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$5 billion in federal funding for high-risk pools may not be enough

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "In one of the marquee benefits of the health overhaul, the federal government will spend $5 billion to subsidize so-called high-risk pools to provide coverage for people who have trouble getting insurance because of preexisting health problems until 2014. But a new report suggests that amount may not be enough to cover their needs"

28 May 2010

Drink This, Not That! features “20 Worst Drinks In America”

New York Times bestselling authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding are out with the definitive list of the "20 Worst Drinks in America" as featured in the new book Drink This, Not That!—in stores now. The list highlights the country's most calorie-and sugar-laden drinks, everything from flavored waters and juice imposters to beers and margaritas.

28 May 2010

WellPoint guidelines may bolster federal 'comparative effectiveness' investments

The health insurer WellPoint has announced guidelines for using comparative effectiveness studies to pit drugs against one another and determine which works best, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports. "Congress has also approved $4.1 billion in the past 15 months to fund comparative-effectiveness studies and a new agency that specializes in them.

28 May 2010

Report: High-risk pool funding may fall short of need

A $5 billion fund to create high-risk pools in the states as part of the health overhaul may fall short of meeting the needs of uninsured people with health problems if state and federal officials closely monitor the program, according to a new report by the National Institute for Health Care Reform, an automaker-sponsored think tank, Kaiser Health News reports.

28 May 2010

Last defendant in 6-year Calif. Medicare fraud case sentenced

The Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News: A $15 million Medicare fraud case in California has ended as the last of 17 defendants was sentenced this week to 30 months in prison.

28 May 2010

States examine costs of health law's Medicaid expansion detailed in new report

Reuters examines how Medicaid expansion might affect various states, with new findings from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured: "Under conservative estimates, Maine's Medicaid spending will decrease 1.5 percent and Colorado's will slip 0.5 percent, according to the study.

28 May 2010

Some young adults must wait for new law's insurance coverage option to kick in

The new health law's requirement that young adults be able to remain on their parents' health plans until they turn 26, is raising some questions from hopeful parents: "when exactly the new benefit begins, who exactly is eligible and who decides." But the answer to all those is: "It depends. ... the decision about when to start the new benefit is being made by lots of different players in the health system.

28 May 2010

Medicare brochure mailing draws GOP ire

Republicans are criticizing a taxpayer-funded brochure sent to 40.2 million Medicare beneficiaries explaining changes to the program under the new health law.

28 May 2010

Feds will pay the bulk of Medicaid expansion costs under overhaul, study finds

"As states complain about the burden of expanding health care to millions of poor Americans under the new federal health-care law, a study released Wednesday suggests their claims may be overstated. The issue is the cost of expanding Medicaid ... and the report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured says states are likely to reap huge benefits for relatively little cost, and may even end up in the black."

28 May 2010

Democrats scale back 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy in jobs bill

Without congressional action this week on a tax "extenders" and jobs bill, a number of benefits, including a subsidy for COBRA health insurance benefits for newly laid-off workers, will expire.

28 May 2010

Hospitalists help coordinate care, reduce hospital costs

The New York Times reports on hospitalists, members of "America's fastest-growing medical specialty. Over a decade, this breed of physician-administrator has increasingly taken over the care of the hospitalized patient.

28 May 2010

UnitedHealth plan to boost dividends may draw criticism

The Associated Press: UnitedHealth Group has drastically raised dividends paid to shareholders - from $35 million to $560 million a year - in a move that may draw criticism for profits that rose alongside soaring health costs. "There is somewhat of a risk, especially in the current fragile reform environment, that says, 'Why is UnitedHealth declaring a dividend instead of lowering health care costs for its members?'" said analyst Tom Carroll.

28 May 2010

Zargis Medical launches live-streaming version of Telemed platform at ATA

Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus Corp., today announced that it launched the live-streaming version of its ZargisTelemed™ platform at last week's American Telemedicine Association Conference (ATA) in San Antonio, TX. The system allows healthcare professionals to share stethoscope sounds in real-time with colleagues located anywhere in the world through the Internet or a private network. This technology is cleared for sale in the U.S. and 36 other countries.

28 May 2010

CompuMed's digital telemedicine technologies incorporated in Visio Mobile Diagnostics' healthcare services suite

CompuMed, Inc., a telemedicine and medical informatics company, reported its CardioGram® and OsteoGram® systems have been incorporated as core components of Visio Mobile Diagnostics' suite of telemedicine and digital x-ray-based healthcare services.

27 May 2010

Welch Allyn climbs to #35 rank in "The Best Companies to Work For" in Mexico list

For the second consecutive year, The Gestion de Negocios named Welch Allyn, a leading global manufacturer of frontline medical products and solutions, to its list of "The Best Companies to Work For" in Mexico, the country's most comprehensive study of workplace culture. This year's ranking represented a leap of 42 spots, as the company moved from #77 in 2009 to #35 this year—a significant accomplishment for the Welch Allyn de Mexico factory that has only been in operation since 2006.

27 May 2010

Biomedical/Clinical Engineering practice improves healthcare: Health Association Nova Scotia

The week, May 23 to May 29, is National Biomedical/Clinical Engineering Appreciation Week and celebrations across the country are recognizing the importance of this field to improving healthcare and the contributions of its practitioners.

27 May 2010

Impact of Affordable Care Act on Medicare recipients discussed in Web chat

Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator and chief operating officer of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Caya Lewis, chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will take part in a Web chat Wednesday, May 26, to discuss how America's Medicare recipients will benefit from the Affordable Care Act and discuss how it will reduce costs and give people more control over their health insurance.

27 May 2010

Guadalupe County Hospital to implement Phoenix's Total IT Solution featuring Medsphere's OpenVista EHR

Medsphere Systems Corporation, Phoenix Health Systems and Guadalupe County Hospital today announced Guadalupe's selection of Phoenix's Total IT Solution featuring Medsphere's OpenVista® electronic health record. Phoenix IT expertise paired with Medsphere's open-source EHR solution will enable this 10-bed Santa Rosa, N.M., acute-care hospital to secure federal stimulus support for health IT implementation while improving patient care.

27 May 2010

First Edition: May 27, 2010

Today's health policy headlines focus on a new study about the federal government's funding level for the high-risk pools set up in the new health law as well as congressional Democrats' ongoing struggle to pass legislation to extend the COBRA benefit subsidy and to prevent a scheduled cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

27 May 2010

Prohibiting cap messages will increase medication errors: Survey

At a meeting today of the United States Pharmacopeia's (USP) Nomenclature Expert Committee, the Consortium for the Advancement of Patient Safety (CAPS) presented results of an independent study producing a landmark three-part report, including a human factors engineering (HFE) analysis, on the relationship between patient safety and printed messages on ferrule and cap overseals used to secure injectable drug vials.

27 May 2010