Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

First Edition: August 27, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about this week's GOP convention, the politics of Medicare and abortion, and the latest health policy news from the states.

27 Aug 2012

Genzyme receives Refuse to File letter from FDA for LEMTRADA

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, announced it has received a Refuse to File letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the approval of LEMTRADA (alemtuzumab) as a treatment for relapsing multiple sclerosis.

27 Aug 2012

Obama, Romney exchange barbs on Medicare, abortion

The former Massachusetts governor, responding to charges of a GOP "war on women," says his state health overhaul provided health care for "all women and men." The president, meanwhile, fights back against charges that he is taking money out of Medicare by asserting he wants to strengthen and preverve the program. Both campaigns also debut new ads on Medicare.

27 Aug 2012

AIDS Healthcare Foundation acquires MOMS Pharmacy

On August 20, 2012, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced that it acquired MOMS Pharmacy, a specialty pharmacy focused exclusively on providing medications and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS.

27 Aug 2012

Essential Learning announces new partnership with Hazelden

Essential Learning, the leading provider of e-learning solutions to the behavioral health and human service industries, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Hazelden, a nonprofit organization for addiction treatment and publisher of treatment, behavioral health and youth violence educational resources.

27 Aug 2012

Medicare, health policies stay in spotlight at top of the ticket

The Washington Post compares how Medicare fares under the health law versus under the Ryan plan, while NBC questions whether the GOP effort to hammer President Obama for reducing Medicare spending to pay for the health overhaul will work -- especially since GOP budget proposals make the same cuts.

27 Aug 2012

Latest issue of IBM Journal of Research and Development now available in IEEE Xplore

IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization, announced that the latest issue of IBM Journal of Research and Development, a special issue on Technologies for Healthcare Transformation, is now exclusively available in the IEEE Xplore digital library.

27 Aug 2012

HHS softens stage 2 meaningful use standards for electronic health records

In other health information technology news, the American Hospital Association has suggested modifications to Federal Communication Commission's Rural Health Care Pilot Program.

27 Aug 2012

Conifer Health to provide comprehensive revenue cycle management operations for TAH

Conifer Health Solutions, a leader in business process management solutions for healthcare providers, has reached an agreement to provide comprehensive revenue cycle management operations for Titusville Area Hospital (TAH) of Titusville, Pennsylvania.

26 Aug 2012

Mexican-Americans with ancestral links have higher insulin resistance levels

Mexican-Americans with an ancestral link to Amerindian tribes were found to have higher insulin resistance levels, which is an indication of several chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, according to research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

26 Aug 2012

Judge questions 'ripeness' of legal challenge to health law's contraception coverage mandate

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle questioned Wheaton College closely Thursday as to whether its lawsuit against the administration's contraception coverage mandate is actually "ripe" for review. Wheaton, an evangelical Christian school in Illinois, opposes offering emergency contraception on religious grounds. On Aug. 1, the college asked Huvelle for a preliminary injunction against the Obama administration's contraception requirement under the health care law.

26 Aug 2012

Roundup: Rate regulation on Calif.'s 2014 ballot; Ga. state workers facing health premium hike; Kan. Medicaid overhaul recruiting providers

An initiative that would bring health insurance rate regulation to California has qualified for the November 2014 ballot, setting the stage for a vigorous and costly battle between insurers and consumer groups. The measure, sponsored by Consumer Watchdog, would give the state insurance commissioner the power to deny certain premium increases if they are deemed excessive.

26 Aug 2012

Few state laws restricting abortion make exceptions for rape victims

Politico Pro examines state abortion laws and finds few waivers for rape victims. Also, California lawmakers spar over rape comments made by Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin.

24 Aug 2012

ISSA questions IRS on health law insurance subsidies

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has raised questions about the implementation of a key part of the health law -- the tax treatment of subsidies for low-income people to purchase health insurance.

24 Aug 2012

CBO: Medicare spending growth slower than expected

The Congressional Budget Office released new projections for the country's economic outlook Wednesday, forecasting that despite slower-than-anticipated spending growth, Medicare will account for an even larger share of the economy in the next decade.

24 Aug 2012

Kansas officials promise smooth transition for Medicaid overhaul

State officials and health insurance providers on Tuesday promised a smooth transition into KanCare, the proposed overhaul of Kansas' $2.9 billion Medicaid program. "There is nothing simple about Medicaid," said Joe Ewert, commissioner of survey and certification with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.

24 Aug 2012

Presidential campaigns jockey for upper hand in Medicare debate

Just as new polls find that voters in three key swing states are more likely to trust President Barack Obama than GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney on Medicare, the Romney campaign is struggling to quiet controversies related to this issue.

24 Aug 2012

CMS moves forward with initiative to coordinate Medicare primary care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Innovation Center will administer the program, which was created by the 2010 health law. Five hundred medical practices have been selected to participate.

24 Aug 2012

San Francisco to require employers pay more for employee health care

Employers in San Francisco with more than 100 employees will have to contribute more to their employees' health care starting in 2013.

24 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Cantaloupes and food safety; Diversity in health incentives

People don't ordinarily think of cantaloupes as killers, but over the last two summers 32 Americans have died after eating contaminated pieces of the popular fruit. ... Government is hyper-vigilant about terror attacks and problem airliners, which is good, but not so much about food - at least if you judge by the time it's taking the Obama administration to release new rules intended to prevent exactly the sort of food-borne outbreaks cantaloupes have caused.

24 Aug 2012