Healthcare News

RSS

Medicare fraudsters shift targets a la "whack-a-mole"

The Economist: In an effort to staunch the flow of up to $60 billion a year to Medicare fraudsters, federal officials are launching a series of new safeguards that target program areas favored by the con artists. "The Department of Health and Human Services is setting up data systems to monitor payments. A telephone-monitoring programme, with voice-recognition, will verify that health-care workers really are making home visits.

16 Aug 2010

Medicare disability recipient dies of brain tumor after having coverage interrupted

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Paula Oertel, whose brain tumor disappeared for nine years while she was on an expensive drug and returned after she temporarily lost her insurance coverage, has died as a result of the tumor spreading through her brain. The interruption of her Medicare coverage of the drug directly contributed to her death, contends her doctor, Mark Malkin, chief of neuro-oncology at Froedtert Hospital.

16 Aug 2010

Treatment for diabetics cost U.S. hospitals 25% more than stays for non-diabetics

U.S. hospitals spent $83 billion in 2008 caring for people with diabetes, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In that year, nearly one of every five hospitalizations involved a person with diabetes.

16 Aug 2010

Research Roundup: Disabled Medicare Enrollees' challenges; Increasing ER visits; costs/benefits of Part D

Health Affairs: Medicare Doesn't Work As Well For Younger, Disabled Beneficiaries As It Does For Older Enrollees - This paper examines "how well Medicare works for [the 8 million] nonelderly disabled beneficiaries compared to the elderly, based on findings from a nationally representative survey of noninstitutionalized Medicare beneficiaries conducted in 2008 by the Kaiser Family Foundation."

16 Aug 2010

U.S. officials probing payments by drug and device makers to doctors overseas

The New York Times reports that federal officials are investigating whether a dozen drug and device makers "made illegal payments to doctors and health officials in foreign countries." Although pharmaceutical companies routinely contract with doctors in the United States to be consultants, experts say the situation is more complex overseas because "in much of the rest of the world, doctors are government employees. And even consulting arrangements that would be considered routine in the United States might violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, particularly if the payments are outsize or the arrangements are not disclosed to the governments.

16 Aug 2010

U.S. increases Pakistan flood aid contribution; Sen. Kerry to visit flood-hit Pakistan

"On assistance to Pakistan, to date, approximately $76 million in assistance has been provided by the U.S. to the flood-affected populations in Pakistan," Mark Toner, acting deputy spokesman for the State Department, said at a press briefing on Thursday, according to a transcript. "As of this morning, the additional money that the U.S. is providing is to Save the Children, and that's 4.1 million that will be used for food vouchers, enabling flood victims to purchase food in their local markets," he said.

16 Aug 2010

The federal health IT push remains in the spotlight

Doctors across the country including Tahsina Atiquzzaman in Kissimmee, Fla., are "shredding paper charts and ushering in digital records as part of the health care milestones announced last month by the federal government," The Orlando Sentinel/Modesto Bee reports.

13 Aug 2010

Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution to use Axon Sports CCAT for Baseline testing

Wells Fargo Insurance Services' Student Insurance Division announced today that its Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution will use Axon Sports Computerized Cognitive Assessment Tool for its Baseline testing. Launched in 2009, the Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution is a broad concussion management treatment and services solution for athletes nationwide.

13 Aug 2010

Insurers defend less generous policies, medical loss ratio definitions; Obama to talk with insurance commissioners

Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with USA Today, reports on insurers who are defending less generous "limited-benefit" health policies as implementation of the health law proceeds. That law forbids annual dollar limits in such plans. "Starting this fall, most health care policies — except existing policies purchased by individuals on their own — will have to cover at least $750,000 in medical care per person.

13 Aug 2010

Four Mass. hospitals investigate trashing of patient health records, Calif. employers worry about workers using marijuana on job

"Four Massachusetts community hospitals are investigating how thousands of patient health records, some containing Social Security numbers and sensitive medical diagnoses, ended up in a pile at a public dump. The unshredded records included pathology reports with patients' names, addresses, and results of breast, bone, and skin cancer tests, as well as the results of lab work following miscarriages. By law, medical records and documents containing personal identifying information must be disposed of in a way that protects privacy, and leaving them at a dump is probably illegal, privacy lawyers and hospital officials said" (Kowalczyk, 8/13).

13 Aug 2010

Travelers launches MedFirst to address new combination of risks in medical technology industry

The evolution of software and electronics for medical devices and the transferring of electronic personal identity records is creating a new combination of risks in the medical technology industry. To address these risks, Travelers announces MedFirstSM - a combination of three liability coverages packaged in a single insurance policy: products/completed operations liability, errors & omissions and information security liability.

13 Aug 2010

Obama Administration should adopt new regulations to insulate Americans from rate increases: Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog called on the Obama Administration to adopt new regulations requiring broad financial disclosures by health insurance companies to help insulate Americans from double-digit rate increases. Insurers should provide details of shadowy multibillion-dollar transfers to out-of-state affiliates and parent companies when they are required to justify "unreasonable" rate increases under the health reform law, said the group.

13 Aug 2010

Arizona lawmakers challenge health overhaul

A group of Arizona lawmakers has become the latest to challenge the federal health law as they "joined a conservative watchdog group Thursday in filing a 78-page lawsuit" challenging the law's mandate on Americans to carry health insurance and its Independent Payment Advisory Board in Medicare, Fox News reports.

13 Aug 2010

UT System Board of Regents approve plans for new University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center

The UT System Board of Regents today gave its approval to plans for a new state-of-the-art University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The project now will go to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for its review and final approval.

13 Aug 2010

Today's opinions: Rep. Ryan's plan to aid Medicare; The burden on health law supporters in Va.; Evaluating Medicare actuary's estimates

Only in Washington could the government raid one entitlement program to finance a brand-new one and still claim that deficits have been reduced and entitlements have been reformed (Rep. Paul Ryan, 8/13).

13 Aug 2010

Hospitals' 'bad debts' grow as even insured patients have trouble paying medical bills

A "local hospital group says the fastest-growing part of what hospitals call 'bad debt' -- basically, uncollectible bills -- is money owed by patients who have insurance. As employers dump costs onto workers, so now are workers dumping costs onto hospitals. Because of rising deductibles and cost-sharing rules, patients are increasingly faced with bills that would have been unusual for someone with insurance a few years ago. Growing numbers of them can't pay, or won't. Total bad debt grew 12 percent, from $490 million in fiscal 2007 to nearly $550 million in fiscal 2008, at 36 area hospitals that responded to a 2009 survey by the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council of HAP, a hospital association that released the data this week. But bad debt from insured patients grew twice as fast: 28 percent, from $76 million to $97 million."

13 Aug 2010

KHN column: Medicaid rescissions worse than private insurers

On Tuesday, members of the House of Representatives interrupted their August vacation and returned to Washington to vote on a bill to send money to the states. The issue that dominated the news was saving the jobs of teachers, police officers and other public employees. But most of the money allocated will prevent the states from cutting off health benefits for millions of people.

13 Aug 2010

ACAM, AAEM sign agreement to host joint conference in Portland

The American College for Advancement in Medicine and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine are excited to announce they have reached an agreement to host a joint conference and tradeshow, November 16 - 20, 2011 in Portland, Oregon.

13 Aug 2010

Five tips for seniors researching MA or Medigap plan options

Health Plan One, a general agent in the online health insurance market, seeks to guide seniors to choose carefully when selecting their Medicare Advantage or Medicare supplement plan. Seniors will have only one opportunity to make changes to their Medicare plans during the Annual Enrollment Period this November 15 through December 31.

13 Aug 2010

Activists, care providers, patients protest against Senator Nelson's silence on AIDS drug program

While Florida continues to add up to 300 people each month to its waiting list for its AIDS Drug Assistance Program, scores of AIDS activists, care providers and patients will gather at a protest and press briefing hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Friday, August 13th at 12:00 Noon outside the Tampa offices of United States Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL).

13 Aug 2010

Healthcare News

Medicare fraudsters shift targets a la "whack-a-mole"

Medicare disability recipient dies of brain tumor after having coverage interrupted

Treatment for diabetics cost U.S. hospitals 25% more than stays for non-diabetics

Research Roundup: Disabled Medicare Enrollees' challenges; Increasing ER visits; costs/benefits of Part D

U.S. officials probing payments by drug and device makers to doctors overseas

U.S. increases Pakistan flood aid contribution; Sen. Kerry to visit flood-hit Pakistan

The federal health IT push remains in the spotlight

Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution to use Axon Sports CCAT for Baseline testing

Insurers defend less generous policies, medical loss ratio definitions; Obama to talk with insurance commissioners

Four Mass. hospitals investigate trashing of patient health records, Calif. employers worry about workers using marijuana on job

Travelers launches MedFirst to address new combination of risks in medical technology industry

Obama Administration should adopt new regulations to insulate Americans from rate increases: Consumer Watchdog

Arizona lawmakers challenge health overhaul

UT System Board of Regents approve plans for new University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center

Today's opinions: Rep. Ryan's plan to aid Medicare; The burden on health law supporters in Va.; Evaluating Medicare actuary's estimates

Hospitals' 'bad debts' grow as even insured patients have trouble paying medical bills

KHN column: Medicaid rescissions worse than private insurers

ACAM, AAEM sign agreement to host joint conference in Portland

Five tips for seniors researching MA or Medigap plan options

Activists, care providers, patients protest against Senator Nelson's silence on AIDS drug program

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Latest News