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CIGNA adds CTCA to national network

Recognizing the importance of access, quality and choice for its many customers who have been touched by cancer, CIGNA has entered into a new agreement that opens the doors to comprehensive, integrative care at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).

14 May 2010

Study: Healthy retirees pay more for health care over the long term

A new study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that people "who enter retirement in good health are likely to pay more for medical expenses throughout the rest of their life than those who retire after developing a chronic condition," writes U.S. News & World Report.

14 May 2010

States take different actions in plans for implementing health overhaul law

WPRI: Rhode Island Governor, Donald Carcieri, continues to ask Attorney General Patrick Lynch to file a lawsuit against the federal health reform law. "But Lynch says he will not do it. In a statement, Lynch says he believes quality health care is a right for all citizens. He also says the law does not infringe on the rights of states" (Gouthro, 5/10).

14 May 2010

Interruptions in ER may harm patient care, researchers find

CNN: "Interruptions in the emergency room may exact an unhealthy toll on patient care, a group of Australian researchers reported Thursday. The researchers, from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales, found that interruptions led emergency department doctors to spend less time on the tasks they were working on and, in nearly a fifth of cases, to give up on the task altogether.

14 May 2010

Minnesota lawmakers debate budget, Medicaid expansion

More budget talks were expected Thursday as Minnesota's legislative session hurtled toward a midnight Sunday deadline with no deal on a $3 billion deficit. The Democratic-controlled Legislature defied another veto threat from Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty late Wednesday and sent him a health and welfare package he opposes.

14 May 2010

KHN Column -- Rescissions: Much ado about nothing

In this Kaiser Health News column, John Goodman writes: "How many times have you heard President Obama say, 'Health insurers won't be able to drop your coverage just because you get sick?

14 May 2010

Justice Dept. defends health law implementation from court injunction

The Justice Department released a statement yesterday defending the federal health overhaul law from legal critics. "A conservative public interest group, the Thomas More Law Center, had filed a lawsuit in Michigan on March 23, the day Obama signed the law, and asked the court for an injunction to block it from taking effect.

14 May 2010

GOP launches attacks on CMS nominee Berwick

Republicans have begun attacking Donald Berwick, a doctor and Harvard professor nominated to head the Obama administration's Medicare and Medicaid agency, The Boston Globe reports. If confirmed, Berwick would run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency with 4,500 employees and an annual budget of $780 billion.

14 May 2010

Insight Imaging signs definitive agreement to acquire eight imaging centers for $8.5M

InSight Health Services Holdings Corp. today announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire eight imaging centers in the Phoenix, Arizona, El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico areas from subsidiaries of MedQuest, Inc. and Novant Health, Inc., for a total purchase price of approximately $8.5 million.

14 May 2010

Groups plead for more health funding as Chairman warns about cuts to proposed HHS budget

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said Wednesday that groups pressing for $14 billion more in funding for education, health and labor programs will likely be disappointed because the budget proposed by President Barack Obama already faces cuts of about $3.5 billion in those areas.

14 May 2010

Federal officials say crackdown on Medicare fraud recovers $2.5 billion

The Associated Press: "The government says it recovered $2.5 billion in overpayments for the Medicare trust fund last year as the Obama administration focused attention on fraud enforcement efforts in the health care industry. Investigators have new tools this year to help crack down on health care fraud, with the Justice Department and the Health and Human Services Department working cooperatively to police companies.

14 May 2010

Today's Opinions: CBO numbers undercut health law promises; Concerns about Berwick nomination; The recission myth

The Democrats' reform is barely out of the gate and the Congressional Budget Office already says its previous cost estimate was too low. Either the bill's supporters lied or they're profoundly ignorant. Either way, they are not fit to serve the country, much less rule it, which many of them seem to believe is their divine right. As noted on these pages and elsewhere, government programs always cost far more than their original projections (5/12).

14 May 2010

Home health care stocks fall with Senate Finance Committee inquiry

Shares of four home health care providers tumbled Thursday after the Senate Finance Committee raised questions about how the companies bill Medicare for home health therapy visits, The Associated Press/ABC News reports.

14 May 2010

First Edition: May 13, 2010

Among today's headlines are reports that some Republican senators are taking aim at President Obama's pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

13 May 2010

New research: 10-minute frailty test can predict surgical outcomes in older patients

A simple, 10-minute "frailty" test administered to older patients before they undergo surgery can predict with great certainty their risk for complications, how long they will stay in the hospital and - most strikingly - whether they are likely to end up in a nursing home afterward, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests.

13 May 2010

HHS, DOJ officials to release new report on fraud prevention, enforcement efforts at press conference

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder will discuss the Obama Administration's efforts to fight fraud using new tools provided by the Affordable Care Act at a press conference on Thursday, May 13, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. EDT. HHS and DOJ officials will also release a new report on fraud prevention and enforcement efforts.

13 May 2010

U.S. Well-Being Report for April 2010

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was a tie (63.3) for all-time overall well-being in April, revealing a continued recovery of American well-being despite continuing challenges and high unemployment. The only other time in 28 months of measurement the WBI reached 67 was in August 2009.

13 May 2010

SAGE launches further two Therapeutic Advances journals

SAGE has extended its suite of Therapeutic Advances journals with the launch of a further two titles: Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease and Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism.

13 May 2010

NPTA launches new ACPE-accredited certification course to improve safety of pharmacy technicians

The National Pharmacy Technician Association is doing its part to improve the safety of pharmacy technicians with the launch of a new ACPE-accredited certification course on the safe handling of hazardous medications, also referred to as Chemo Certification.

13 May 2010

Current residency programs do not have capacity to address growing shortage of general surgeons

Current residency programs do not have the capacity to address the growing shortage of general surgeons, according to survey research presented today at the Sixth Annual Association of American Medical Colleges Physician Workforce Research Conference in Alexandria, Va.

13 May 2010