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270,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries in California will be assigned new prescription drug plans

About 270,000 low-income elderly and disabled Californians will automatically be assigned to new Medicare prescription drug plans Jan. 1, 2007, because four plans will no longer be available next year, the Los Angeles Times reports.

16 Oct 2006

Group Health will reduce premiums for Washington State-subsidized health plan for low-income residents

Group Health Cooperative recently announced it would lower its monthly premiums for Washington's state-subsidized health plan for low-income working residents by as much as 80% beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the Seattle Times reports.

16 Oct 2006

Many health care organizations have employee retention issues

Sixty-nine percent of health care organizations report having moderate to great trouble retaining employees with critical skills, compared with 43% of organizations across all industries, according to a report released last Wednesday by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, the AP/Arizona Republic reports.

16 Oct 2006

Outpatient surgery centers 'poised to outnumber' general hospitals

The AP/Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday examined how outpatient surgery centers are "poised to outnumber general hospitals, if they do not already."

16 Oct 2006

Increased oversight, other efforts have reduced improper Medicare payment claims by $1.3B

Improved oversight and other efforts by CMS have helped reduce the rate of improper Medicare reimbursements for fee-for-service claims from 5.2% in 2005 to 4.4% in 2006 for a savings of $1.3 billion, according to agency Administrator Mark McClellan, CQ HealthBeat reports.

16 Oct 2006

Few doctors have implemented, effectively use electronic health records

About one in four physicians use some type of electronic health records, while fewer than one in 10 use a comprehensive EHR system, according to a study that suggests "a technology frequently billed as a way to improve the quality and efficiency of care has yet to win widespread acceptance," the Washington Post reports.

16 Oct 2006

Virginia Supreme Court launches State mental health law review

Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leroy Hassell last Thursday launched the Commission on Mental Health Reform, "the broadest review of the state's mental health laws in three decades" intended to produce an "omnibus mental health reform package" to present to the 2008 General Assembly, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

16 Oct 2006

U.S. consumers' health care concerns

USA Today on Monday published three articles addressing U.S. consumers' health care concerns as part of a week-long series titled "Prescription for Change," which examines possible improvements to the U.S. health care system.

16 Oct 2006

Few candidates discuss health care in detail as part of campaigns

Health care "almost always gets mentioned in campaigns, but often not in detail," and it "is always somewhere on the list of serious voter concerns" but "almost never at the top," in part because of the complexity of the issue, the Baltimore Sun reports.

16 Oct 2006

New York State law prevents new CDC testing recommendations from being implemented

A New York state law passed in the 1980s prevents the state from implementing CDC's revised recommendations on HIV testing in the U.S. that say HIV tests should become a routine part of medical care for residents ages 13 to 64 and that requirements for written consent and pretest counseling should be dropped, the New York Times reports.

5 Oct 2006

More 'eco-friendly' hospitals being built

Hospitals are beginning to build "more efficient, eco-friendly facilities with 'sustainable' design features" as the industry "embarks on a $200 billion construction program over the next decade to replace or rebuild decaying facilities and meet growing demand from aging baby boomers," the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 Oct 2006

USA Today examines debate surrounding New Jersey bill (S 494)

USA Today on Tuesday examined the debate surrounding a New Jersey bill (S 494) that would establish a needle-exchange program in six cities and provide $10 million to drug treatment programs in the state.

5 Oct 2006

New Mexico considers expanding Medicaid enrollment after containing costs in recent years

New Mexico Medicaid spending has been contained enough to ease eligibility rules, New Mexico Human Services Department Secretary Pam Hyde told state legislators last week, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

5 Oct 2006

U.S. still leader in medical innovation

The "American health care system may be performing better than it seems at first glance" because the U.S. "is the world leader" in medical innovations, which "improve health and life expectancy in all wealthy countries," Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

5 Oct 2006

Rent increase for New York City HIV/AIDS welfare housing

New York City officials on Wednesday said that people living in government-subsidized housing for HIV-positive people will be charged more for rent after the state required that changes be made to the payment formula effective Nov. 1, the New York Times reports.

5 Oct 2006

Proposed changes to Ryan White CARE Act would harm treatment efforts among HIV-positive Latinos

Proposed changes to the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the U.S., would result in inadequate funding for treatment efforts among HIV-positive Latinos, members of a panel held by the Latino Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Federation said on Wednesday.

5 Oct 2006

Nursing schools reject increased number of applicants over lack of faculty members

Nursing schools nationwide rejected more than 41,000 qualified applicants in 2005, compared with 33,000 in 2004 and 18,000 in 2003, and three out of four schools attributed the increased rejections in large part to an insufficient number of faculty members, according to an annual survey conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, USA Today reports.

5 Oct 2006

Elderly patients in the UK demeaned by hospital staff

Hospital staff in the UK have been accused of demeaning patients by their use of language and choice of words.

5 Oct 2006

CQ's Carey addresses health IT legislation, House approval of HSA expansion, Medicare payment cuts, Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses House and Senate negotiations on legislation that would expand health care information technology, House approval of a measure to expand health savings accounts, Congress' inaction on scheduled Medicare physician payment cuts and Senate Democrats' attempt to block reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

3 Oct 2006

Massachusetts announces universal health care coverage premium rates that are expected to cost the state 10% less than previous estimates

Massachusetts health insurance premium rates for low-income residents are in line with officials' predictions, and the state should have adequate funding to implement its new health insurance law next year, the Boston Globe reports.

3 Oct 2006

Healthcare News

270,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries in California will be assigned new prescription drug plans

Group Health will reduce premiums for Washington State-subsidized health plan for low-income residents

Many health care organizations have employee retention issues

Outpatient surgery centers 'poised to outnumber' general hospitals

Increased oversight, other efforts have reduced improper Medicare payment claims by $1.3B

Few doctors have implemented, effectively use electronic health records

Virginia Supreme Court launches State mental health law review

U.S. consumers' health care concerns

Few candidates discuss health care in detail as part of campaigns

New York State law prevents new CDC testing recommendations from being implemented

More 'eco-friendly' hospitals being built

USA Today examines debate surrounding New Jersey bill (S 494)

New Mexico considers expanding Medicaid enrollment after containing costs in recent years

U.S. still leader in medical innovation

Rent increase for New York City HIV/AIDS welfare housing

Proposed changes to Ryan White CARE Act would harm treatment efforts among HIV-positive Latinos

Nursing schools reject increased number of applicants over lack of faculty members

Elderly patients in the UK demeaned by hospital staff

CQ's Carey addresses health IT legislation, House approval of HSA expansion, Medicare payment cuts, Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization

Massachusetts announces universal health care coverage premium rates that are expected to cost the state 10% less than previous estimates

Advancing benzodiazepine detection

The Surgeon-Scientist Pioneering Regenerative Engineering

Leveraging the Radian ASAP in standard casework

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