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Mass. Legislature denies requests to trim municipal health benefits; N.Y. ordered to transfer people with mental Illness out of institutional group homes

"The state's public employee unions won a major victory this week when the Legislature abandoned efforts to allow cities and towns to trim generous health care benefits enjoyed by thousands of municipal employees, retirees, and elected officials. The decision by lawmakers not to address the issue in next year's budget means the Legislature will almost certainly not act on it this year, setting the stage for mayors and other municipal officials to take their case directly to voters in a ballot initiative for 2012" (Murphy, 6/25).

28 Jun 2010

Kansas doctor and wife found guilty of prescribing painkillers, causing deaths

"A federal jury Thursday found a Kansas doctor and his wife guilty of conspiring to profit from illegally prescribing painkillers to dozens of patients who later died, in a case highlighting medical treatment of chronic pain sufferers and prescription drug abuse."

28 Jun 2010

Insurer sees coming health insurer 'oligopoly,' doctors band together on system changes

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that health insurer WellPoint's investor-relations chief said Thursday that health insurers are "moving towards an oligopoly" accelerated by the new law. "New regulations on administrative spending and premium increases will push some independent insurers out of business or into deals with bigger rivals, said Michael Kleinman, vice president for investor relations, at a Wells Fargo & Co. conference in Boston.

28 Jun 2010

High-risk health insurance pools opening soon

News outlets examine how states are coping with covering hard-to-insure people, confusion about insuring young adults and a COBRA subsidy extension.

28 Jun 2010

Chronic disease expert: U.S. health care system needs to treat 'whole person'

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jessica Marcy interviews Kate Lorig, director of the Patient Education Research Center at Stanford University, about the toll of chronic diseases.

28 Jun 2010

Pennsylvania reports drop in hospital infections, other patient care issues include CT scans

The Pennsylvania Department of Health found that 12.5 percent fewer patients contracted infections in the state's hospitals in 2009 than a year earlier, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. But the reports shows that there were 25,914 infections in 2009. "'Though the report seems to show we're making progress, 25,914 is still a very large number and shows we still have our work cut out for us in bringing that number down,' Stephen Ostroff, the state's acting physician general, said Thursday.

25 Jun 2010

GSA selects Helene Fung as 2010 recipient of Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award

The Gerontological Society of America - the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging - has chosen Helene Fung, PhD, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong as the 2010 recipient of the Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology.

25 Jun 2010

Mass. panel overturns cap on insurer's premiums; Calif. finds 'substantial' errors in planned premium increase

A Massachusetts "insurance appeals board yesterday overturned the state's cap on health premium increases for small business and individual customers covered by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care." The panel "found that rate increases Harvard Pilgrim initially sought in April are reasonable given what it must pay to hospitals and doctors. That ruling trumped the Insurance Division's earlier finding that the requested increases were excessive, a view that reflects Governor Deval Patrick's campaign to curb health costs. Insurers yesterday cheered the ruling" (Abelson and Wallack, 6/25).

25 Jun 2010

Utah to run state high-risk pool while still opposing health law

Utah Republican Gov. Gary R. Herbert has announced that the state "will join 29 other states and the District of Columbia" to run their own high-risk health insurance pools, while "[o]ther states let the federal government handle the program, concerned they would have to pay for it if they exhausted their federal funding," The Wall Street Journal reports.

25 Jun 2010

Inside Business Magazine honors PartsSource with 2010 Manny Award for best Workplace Environment

PartsSource, the world's #1 ebusiness solution provider for replacement medical repair parts for hospital equipment, has been honored with the 2010 Manny Award for best Workplace Environment by Inside Business Magazine. Now in its 13th year, the Manny Award program is committed to recognizing manufacturing industry's greatest accomplishments by honoring local companies for their innovations and best practices. This was the fourth time PartsSource has been recognized at the Manny's having won previously in 2005, 2007, and 2009.

25 Jun 2010

Sixth annual Mayors Campaign Against HIV launched to encourage people test for HIV

OraSure Technologies, Inc. and the National Association of People with AIDS announced today the launch of the sixth annual Mayors Campaign Against HIV, a national campaign to encourage testing for HIV and promote the benefits of knowing one's HIV status. The Campaign is part of the annual observance of National HIV Testing Day on Sunday, June 27, 2010.

25 Jun 2010

House passes 6-month Medicare 'doc fix,' Obama to sign bill

Last night, the House approved, 417-1, a Senate bill staving off a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Some lawmakers grumbled the bill doesn't go far enough.

25 Jun 2010

Calif. hospitals bank on tech investments

"The Recovery Act allocated $19 billion to hospitals and physicians for the implementation of Electronic Health Records. Hospitals can receive up to several million dollars, depending on their size, and individual physicians up to $44,000, for using certified EHR technology. At Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Chief Medical Information Officer Dr. Pravene Nath said the hospital will begin assessing the number of physicians that could qualify for the reimbursements."

25 Jun 2010

Friday opinions: Mandate to buy insurance; Medicare and 'political game'

If Americans want a private health insurance system that does not base the price of individually sold policies on that individual's health status and that does not allow an insurer to refuse to sell a policy because of an individual's health issues, then they should accept a mandate that all Americans purchase at least a minimum package of health insurance (Uwe Reinhardt, 6/25).

25 Jun 2010

Prescription Solutions introduces Clinical Vantage to improve health and well-being of members

Prescription Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefit management organization and a UnitedHealth Group company, has launched Clinical Vantage, a suite of clinical programs that enables clients to create specialized solutions to meet their particular needs to improve the health and well-being of members.

25 Jun 2010

Research roundup: Docs' views of industry gifts; Chemotherapy payments; Health law and states

How Medicare's Payment Cuts For Cancer Chemotherapy Drugs Changed Patterns Of Treatment -- This study examines the impact that Medicare payment cuts for chemotherapy drugs had on treatment for Medicare beneficiaries with newly diagnosed lung cancer, before and after implementation of the June 2005 new payment system, focusing on five chemotherapy drugs "in common use singly or jointly for lung cancer..."

25 Jun 2010

Medco Health Solutions, BIG direkt gesund execute agreement for advanced pharmacy-driven solutions

Medco Health Solutions and BIG direkt gesund today announced that they have executed an agreement for an innovative portfolio of advanced pharmacy-driven solutions, which upon expressed patient consent, is designed to leverage innovative technologies for improving patient outcomes, adherence, and lowering overall healthcare costs. BIG direkt gesund, a German sick fund that provides health insurance coverage for about 400,000 beneficiaries nationwide, has become the inaugural client for Medco's Advanced Clinical Solutions service offering.

25 Jun 2010

mscripts, PDX offer integrated mobile communications platform for pharmacy system users

PDX, a leading pharmacy technology provider, and mscripts, a leader in mobile pharmacy technology, today announced an integrated offering that allows PDX Pharmacy System users to communicate with their patients through a variety of mobile communication pathways using the mscripts platform. PDX provides software and services to more than 10,000 retail pharmacies in the United States.

25 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 25, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the latest news about the House passing a temporary ban on cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors, while Senate Democrats failed to gain approval for their jobs bill, which included enhanced Medicaid aid to states.

25 Jun 2010

HHS Secretary to speak about benefits of Affordable Care Act for women

Today, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will speak to the National Partnership for Women and Families about how the Affordable Care Act will benefit women.

25 Jun 2010

Healthcare News

Mass. Legislature denies requests to trim municipal health benefits; N.Y. ordered to transfer people with mental Illness out of institutional group homes

Kansas doctor and wife found guilty of prescribing painkillers, causing deaths

Insurer sees coming health insurer 'oligopoly,' doctors band together on system changes

High-risk health insurance pools opening soon

Chronic disease expert: U.S. health care system needs to treat 'whole person'

Pennsylvania reports drop in hospital infections, other patient care issues include CT scans

GSA selects Helene Fung as 2010 recipient of Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award

Mass. panel overturns cap on insurer's premiums; Calif. finds 'substantial' errors in planned premium increase

Utah to run state high-risk pool while still opposing health law

Inside Business Magazine honors PartsSource with 2010 Manny Award for best Workplace Environment

Sixth annual Mayors Campaign Against HIV launched to encourage people test for HIV

House passes 6-month Medicare 'doc fix,' Obama to sign bill

Calif. hospitals bank on tech investments

Friday opinions: Mandate to buy insurance; Medicare and 'political game'

Prescription Solutions introduces Clinical Vantage to improve health and well-being of members

Research roundup: Docs' views of industry gifts; Chemotherapy payments; Health law and states

Medco Health Solutions, BIG direkt gesund execute agreement for advanced pharmacy-driven solutions

mscripts, PDX offer integrated mobile communications platform for pharmacy system users

First Edition: June 25, 2010

HHS Secretary to speak about benefits of Affordable Care Act for women

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

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