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Sebelius defends Berwick for CMS post

The Wall Street Journal: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "Thursday rejected criticism of the Obama administration's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid, saying Republicans were being unfair to Donald Berwick and she was confident he would be confirmed. Dr. Berwick, a Harvard pediatrician and health-quality advocate, has come under sharp attack from Republicans over his ties to Britain's national health system and past writings about how to make health care more efficient.

5 Jun 2010

Survey: Group insurance rates rise for employers

"Group health insurance rates for small and midsize employers are surging for 2011 renewals, according to a survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers," Business Insurance reports.

5 Jun 2010

Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

Although the Obama administration and insurance industry had opposing views on aspects of the health bill that Congress eventually passed, they have now found their fortunes bound together as both work to make the overhaul successful, The New York Times reports. "The political fortunes of President Obama and Congressional Democrats depend on their ability to translate its promise into reality for voters, by reining in health costs and making insurance available to everyone at an affordable price.

5 Jun 2010

Obama sets town hall meeting with seniors to tout Medicare rebate checks

President Barack Obama has scheduled a televised town hall meeting Tuesday in Wheaton, Md., "to trumpet one of the most popular provisions of his landmark health care bill: a $250 rebate to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs. ... An estimated 80,000 checks are scheduled to be sent in June, with others to follow on a rolling basis, to Medicare beneficiaries who enter the so-called 'doughnut hole' - a gap in prescription drug coverage that requires them to pay out of pocket" (Stolberg, 6/3).

5 Jun 2010

United American Insurance introduces new 2010 Medicare Supplement plans

United American Insurance Company recently announced the introduction of new 2010 Medicare Supplement standardized plans that meet the requirements set forth by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. In general, United American's Medicare Supplement products are attained-age, gender-distinct, smoker/nonsmoker, and geographic area rated.

5 Jun 2010

States to curb retiree benefits in search of savings

States are seeking savings in public employee retiree benefits to close sprawling budget gaps, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. "New Jersey and 20 other states are urging early retirements, cutting benefits and demanding employees contribute more in the face of what the Pew Center on the States says is a $1 trillion gap between available assets and what's owed workers."

5 Jun 2010

Health care quality issues: The disconnect between patients and experts

Improving "health literacy" could help improve patient outcomes and quality. This literacy is "the limited ability to understand the technical jargon, the orders, the prescriptions and the forms coming from doctors, nurses, pharmacists and insurance companies. This failure to communicate leads to missed doctor appointments, medications taken incorrectly, instructions ignored — all contributing to worsening health."

5 Jun 2010

N.J. court case examines end-of-life decisions

The Wall Street Journal: A New Jersey court is weighing if the life of Ruben Betancourt "should have been prolonged and who should have made that decision: the hospital or his family." In a lawsuit, "his daughter, Jacqueline Betancourt, contends that her father was aware of his family's presence and that the hospital had no right to terminate life support without the family's agreement."

5 Jun 2010

AHF applauds Gilead for offering pricing, access concessions to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) lauded Gilead Sciences, maker of several key AIDS drugs, for its announcement earlier today that it will offer significant pricing and access concessions for the nation's beleaguered AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), the federally funded, state run programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need.

5 Jun 2010

AMA launches ads pushing Senators on 'doc fix' while warning on cuts

The American Medical Association has launched a multi-million-dollar series of ads pressuring senators to intervene to prevent a scheduled payment cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients and warning that a separate permanent fix of the system is the only way to completely ensure continuity of care for seniors.

5 Jun 2010

Boston hospitals increasingly scrutinized for costs while Buffalo hospitals will receive more Medicare funding

Officials in Gov. Deval Patrick's administration, "seeking to pressure hospitals as well as insurers to rein in costs, say they will more closely scrutinize plans for new medical buildings and technologies to determine how they might affect the cost of health care in Massachusetts.

5 Jun 2010

TeleTracking Technologies, Sodexo announce multi-year renewal of sales partnership

TeleTracking Technologies and Sodexo, Inc. today announced a multi-year renewal of their long-standing sales partnership to bring automated patient flow and transport solutions to hospitals.

4 Jun 2010

MediQuant announces DataArk for managing legacy healthcare data from older applications

DataArk™ from MediQuant is an active archive that houses legacy clinical, financial, revenue cycle management and other health information system (HIS) data. Today, many hospitals and healthcare organizations are converting to new HIS or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

4 Jun 2010

6th Research Congress of the EAPC reflects research in palliative care

The global interest for research in palliative care is increasing rapidly and The 6th Research Congress of the EAPC reflects this with a record number of abstracts and attendees -- more than 660 abstracts from 39 different countries will be presented to over 1200 international researchers and clinicians.

4 Jun 2010

ASCO 2010 marks first anniversary of "Cancer Patient Statement of Principles"

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), the oldest and largest foundation dedicated to improving the life and care of myeloma patients, notes the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) marks the first anniversary of the "Cancer Patient Statement of Principles."

4 Jun 2010

Freescale Semiconductor develops portable medical kiosk to run routine health screenings at home

As the population continues to age and medical monitoring becomes more integrated into everyday living, healthcare professionals are constantly striving to find new ways to monitor patients with improved accuracy, speed and end-user convenience. Taking an active part in this initiative, Freescale Semiconductor, partnering with Pounce Consulting, developed a portable, easy-to-use telemonitoring reference design, which allows patients and physicians to run routine health screenings at home or remotely.

4 Jun 2010

Montefiore-Einstein announces Abdominal Organ Transplant Symposium on June 10, 2010

The Montefiore-Einstein Abdominal Organ Transplantation Service will hold an Abdominal Organ Transplant Symposium on Thursday, June 10, 2010 from 7:30 am - 4:30 pm at the Moses Division of Montefiore Medical Center on Gun Hill Road in the Bronx, NY.

4 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 4, 2010

Today's health policy headlines highlight HHS Secretary Sebelius' defense of the Obama administration's Medicare nominee as well as the AMA's push to fix scheduled reductions in Medicare physician payments.

4 Jun 2010

Study links shelter, transportation, insurance and health care cost difficulties with heavier ED usage

Difficulties with shelter, transportation, insurance, and health care costs are linked with heavier emergency department usage by so-called "super-user" patients in urban areas, according to research at Henry Ford Hospital.

4 Jun 2010

Lumeris releases innovative technology platform to improve quality of care delivered to consumers

Lumeris, a leader in provider performance management technology and services for the health care industry, today announced the general market release of its innovative technology platform that helps health plans and other health care delivery organizations reduce the cost and improve the quality of care delivered to consumers.

4 Jun 2010

Healthcare News

Sebelius defends Berwick for CMS post

Survey: Group insurance rates rise for employers

Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

Obama sets town hall meeting with seniors to tout Medicare rebate checks

United American Insurance introduces new 2010 Medicare Supplement plans

States to curb retiree benefits in search of savings

Health care quality issues: The disconnect between patients and experts

N.J. court case examines end-of-life decisions

AHF applauds Gilead for offering pricing, access concessions to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs

AMA launches ads pushing Senators on 'doc fix' while warning on cuts

Boston hospitals increasingly scrutinized for costs while Buffalo hospitals will receive more Medicare funding

TeleTracking Technologies, Sodexo announce multi-year renewal of sales partnership

MediQuant announces DataArk for managing legacy healthcare data from older applications

6th Research Congress of the EAPC reflects research in palliative care

ASCO 2010 marks first anniversary of "Cancer Patient Statement of Principles"

Freescale Semiconductor develops portable medical kiosk to run routine health screenings at home

Montefiore-Einstein announces Abdominal Organ Transplant Symposium on June 10, 2010

First Edition: June 4, 2010

Study links shelter, transportation, insurance and health care cost difficulties with heavier ED usage

Lumeris releases innovative technology platform to improve quality of care delivered to consumers

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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