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Senate Finance Committee leaders raise concerns about problems in Medicare appeals office

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a letter recently sent to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt raised concerns about alleged problems in the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, CQ HealthBeat reports.

5 Oct 2008

Commonwealth Fund report examines health care proposals of major Presidential candidates

The health care proposal of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is more likely to improve health care affordability, accessibility, efficiency and quality than the plan of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), according to a report released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, Reuters/Boston Globe reports.

5 Oct 2008

MedPAC hearing panelists call for residency programs to move away from hospital-centered care, toward treatment of chronic illnesses

Residency programs should place greater emphasis on the treatment of chronic diseases and on incorporating health information technology because current graduate medical education focuses too heavily on hospital-centered care, panelists told the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission on Thursday, CQ HealthBeat reports.

5 Oct 2008

Health plans' quality of care improved in some areas in 2007, NCQA report says

Health plans' quality of care improved in 2007 -- the ninth consecutive year of continued improvements -- according to a study released Thursday by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

5 Oct 2008

Vice Presidential debate includes references to health care

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.) and Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday during a debate at Washington University in St. Louis discussed health care and other proposals offered by Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Washington Post reports.

5 Oct 2008

Advocates, lawmakers push for House to pass bailout bill that includes mental parity

Advocates for mental health parity legislation on Thursday launched efforts to lobby 51 co-sponsors of a House mental health parity bill (HR 1424) who voted against a House version of a financial bailout package to reconsider their votes and vote to approve a Senate-approved package that includes mental health parity language, CQ Today reports (Armstrong/Wayne, CQ Today, 10/2).

5 Oct 2008

Medical student gender and self-confidence: Females underestimate their abilities and males tend to overestimate theirs

Despite performing equally to their male peers in the classroom and the clinic, female medical students consistently report decreased self-confidence and increased anxiety, particularly over issues related to their competency. A new study published in the September 2008 issue of Patient Education and Counseling found that female medical students also appeared less confident to patients.

5 Oct 2008

A decade of change in general practice

It's not only the patients in GP surgeries who are getting older, according to two new reports released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre, an AIHW collaborating unit located at the University of Sydney.

5 Oct 2008

Experts confront cancer trend: aging population, new challenges

A growing cadre of specialists - geriatric oncologists - is the latest group of medical pioneers to meet the challenge of a rising cancer incidence among older adults. They are investigating how to fill the gaps in the way oncology is practiced today, which sometimes neglects the special needs of the elderly.

2 Oct 2008

Don't ask, don't tell doesn't work in prenatal care

While obstetrical care providers are doing a good job working with their patients on smoking cessation, they are not doing as well on abuse of other substances that can harm a woman's unborn baby. A new study appearing in the September 2008 issue of the journal Patient Education and Counseling reports that patients don't volunteer information about substance abuse unless specifically queried.

30 Sep 2008

States see rising enrollment in Medicaid as economy falters

With states confronting a weakening economy, enrollment in Medicaid began to rise last year with states expecting even larger increases for fiscal year 2009, according to a new 50-state survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU). With the increased enrollment, Medicaid spending is also rising more rapidly than in the recent past, raising the potential for program cutbacks as states confront the combined impact of more enrollees and fewer available resources.

29 Sep 2008

Illinois legislature overrides revisions from governor to approve bill that requires hospitals to provide discounts to uninsured

The Illinois Legislature this week voted unanimously to override Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) revisions of a bill to give uninsured Illinois residents a discount on hospital care, the Chicago Tribune's "Triage" reports.

29 Sep 2008

Office of personnel management estimates premiums for Federal employees will increase by 8% in 2009

The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday announced that federal employees in 2009 will have to pay on average about 8% more for their health insurance premiums, the Washington Post reports. The projected increase is significantly higher than the 2.9% increase in 2008 and the 2.3% increase in 2007.

29 Sep 2008

President Bush signs legislation to expand protections under Americans with disabilities act

President Bush on Thursday signed legislation that expands protections under the Americans with Disability Act, the AP/Kansas City Star reports (AP/Kansas City Star, 9/25).

29 Sep 2008

Senate unveils second economic stimulus bill that would provide additional Federal Medicaid funding; House also to consider stimulus measure

Senate and House Democrats have prepared separate proposals for a second economic stimulus package that include additional federal funds for Medicaid and other programs, CQ Today reports.

29 Sep 2008

Protecting patient privacy the new fashioned way

Protecting patient privacy has been recognized as the duty of health-care providers for aHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Actbout as long as doctors have seen patients. Since 1996, that duty became a legal obligation when Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

25 Sep 2008

Doctors raise stakes about presidential candidates' health care plans

A Delaware County physician says health care is too important of an issue in the upcoming presidential election, and that the candidates should have a forum to talk about their vision for the future of health care.

25 Sep 2008

Florida Medicaid beneficiaries sue state to receive home-based care

Nearly 8,500 Florida Medicaid beneficiaries living in nursing homes have filed a federal class-action lawsuit claiming they are being forced to obtain care in nursing homes rather than in the community, the AP/Miami Herald reports.

24 Sep 2008

Massachusetts lawmakers pass legislation to attract more primary care physicians to state as wait times for appointments increase

The average wait time for an appointment with a primary care physician in Massachusetts this year increased to 36 days from 34 days in 2007, according to an annual study by the Massachusetts Medical Society, the AP/Boston Herald reports (AP/Boston Herald, 9/22).

24 Sep 2008

Obama releases new ad criticizing McCain on health insurance regulation

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Monday released an advertisement that criticized Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) for his views on health care and an article in which he discusses regulation of the health insurance market, the Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" reports (Rhee, "Political Intelligence," Boston Globe, 9/22).

24 Sep 2008

Healthcare News

Senate Finance Committee leaders raise concerns about problems in Medicare appeals office

Commonwealth Fund report examines health care proposals of major Presidential candidates

MedPAC hearing panelists call for residency programs to move away from hospital-centered care, toward treatment of chronic illnesses

Health plans' quality of care improved in some areas in 2007, NCQA report says

Vice Presidential debate includes references to health care

Advocates, lawmakers push for House to pass bailout bill that includes mental parity

Medical student gender and self-confidence: Females underestimate their abilities and males tend to overestimate theirs

A decade of change in general practice

Experts confront cancer trend: aging population, new challenges

Don't ask, don't tell doesn't work in prenatal care

States see rising enrollment in Medicaid as economy falters

Illinois legislature overrides revisions from governor to approve bill that requires hospitals to provide discounts to uninsured

Office of personnel management estimates premiums for Federal employees will increase by 8% in 2009

President Bush signs legislation to expand protections under Americans with disabilities act

Senate unveils second economic stimulus bill that would provide additional Federal Medicaid funding; House also to consider stimulus measure

Protecting patient privacy the new fashioned way

Doctors raise stakes about presidential candidates' health care plans

Florida Medicaid beneficiaries sue state to receive home-based care

Massachusetts lawmakers pass legislation to attract more primary care physicians to state as wait times for appointments increase

Obama releases new ad criticizing McCain on health insurance regulation

Evolving spectrophotometry for modern biopharma workflows

Scaling B-cell cloning workflows for antibody development

Fluidics in Modern Healthcare & Medical Device Innovation

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