Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Analysis: Health insurance premium costs vary widely

Premiums were generally highest in the Northeast and lower in the South and Mountain states, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

11 Aug 2011

New report finds lackluster growth for nonprofit hospitals

Moody's finds that the hospitals reporting the slowest rate of revenue growth in 20 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Also in hospital news, a new urgent care center in New Orleans is off to a good start and California officials weigh one chain's efforts to take over more facilities.

11 Aug 2011

Boston Scientific introduces NLI online resource center for healthcare providers

Boston Scientific Corporation has launched its Neuromodulation Learning Institute (NLI), a clinical education program and online resource center for healthcare providers to enhance their knowledge and awareness of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) technology, procedures and techniques.

11 Aug 2011

$28 million awarded to help establish new community health centers

The funds, provided by the Department of Health and Human Services as a result of the health law, will help an estimated 286,000 people gain access to health care, according to HHS officials.

11 Aug 2011

Many low-income seniors go without enhanced Medicare drug coverage

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which says that as many as 2 million eligible Medicare beneficiaries are not enrolled in the Medicare Low-Income Subsidy Program, is stepping up efforts to market the assistance to consumers.

11 Aug 2011

Kansas rejects health law exchange grant

Kansas will send back its $31.5 million Early Innovator Grant to the Department of Health and Human Services, which would have helped pay for the development of the state's online insurance exchange. Gov. Sam Brownback said he was returning the money because of doubts that the federal government would be able to maintain its promised future payments.

11 Aug 2011

Link between brain shrinkage, memory loss in Alzheimer's changes across age spectrum

A new study suggests that the relationship between brain shrinkage and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease changes across the age spectrum.

11 Aug 2011

Arthritis sufferers are not involved in physical activity critical to their health: Study

Being physically active is one of best ways people with arthritis can improve their health, but a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows that more than half of women and 40 percent of men with arthritis are virtually couch potatoes.

11 Aug 2011

CDC Director lauds India for TB and tobacco use control efforts, urges preparations to fight NCDs

CDC Director Thomas Frieden, who currently is visiting India and who previously worked with the Indian government assisting in tuberculosis (TB) control, praised the country's "progress in controlling tuberculosis and tobacco use" on Monday during a speech to health practitioners and policymakers, according to the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog.

11 Aug 2011

Outlook: The health law and its various battles

News outlets report on how timing issues could impact whether the challenges to the health law make it to the Supreme Court in the next term, how messages regarding efforts to overhaul the health care system are playing in presidential primary states and how opposition to "Obamacare" is motivating one Republican to consider joining the presidential contest fray.

11 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: High-cost drugs and Medicare; pitfalls for ACOs; federal funding fix for nursing homes

Life-extending drugs debut frequently, and they usually seem exorbitantly expensive when weighed against their promise of adding a few weeks or months of life to someone with a terminal illness. In these prostate-cancer cases, one new drug costs $5,000 a month, another $8,000 every three weeks and a third $93,000 for a full course of treatment.

11 Aug 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb, GNS collaborate to identify biomarkers in immuno-inflammation

GNS Healthcare, Inc., (GNS) the leading healthcare analytics company focused on enabling personalized medicine to improve human health, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company focused on the discovery of novel disease biology and biomarkers in the area of immuno-inflammation.

11 Aug 2011

Walgreen to sell health insurance

Walgreen Co. is thinking of selling health insurance through a private exchange set up to help consumers find insurance coverage under the health reform law.

10 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 10, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's picks for the debt panel and what Americans -- according to two new polls -- expect the 'super committee' to accomplish.

10 Aug 2011

NCI, Genesis Biopharma sign CRADA agreement to develop cancer immunotherapies

Genesis Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing targeted cancer immunotherapies, today announced it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute.

10 Aug 2011

Accretive Health second quarter net income increases 118% to $8.6 million

Accretive Health, Inc., a leading provider of comprehensive end-to-end healthcare revenue cycle management services and population health management services infrastructure, today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2011.

10 Aug 2011

TrovaGene regains ownership of worldwide rights to transrenal technology

TrovaGene, Inc., a developer of transrenal molecular diagnostics, confirmed today that it regained ownership of its worldwide rights and control over its patent estate for transrenal technology for non-invasive prenatal applications and cancer through the termination of a license agreement between TrovaGene and Sequenom, Inc.

10 Aug 2011

Study finds demand continues for safety-net care in Massachusetts

Even though the state reduced the number of uninsured residents in its health care overhaul, many people still get treatments at community health centers and safety-net hospitals.

10 Aug 2011

Medicare officials report positive results for ACO precursor program

Some health policy experts, though, considered the findings from the five-year demo programs to be discouraging, noting that six of the 10 sites involved in the effort did not qualify for savings. But some news coverage highlights success stories.

10 Aug 2011

Republicans stay quiet on new health law rules related to birth control coverage

Republicans who swept to power last year vowing to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law have been nearly silent about new rules that will force health insurance companies to cover birth control and other women's health services without co-pays.

10 Aug 2011