new insights for improving cataract care

Cataract surgery can lead to good results from a clinical standpoint yet have poor outcomes from the patient's point of view, reports a study, "Analyzing Patient-Reported Outcomes to Improve Cataract Care", appearing in the August issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

30 Jul 2013

Mandating outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness results in cost savings

Mandating outpatient treatment for certain people with severe mental illness, while controversial, results in substantial cost savings by cutting hospitalizations and increasing outpatient care, according to a financial analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

30 Jul 2013

Proposed abortion ban breeds new generation of GOP leaders

It reads like a who's who of the next generation of Republican Party leaders: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rob Portman. But what is bringing all these marquee political names together is not the Iowa State Fair or a Tea Party rally on the National Mall. Rather, they are all talking discreetly about how to advance a bill in the Senate to ban abortion at 20 weeks after fertilization (Peters, 7/27).

30 Jul 2013

Healthcare News

Viewpoints: How much power should the AMA have to set Medicare prices?; GOP's 'disastrous' march to defund health law

N.C. Governor signs law tightening abortion clinic regulations

Medical noncompliance estimated to increase healthcare costs by $100 billion per year in US

Lawmakers' aides fret over requirement to buy Obamacare coverage

Obama administration touts slower health care cost increases

ACR Foundation secures donation from GE to support Leading Radiology into Future campaign

State highlights: Mandatory treatment for mental illness working in NY, study finds; Ore. regulators lower insurance rates $69M

Uninsured people in rural areas could benefit big under the health law

Sinai Hospital earns 3 year echocardiography accreditation in the area of adult transthoracic

Task force recommends annual CT scans for high-risk smokers

HHS Inspector General raises concerns about Medicare policy on observation care

Study finds doctors not following medical guidelines on back pain

Viewpoints: Rove warns against government shutdown; 'despicable' GOP tactics; Medicare database a tool to control costs

First Edition: July 30, 2013

This week on Capitol Hill: Repeal vote number 40

Federal appeals court rejects company's contraception coverage challenge

U.S. bans new home health, ambulance providers in three high-fraud cities from Medicare, Medicaid

Patient-reported outcomes may lead to new insights for improving cataract care

Mandating outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness results in cost savings

Proposed abortion ban breeds new generation of GOP leaders

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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