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Study analyzes physicians and Medicare insurance claims to investigate volume-offset behavior

Do physicians provide more services to Medicare patients to make up for lower Medicare fees? With almost 42 million people enrolled in Medicare in the United States in 2008, it's a question that could have a very costly answer.

12 Feb 2010

Kaiser Permanente approves 500 grants and donations totaling $90M in fourth-quarter of 2009

Kaiser Permanente, one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans, announced today it approved 500 grants and donations nationwide totaling $90 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. In total, Kaiser Permanente approved $170 million in grants and donations to support efforts to keep people healthy during these tough economic times.

12 Feb 2010

KHN column -- Don't stop now: Lawmakers should pass the Senate bill

In her latest column for Kaiser Health News, Judy Feder writes: "Veterans of health reform battles know all too well that enacting health reform is as challenging to the nation's political system as it is important to the nation's well-being.

12 Feb 2010

Regence introduces Evolve to meet full spectrum of consumers' healthcare needs

Regence introduces Evolve, a new portfolio of individual health plans designed to meet the full spectrum of consumers' needs. From children needing preventative care, unemployed individuals seeking core coverage or a family searching for comprehensive benefits, Evolve has options to meet each unique situation.

12 Feb 2010

Proving value a challenge for comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical technologies

The Wall Street Journal reports that "an examination of one of the best-known examples of a comparative-effectiveness analysis shows how complicated such a seemingly straightforward idea can get" as officials look for savings in the health care system." One study, called Courage, "found that the most common heart surgery -- a $15,000 procedure that unclogs arteries using a small scaffold or stent -- usually yields no additional benefit when used with a cocktail of generic drugs in patients suffering from chronic chest pain."

12 Feb 2010

AMC receives GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award for caring stroke patients

Adventist Medical Center recently received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) - Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes AMC's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations provided by the AHA/ASA.

12 Feb 2010

RTI Biologics supports Haiti relief efforts with Matrix HD sterilized dermis allografts donation

RTI Biologics Inc., the Florida-based processor of orthopedic, dental, hernia and other biologic implants, has donated Matrix HD™ sterilized dermis allografts to use in limb salvage procedures for victims of the recent natural disasters in Haiti.

12 Feb 2010

States push for insurers to increase coverage

States tackle several health care policy issues focused on health insurance coverage mandates and requirements.

12 Feb 2010

HIE leaders convene to discuss prospect of healthcare delivery

Dr. David Kibbe, recognized healthcare futurist and Senior Advisor, American Academy of Family Physicians, headlined Medicity’s Customer Summit last week, which attracted the nation’s most progressive healthcare organizations engaged in health information exchange (HIE) across the largest ecosystem of connected providers nationwide.

12 Feb 2010

New York's detained youth lack coordinated mental health care

The New York Times: "The State of New York does not have a single full-time staff psychiatrist charged with overseeing the treatment of the 800 or so young people who are detained in state facilities at any given time." The Times reports that all 17 psychiatrists at the detention facilities in the state's juvenile justice system are working either on contract and part time.

12 Feb 2010

HealthSpring enters into $350M senior secured credit facility

HealthSpring, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a new $350 million senior secured credit facility. The new agreement consists of $175 million in five-year term loans and a four-year, $175 million revolving credit facility, $25 million of which was drawn at closing. Outstanding loans under the new credit facility bear interest at a spread over a base rate or LIBOR (initially 325 basis points), depending on the Company’s total leverage ratio.

12 Feb 2010

Mass. Gov. seeks greater authority to attack health costs

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick asked the state legislature to grant his administration broad new authority to "review and reject" excessive rates charged by medical providers in hopes of curbing costs and making health care more affordable, The Boston Globe reports. Under a bill filed Wednesday by Patrick, the rates that "hospitals and other health providers charge insurers would be 'presumptively disapproved as excessive' if they increased faster than the level of medical inflation, and they could be rejected after a public hearing."

12 Feb 2010

Opinions: Rebuilding Haiti

In a Baltimore Sun opinion piece, Richard Santos - president and CEO of IMA World Health, a non-profit that provides health care services and supplies - describes what he sees as the top three priorities for the rebuilding of Haiti, beginning with healthcare, which he describes as " foundational to all else." He continues, "Development groups have experience setting up basic health care systems in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other difficult environments.

12 Feb 2010

Today's opinions and editorials: A litigation explosion, Anthem Blue Cross and starting fresh

What would a fresh start look like? It would begin with a new bill. Amending the 2,000 pages in either the Senate or House bill would prove to be impossible. They were born of an unseemly process and based on a premise already rejected by the American people. Language from the existing bills, in areas of agreement, could obviously be used to expedite drafting (Michael O. Leavitt, 2/11).

12 Feb 2010

Payments, pricing info, paperwork may contribute to costs, confusion

The way doctors, hospitals and other health care providers are paid creates a so-called "perverse incentive" to order more and more medical services, even when those services do not contribute to better health, according to researchers for Dartmouth's Atlas of Health, CNN's investigations unit reports. The report explores a lawsuit filed against a physician-owned hospital in McAllen, Texas, by one of the physician-owners.

12 Feb 2010

FKF receives funds to launch Fragile Kids Partner Program

The Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare announced today that it has awarded a $35,000 grant to Fragile Kids Foundation, Inc. (FKF), a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Ga.

12 Feb 2010

Medicaid and other state programs face questions about fraud, other difficulties

The state's Medicaid Fraud Division said two state agencies, the Health Department and Human Services Department that administer the Medicaid program, "'filtered' and 'sanitized' information and documents requested by investigators, hindering numerous investigations." The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wil investigate the allegations (Furlow, 2/10).

12 Feb 2010

Akron General Health System and McKesson announce strategic agreement to enhance patient care

Akron General Health System and McKesson today announced a strategic agreement that expands the hospital’s ongoing initiative to boost patient safety, improve quality and enhance care coordination among healthcare providers in northeast Ohio.

12 Feb 2010

Gregg ready for 'dialogue' on health reform, Pelosi ready for reconciliation fight

Politico: "Is [Sen.] Judd Gregg [R- N.H.] a tease or a real potential partner for President Barack Obama in trying to salvage some health care reform in this Congress? ... [T]he New Hampshire conservative brings both a proven ability to swing Republican votes and a background in health care and deficit issues. In a letter to Obama released late Tuesday, Gregg welcomed the [Feb. 25] meeting as a chance for 'constructive dialogue'" and he told Politico he is "open to specific deficit-reduction and cost-containment steps that could be taken to win Republicans' support for health reform," though he has rejected the president's proposals.

12 Feb 2010

COBRA extension included in newly unveiled Senate jobs bill

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D- Mont., and ranking Republican Charles Grassley, R- Iowa, this morning jointly unveiled a draft of the chamber's jobs bill, "vowing to maintain the 'bipartisan character' of their negotiations going forward," The Washington Post 44 reports. "The $85 billion package ... is the first in what Democratic leaders say will be a series of job-creation measures the Senate will address in 2010."

11 Feb 2010

Healthcare News

Study analyzes physicians and Medicare insurance claims to investigate volume-offset behavior

Kaiser Permanente approves 500 grants and donations totaling $90M in fourth-quarter of 2009

KHN column -- Don't stop now: Lawmakers should pass the Senate bill

Regence introduces Evolve to meet full spectrum of consumers' healthcare needs

Proving value a challenge for comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical technologies

AMC receives GWTG-Stroke Gold Performance Achievement Award for caring stroke patients

RTI Biologics supports Haiti relief efforts with Matrix HD sterilized dermis allografts donation

States push for insurers to increase coverage

HIE leaders convene to discuss prospect of healthcare delivery

New York's detained youth lack coordinated mental health care

HealthSpring enters into $350M senior secured credit facility

Mass. Gov. seeks greater authority to attack health costs

Opinions: Rebuilding Haiti

Today's opinions and editorials: A litigation explosion, Anthem Blue Cross and starting fresh

Payments, pricing info, paperwork may contribute to costs, confusion

FKF receives funds to launch Fragile Kids Partner Program

Medicaid and other state programs face questions about fraud, other difficulties

Akron General Health System and McKesson announce strategic agreement to enhance patient care

Gregg ready for 'dialogue' on health reform, Pelosi ready for reconciliation fight

COBRA extension included in newly unveiled Senate jobs bill

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