Managed Care Weekly articles from February 2004

Managed Care Weekly archives from February 2004

U.S. Institute of Medicine report calls for universal health coverage by 2010.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Given the growing stress being placed on the U.S. healthcare system, the exacerbated health problems, and the substantial societal costs that result from more than 43 million Americans lacking health...

Physicians, parents key to improving quality of children's healthcare.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Improving the quality of children's healthcare in the will require continued commitment by pediatricians and parents to demand effective, as well as affordable, pediatric care from legislators,...

Study: National health insurance could save $286 billion just on paperwork.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Public Citizen finds that healthcare bureaucracy in 2003 cost the United States $399.4 billion. The study, published in the January 16, 2004,...

Fears of managed care's effects on radiology practices are unrealized.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- It turns out that the effects of managed care on radiology practices are not the bugaboo radiologists apprehended. "Perceptions of practices as to the effect of managed care seem to reflect...

Study calls for more transparent business model.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Research published in the January/February 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAphA) seeks to document the difference between what pharmacy benefits management companies...

New York program improves quality of care while containing costs.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New York State's Medicaid managed care program has improved the quality of healthcare for low-income New Yorkers while reducing the rate of Medicaid cost growth, according to a report released January...

Humana's Kansas City operations receives 3-year NCQA accreditation.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Humana (HUM) announced that Humana Health Plan, Inc., - Kansas City (Missouri) has been awarded a 3-year commendable accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its...

Insurance provider selected to mandate URAC's HIPAA programs.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- URAC announced that ACE Global Markets, a subsidiary of ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE) and one of the world's leading providers of insurance and reinsurance, will mandate URAC's HIPAA [Health Insurance...

Hospital group in Ohio extends contract with insurer.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An Ohio hospital group and the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurer said on January 9, 2004, that they have agreed on a new contract, ending a dispute that raised questions for...

New York hospital's credit rating drops.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Despite hundreds of layoffs and other cutbacks, the Westchester Medical Center, New York, says it lost at least $80 million in 2003 and will lose $40 million or more in 2004, a disclosure that sent its...

Oklahoma City hospitals say merger would allow them to better serve patients.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, hospitals have started negotiations that may lead to a merger. The move would result in better access to healthcare, hospital administrators said. Officials from...

Pharmaceutical distribution contract renewal announced.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Healthcare services company McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) has signed a 5-year pharmaceutical distribution contract renewal with prescription benefit manager Caremark Rx, Inc. The agreement calls...

Prescription benefits manager cleared for military contract.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Congressional investigators cleared the way for a $245 million U.S. military contract with Missouri-based Express Scripts Inc. Express Scripts is the third-largest manager of prescription drug...

Retail chain drops three pharmacy benefit plans.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CVS Corp. said January 9, 2004, it will not participate in three pharmacy benefit plans administered by National Medical Health Card Systems Inc. because those plans require that patients fill...

Feds: Former Rhode Island senate president paid $70,000 as broker for CVS health plan.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- William Irons, the former Rhode Island Senate president who resigned over questions about his business dealings, received $70,000 in commissions over a 2-year period as the broker on a CVS employee...

MedSynergies adds six medical groups in Midwest and Northeast.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Six medical groups in five states have selected MedSynergies to provide technical services. MedSynergies will provide IDX Groupcast software and electronic claims production for all six medical...

Kaiser to routinely offer new DNA testing for cervical cancer in northern California.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Kaiser Permanente will routinely offer hundreds of thousands of women in northern California newly approved DNA testing to more accurately predict which women are at risk of developing cervical cancer....

Helium Networks, XiTech design wireless network for Mercy Health System.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Helium Networks' wireless networking design and troubleshooting tool - Rollabout - was selected for use by XiTech Corp. in designing and deploying Mercy Hospital's 802.11 wireless network. ...

Beta blockers cost-effective to society for heart failure treatment.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Beta-blocker therapy for the treatment of heart failure can provide significant cost savings for the health care system, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Duke Clinical Research...

Insurance company extends consumer-centric products with HSAs.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- American Medical Security Group, Inc., (AMZ, AMS) announced that the independent agents marketing its products to individuals are now offering Health Savings Accounts (HSA) coupled with the company's...

Two big hospitals latest to take on state's biggest insurer.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New Jersey's dominant health insurance company says two big hospitals want to be reimbursed more than Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield can afford to pay. But Cooper University Hospital in Camden and...

Prison director considers switching to private healthcare.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- South Carolina's Corrections Department pays almost twice the national average for healthcare for sick inmates, and the director says he's considering privatization. Jon Ozmint told The Greenville...

Company announces reimbursement for capsule endoscopy primary procedure.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Given Imaging (GIVN) announced that the Medicare carrier for the states of Ohio and West Virginia - Palmetto GBA - approved reimbursement coverage for capsule endoscopy as a primary procedure in the...

Study says sharp increase in disability rates linked to obesity.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The obesity epidemic caused disability rates to rise sharply in the last two decades among Americans younger than 60, according to a new study by RAND Corporation researchers. The RAND Health study...

Type 2 diabetes patients' survival extended with valsartan vs. amlodipine.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Markov economic model using data from the 6-month MARVAL (MicroAlbuminuria Reduction With VALsartan), randomized, controlled, clinical trial showed that over 8 years, the angiotensin II receptor...

Commonwealth of Virginia selects Medco Health for drug benefits management.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medco Health Solutions (MHS) announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia (COVA) has awarded the company a contract to manage prescription drug benefits for more than 90,000 Commonwealth employees,...

Horizon BCBS wants New Jersey physicians to use direct-to-pharmacy scripts program.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (BCBSNJ), New Jersey's largest health plan, and AdvancePCS (NASDAQ: ADVP), a health improvement company, have begun recruiting physicians to participate in a...

Air carrier asks retirees to pay for more health benefits.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- United Airlines said January 14, 2004, it is asking retirees to pay for more of their health benefits to help the carrier emerge from bankruptcy - a move that has drawn the ire of its unions. The...

Measure challenging California law unlikely on March 2004 ballot.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A proposed ballot measure asking voters to nullify legislation requiring California businesses to offer health insurance for their workers isn't likely to appear on the March 2, 2004, primary ballot, an...

Small businesses in N.Y. oppose employee unions' tax proposal.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A coalition of small businesses said January 13, 2004, that a plan to provide health coverage to 1 million uninsured New Yorkers by taxing businesses that do not insure their workers would "bankrupt"...

Workers sue grocery-store chain over healthcare coverage.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Three Kroger workers in Indiana have filed a class-action lawsuit accusing the grocer of violating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Kroger placed the employees in jobs with reduced...

Study suggests more cancer patients receiving aggressive care at end of life.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A growing number of cancer patients are receiving aggressive treatments when they are near death, according to a study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "Our research has shown...

Blue Shield of California contributes $30M to California foundation.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As part of its long-standing commitment to support the healthcare needs of California communities, Blue Shield of California contributed $30 million to the company's philanthropic arm, the Blue Shield...

First Horizon raises guidance for Q4 2003; issues guidance for Q1 2004.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- First Horizon Pharmaceutical Corp. (FHRX), a specialty pharmaceutical company, raised its previously issued guidance for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2003, and issued guidance for the first...

Health information solutions company reports second quarter results.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NDCHealth Corp. (NDC) announced financial results for its second quarter ended November 28, 2003. Revenue increased to $115.2 million from $105.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2003. ...

Healthcare business support company raises $10 million.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GTESS Corp., a provider of business process outsourcing services for the healthcare industry, announced that the company has secured $10 million in its first round of institutional investment, led by...

LifePoint announces 2004 guidance.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- LifePoint Hospitals, Inc., (LPNT) announced that it expects to report earnings per share for full year 2004 in the range of $1.86-1.91. The guidance does not include any estimate for 2004...

Magellan clarifies information regarding its financial restructuring.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Magellan Health Services, Inc., (MGLN) clarified and corrected certain information regarding the transactions resulting from its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as previously disclosed on January...

MedCom USA and Inmediata Corp. ink claims processing agreement.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MedCom USA, Inc., (EMED), a leading provider of healthcare/financial transaction solutions for the healthcare industry, and Inmediata Corp. of Puerto Rico, a value-added intermediary in the processing,...

Health and medical information company announces release of Health Info Center.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HealthGate Data Corp. (HGAT) announced that a lower cost version of its Health Library has been developed specifically for single hospitals, group practices, health clubs, and spas. The Health Info...

New tax-free accounts help pay medical care costs.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As medical insurance premiums skyrocket, more companies are looking for ways to pass on costs to their workers. At the same time, self-employed people and other individuals who don't have corporate...

Daschle says administration gives seniors propaganda about new Medicare law.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle accused the Bush administration on January 14, 2004, of sending seniors propaganda rather than explanations about changes in the Medicare program. Daschle...

Minnesota attorney general backs cost-cutting bills.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Minnesota Democratic lawmakers joined Attorney General Mike Hatch on January 9, 2004, in pushing a trio of bills they said could trim healthcare costs. One bill would stiffen penalties for doctors...

New York senator proposes improvements to U.S. healthcare system.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York plans to focus in 2004 on improving healthcare, beginning with a proposal designed to modernize the sharing of medical information nationwide. The senator,...

Support for universal health insurance split along party lines.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Institute of Medicine (IOM) on January 14, 2004, recommended for the first time that the U.S. government provide universal health insurance, attempting to spark an election-year debate on a...

Survey shows healthcare a top issue in 2004 election.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As the 2004 election cycle begins in the U.S., voters expect candidates to address healthcare issues, according to a new national survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan...

Wisconsin governor scolds Republican party over Medicare plan.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle on January 10, 2004, criticized President George W. Bush's Medicare overhaul, saying it is nothing more than a handout to prescription drug companies. Doyle called for...

Benemax adds coverage for online second opinions to plans.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Benemax is offering an online second opinion service from Harvard-affiliated Partners Telemedicine as part of its health plans for employers. "Benemax's third-party coverage of this service is a...

Plans get preliminary nod to make insurance more accessible in Florida.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Just over 7% of the 2.8 million Floridians without health insurance would be placed into a high-risk coverage pool under a recommendation given preliminary approval on January 9, 2004, by a state task...

Virginia U.S. senator promises to work for patient advocate funding.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia pledged on January 14, 2004, to help line up federal funding for the Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF), calling it a national role model for its work breaking...

Blue Cross foundation donates $10 million to treat North Carolina uninsured.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Non-profit health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, which has been criticized for sitting on large profits, announced on January 14, 2004, that it will give $10 million to free...

Commission: Alabama's spending on teacher insurance out of control.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Alabama should freeze the amount it is paying for health insurance for teachers and other education employees at the current level, says a commission appointed by the governor to study education...

First on new Louisiana governor's agenda is reducing number of uninsured.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Louisiana's governor-elect, Kathleen Blanco, wants an upcoming healthcare summit to devise a roadmap for reducing the uninsured population in Louisiana and providing better care. But she's walking...

Survey finds increasing health costs for retirees, more erosion of benefits.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a new survey of some of the largest U.S. employers - conducted prior to passage of the new Medicare prescription drug legislation - 10% said they eliminated subsidized health benefits for future...

U.S. companies underestimating the money they'll need to cover retiree benefits.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Look at the recent surveys on trends in healthcare costs, and they all point way up. Too bad many companies are ignoring those predictions when tallying the future expenses of their retirees' benefits....

Auto manufacturers say U.S. must solve healthcare crisis.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Top executives of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford Motor Co. said on January 13, 2004, that U.S. business and political leaders must solve the country's healthcare crisis or face a further...

French cabinet approves scrapping holiday to pay for better elderly healthcare.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- France's Cabinet on January 14, 2004, approved a plan to eliminate an annual holiday, designed to bring in more tax revenues to pay for better healthcare for the elderly and disabled. The proposal,...

Panel: Time has come to face rising health costs in Montana.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- State leaders need to do something to confront runaway healthcare costs in Montana, although there are probably no quick solutions, a panel of health and insurance experts says. The state simply...

Minnesota forum likely to advocate universal healthcare.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Minnesotans have a strong appetite for major changes in the healthcare system that would both lower costs and lead to universal access to care. That's the conclusion of a state forum led by former...

Drop in hormone therapy use shows doctors heed research findings.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The dramatic drop in prescriptions for postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy after the risks of long-term estrogen/progestin use were announced suggests that physicians respond more readily to new...

JAMA publishes study examining end-of-life care in U.S.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dying Americans receive inadequate pain management, little emotional support, and poor communication from their physicians, according to researchers at Brown University. Their study was released in...

California organization says it will be first to use HPV test routinely.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Digene Corp. (DIGE) announced that by the spring of this year, its DNAwithPap Test will be offered to all women 30 and older by Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Region, to better identify who is...

Company to provide Intelligent Visual Medical System for ThedaCare.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Emageon, a provider of intelligent visual medical systems, announced an agreement with ThedaCare, an integrated delivery system in central Wisconsin, to provide advanced visualization, content...

Memorial Hermann Health network providers select Bluegate.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Crescent Communications, Inc., (CCES) announced Memorial Hermann Health Network Providers (MHHNP) has selected Bluegate as its preferred provider of internet connectivity and managed VPN/firewall...

Real-time healthcare eligibility processing software launched.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- bConnected Software, Inc., and Cardtronic Technology, Inc., jointly announced the launch of bRTE, an automated solution for more cost-efficient healthcare administration. Cardtronic, based in...

Written materials plus discussion helps patients recall risks of plastic surgery.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Patients who received educational pamphlets in addition to discussing the risks related to facial plastic surgeries were better able to recall those risks later compared with patients who did not get...

New report highlights U.S. medical cost of injuries.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Injuries cost the United States an estimated $117 billion in medical expenses each year, suggests a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This estimate...

Colorado to pay $14 million in latest Medicaid HMO lawsuit.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The state of Colorado has agreed to pay $14 million to settle another lawsuit alleging that its Medicaid program underpaid health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for medical care of the poor. The...

Cuban immigrant gets 9-year sentence for Medicare scam.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Cuban immigrant was sentenced to 9 years in prison for scamming $36.5 million from the U.S. government in one of the nation's largest Medicare fraud cases. Alfredo Rodriguez, 38, was sentenced on...

Drug manager sued over rebates, prices.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two New York labor groups are suing Express Scripts Inc., accusing the third-largest manager of prescription drug plans in the U.S. of allegedly pocketing rebates and inflating drug prices, driving up...

Five Star Quality Care announces Marriott/SLS settlement.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Five Star Quality Care, Inc., (FVE) announced that it has settled its pending litigation with Marriott International, Inc., (MAR) and Sunrise Senior Living Services, Inc., f/k/a Marriott Senior Living...

Judge signals intent to dismiss school employees' lawsuit over health benefits.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A judge in Columbus, Ohio, said January 13, 2004, that she intends to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a public school employees' union against its state retirement system, but the interim ruling won't become...

Supreme Court ruling affects 1.5 million Texas children.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Supreme Court made it far more difficult on January 14, 2004, for state officials to renege on court-approved promises to improve such things as nursing home care, prison conditions, or health...

Tennessee man indicted in healthcare scheme.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Federal agents on January 15, 2004, arrested a Chattanooga, Tennessee, man accused of cheating insurers out of more than $1.7 million by filing false claims after arranging free health fairs. A...

Health insurance lobby group releases forecast of states' issue in 2004.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- At a January 14, 2004, press briefing, the American Association of Health Plans-Health Insurance Association of America (AAHP-HIAA) released its State Forecast 2004 report outlining issues that will be...

Healthcare advocates cite Colorado's TABOR as roadblock to funding.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As Colorado's economy begins to creep toward recovery from a 3-year slump, healthcare advocates say a constitutional amendment will prevent restoration of all the funds cut from healthcare programs to...

Washington home healthcare workers call for higher wages, medical coverage.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A wave of purple pushed on the state Capitol in Olympia, Washington, as home care workers called for higher wages and healthcare coverage. About 300 workers marched on the Senate offices on January...

Nursing homes may need help instituting clinical practice guidelines.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Clinical practice guidelines are a promising way to enhance the quality of care for nursing home residents, although nursing homes may need additional support as they attempt to put the recommendations...

Buy-in program underway in Louisiana.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A state program launched by Louisiana in January 2004 will allow people with mental, physical, or developmental disabilities to enter the work force without fear of losing their government health...

Colorado appeals court removes injunction against program changes.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado, on January 12, 2004, lifted an injunction against a Colorado law that changes Medicaid eligibility requirements for legal aliens. The...

Foundation aims at taking consumer-directed service model to national level.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When Medicaid beneficiaries of various ages and disabilities have the option to direct their own supportive services, their quality of life is improved, satisfaction with services is increased, unmet...

New Hampshire temporarily lowers payment rate to pharmacists.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Some drug stores in New Hampshire may refuse to fill prescriptions for Medicaid clients after the state announced on January 12, 2004, that it had temporarily lowered the amount it pays pharmacists to...

Settlement with drug company brings money to Rhode Island program.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A settlement with Bayer Corp., which pleaded guilty to overcharging the federal Medicaid program, has brought more than $500,000 for a government health insurance program serving low-income Rhode...

Study finds patients overprescribed with anti-anxiety drugs.
February 2, 2004... 2004 FEB 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medicaid patients with mental illness and substance abuse problems are being given too many anti-anxiety drugs, a combination that could increase intoxication and possible addiction to the drugs,...