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CMS informs some low-income Medicare drug plan beneficiaries that their coverage could change

About two million low-income beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare prescription drug plans could be moved to new plans in 2008, and millions of other beneficiaries will have to change plans if they want to avoid double-digit premium increases, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

6 Nov 2007

Proposals for health care reform face many barriers

Supporters of health care reform, each time they offered new proposals, expected "popular clamor" to "drive elected officials to end the national embarrassment of millions of uninsured and rein in health expenditures that were needlessly high and bought less than they should," but, each time, "reformers were right in their indictment and wrong in their political judgments," Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.

6 Nov 2007

Highmark, in partnership with Visa, markets new Healthcare Gift Card

Pennsylvania-based health insurer Highmark, in partnership with Visa, has begun to market a new Healthcare Gift Card in an effort to encourage the use of medical services among certain populations, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

6 Nov 2007

Group sues to obtain records on Clinton health care task force

Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit against the National Archives to obtain records on the White House task force on health care led by then-first lady Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the group announced on Monday, the AP/Denver Post reports.

6 Nov 2007

Local United Auto Workers leaders approve tentative Ford contract

Local United Auto Workers leaders representing Ford Motor employees on Monday by voice vote unanimously approved a tentative four-year contract agreement that follows the pattern set by General Motors and Chrysler Group and includes the creation of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Krisher/Durbin, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/6).

6 Nov 2007

Raid of WellCare prompted by Medicaid fraud concerns

A recent raid by federal and state authorities on Tampa, Fla.-based health insurer WellCare was prompted by allegations that the company inflated mental health care spending so it could keep funds it should have refunded to the state's Medicaid program, according to a person familiar with details of the investigation, the Wall Street Journal reports (Won Tesoriero/Francis, Wall Street Journal, 11/3).

5 Nov 2007

UAW agrees on tentative contract with Ford that includes voluntary employees' beneficiary association

Negotiators for United Auto Workers and Ford Motor on Saturday reached an agreement on a tentative four-year contract that follows the pattern set by General Motors and Chrysler Group and includes the creation of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, the New York Times reports.

5 Nov 2007

Bipartisan measure proposed by Maryland lawmakers would include health care cuts

State lawmakers in Maryland on Thursday presented an additional $440 million in cuts from the state budget proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), including $32 million in cuts from Medicaid spending, the Washington Times reports.

5 Nov 2007

Senator calls on President Bush to do more to improve veterans' health care

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Saturday called promises by President Bush to provide adequate health care to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "hollow talk" and said the Bush administration must do more to address the issue, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. During the Democratic weekly radio address, Murray said that Bush has not requested adequate funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

5 Nov 2007

World-famous Papworth heart transplant hospital in trouble

A hospital in Britain which has been at the forefront of heart transplant surgery ever since it carried out the UK's first successful operation in 1979, is in trouble.

5 Nov 2007

Medicare lacks tools, incentives to enforce evidence-based coverage policies

According to new research at the University of Minnesota, Medicare lacks sufficient information in most cases to apply a policy and does not have the resources or incentives to acquire the information.

2 Nov 2007

Medicaid pays for one-third of drug abuse hospitalizations

Medicaid paid for more than one-third of the 1.3 million hospital stays related to prescription or illegal drug abuse in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

2 Nov 2007

New tool helps pharmacies cater for customers with poor health literacy

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced two new tools to help pharmacies provide better quality services to people with limited health literacy.

1 Nov 2007

Lobbyists push lawmakers to act quickly on Medicare physician payment rate fix

Physician groups are pushing members of Congress to work quickly on passing legislation to avert a 10% Medicare physician reimbursement rate cut scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2008, The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 10/31).

31 Oct 2007

Bush threatens to veto combined appropriations bill

President Bush on Tuesday said he would veto a more than $700 billion package under consideration by Democrats that includes the fiscal year 2008 Defense (HR 3222), Labor-HHS-Education (HR 3043) and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (HR 2642) appropriations bills, The Hill reports (Soraghan et al., The Hill, 10/31).

31 Oct 2007

Congressional Democrats consider combining labor-HHS-education, veterans, Pentagon spending bills

Congressional Democrats have begun to "prep for a pre-Thanksgiving budget showdown" with President Bush, as lawmakers seek to finalize a more than $700 billion package that includes the fiscal year 2008 Defense (HR 3222), Labor-HHS-Education (HR 3043) and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (HR 2642) appropriations bills, CongressDaily reports (Cohn, CongressDaily, 10/29).

30 Oct 2007

Massachusetts increases efforts to enroll low-income residents in partially subsidized health coverage by Dec. 31 deadline

Massachusetts health care officials this month are boosting efforts to enroll low-income residents in subsidized health insurance plans as the state approaches the Dec. 31 deadline for all residents to obtain coverage or face tax penalties, the Boston Globe reports.

30 Oct 2007

Efforts needed to address financial stability of entitlement programs

The "demands imposed by the retirement of millions of baby boomers will consume the federal budget and blight the prospects of the next generations" without efforts to address problems with the long-term financial stability of Medicare and other entitlement programs, columnist David Broder writes in the Washington Post.

30 Oct 2007

Cigna reach agreement on physician ranking system

New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday said that Cigna has agreed to provide its members with more information on how it ranks physicians, the AP/Hartford Courant reports. Cuomo said the deal could set a national standard for physician ranking systems (Bauman, AP/Hartford Courant, 10/29).

30 Oct 2007

Study finds increase of avoidable hospitalizations in Washington, D.C.

The rate of avoidable hospitalizations in Washington, D.C., increased from 39.1 per 1,000 adults ages 40 to 64 in 2004 to 43.4 in 2006, and from 8.9 per 1,000 children younger than age 18 to 12.1 during the same period, according to a report released Thursday by RAND, the Washington Post reports.

29 Oct 2007