Medicine & Health articles from February 2007

Medicine & Health archives from February 2007

New plan to reduce health care costs focuses on increases in outlays; is $1.4 trillion in savings too little too late?(Spending)
February 5, 2007... The United States currently spends more than $2 trillion dollars every year on health care, and the price of coverage will only continue to rise. Although most industrialized countries spend 8 to 10 percent of their Gross Domestic Product...

After some key changes, long-overdue genetic nondiscrimination bill is close to passage; bill's sponsors hope concessions placate concerned businesses.(Legislation)(Law overview)
February 5, 2007... Hearings on Jan. 30 by the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions urged House leadership to permit representatives a chance to vote on the newly redesigned Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Rep....

EHRs might hold the key to treating cancer, diabetes and other diseases; new databases make it possible to hold virtual clinical studies.(Health IT)
February 5, 2007... The Department of Health and Human Services' campaign to usher the U.S. health care system into the digital age may carry unexpected bonuses. Recent research supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio, Kaiser...

Pay cuts threaten imaging providers' livelihoods: how radiologists and other providers can cope with the tough new environment.(Radiology)
February 5, 2007... Medicare still imposes a 25 percent cut on the technical component of extra scans on contiguous body parts. And now, Medicare will apply a limit to those reduced payment amounts that caps them at the outpatient payment level. The cuts...

Physicians can enjoy a 1.5-percent payment boost next summer; what physicians need to do to secure their share.(Physicians)
February 5, 2007... Starting July 1, a chunk of physicians' reimbursement will depend on a program that nobody understands yet. Congress passed a law telling Medicare to pay physicians an extra 1.5 percent for all their physician claims for the second half of...

Congress's advisors say, 'scrap 10 percent cut'; plus: providers need to start sharing NPIs now to avoid a crunch in May.(Industry Notes)(National Provider Identifier)
February 5, 2007... If the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission ran the world, physicians wouldn't have to worry about where next year's payment updates were coming from. The Congressional Budget Office warns that doctors face a 10 percent cut in their Part B...

A screening colonoscopy doesn't count toward patient's Medicare deductible.(In Other News ...)
February 5, 2007... * A screening colonoscopy doesn't count toward patient's Medicare deductible, thanks to a law that Congress passed last year. But if a patient presents for a screening and then the doctor discovers and removes a polyp, then the deductible...

Congress should focus on "patient-centered primary care," giving one primary care doctor responsibility for all of a patient's treatment and rewarding good outcomes.(In Other News ...)
February 5, 2007... * Congress should focus on "patient-centered primary care," giving one primary care doctor responsibility for all of a patient's treatment and rewarding good outcomes, the American College of Physicians said in a Jan. 22 report on "the State of...

Presidential budget to cut $100 billion from Medicare, Medicaid: Democratic presidential hopefuls lambast 2008 budget.(Spending)
February 12, 2007... President Bush released his budget for the fiscal year 2008 on Feb. 5, and his proposed budget of nearly $700 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services has drawn the ire of Democrats everywhere. The President's budget for HHS...

Are CDHC's promised benefits myths? How to provide health care shoppers with meaningful choices.(CDHC)
February 12, 2007... The federal government's consumer-driven health care movement is missing the mark in several important ways, industry analysts charge. Medicare Part D has saved $200 billion since 2003 by empowering consumers, Department of Human Health and...

Edwards releases $120-billion-a-year universal health plan: Republicans and democrats fight over the privatization of health care.(Budget)
February 12, 2007... On the same day that President Bush unveiled a budget cutting $100 billion in Medicare and Medicaid spending, former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards rolled out a plan to extend health insurance to cover the 47 million...

E-prescribing gets new push from national initiative: free e-tool could jump-start provider adoption.(Health IT)
February 12, 2007... Insurers have long touted e-prescribing as a promising development, but many providers have been slow to adopt the comprehensive--and often expensive--technology. Now these excuses may no longer hold water. The National ePrescribing Patient...

Insurers favor Bush coverage plan but likely won't see it come to pass: managed-care reimbursement at risk for cuts to pay for coverage expansions.(Uninsured)
February 12, 2007... Amid the proliferation of state proposals to extend health coverage to the uninsured, health plans have come out in vocal support of one idea in particular: the President's. President Bush has proposed to offer a $15,000 standard deduction...

Mass. health plans working to bring premiums down: insurers try to balance low cost with comprehensive benefits.(Coverage)
February 12, 2007... Many Massachusetts state residents will probably be able to buy basic health insurance for less than $300 a month to meet the new state mandate that everyone obtain coverage, insurers and observers said last week. Although coverage might still...

Insurer promotes online information for benes by donating to charity.(Industry Notes)
February 12, 2007... Most health plans are trying to limit their administrative costs by encouraging their benes to obtain their claims information online, instead of receiving their data in the mail. One insurer is appealing to their members' charitable instincts...

Benes with vision problems have more health issues.(Industry Notes)
February 12, 2007... Want to see Medicare costs go down? One answer might be to facilitate more effective treatment for benes who have vision problems. Older people with poor vision had higher medical costs than sighted people, and 90 percent of those costs...

Fed chairman urges steep Medicare cuts.(Industry Notes)
February 12, 2007... The right time to start slashing Medicare spending was "ten years ago," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress recently. But unless Congress starts playing catch-up and fixing the program, the cuts will have to be "more severe" and...

Physicians could see a reimbursement boost--but also more quality guidelines.(Industry Notes)
February 12, 2007... Researchers from the RAND Corp. and UCLA found better outpatient care improved health outcomes for nonelderly patients. Patients whose care followed treatment guidelines were likelier to maintain health and had better quality of life, according...

Insurer expands wellness programs with healthy-living discounts.(Industry Notes)
February 12, 2007... Most health plans now feature programs designed to foster and maintain wellness, as opposed to solely providing coverage for treating illness. But one insurer has decided to sweeten the deal by offering discounts for some consumer goods,...

Extending Medicaid coverage without blowing the budget: why private LTC insurance and Medicaid might work together.(Long-Term Care)
February 19, 2007... A nationwide long-term care insurance partnership between private plans and Medicaid could save the federal government $6 billion a year by 2050, a new study from America's Health Insurance Plans claims. And in this scenario, states would save...

Medicare patients substitute with generics at an unprecedented rate: more generic drugs than ever offer patients increased savings.(Prescription Drugs)
February 19, 2007... Medicare Part D promised big savings to consumers willing to shop for the best prices on prescription drugs, and the Food and Drug Administration's recently expanded selection of generic drugs has made that promise a reality. Increasing...

Have lawmakers blocked Medicaid access for minors? Immigration reform restricts U.S. citizens from registering for Medicaid, new report charges.(Medicaid)
February 19, 2007... When Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Democratic lawmakers howled in protest, claiming that the bill's passage would prevent otherwise eligible U.S. citizens from continuing their Medicaid coverage. Now, a new report from...

United States makes headway in fight against HIV with vaccine trial: Bush and the NIH contribute to AIDS prevention and treatment.(Epidemics)
February 19, 2007... On Feb. 12, President Bush issued a more comprehensive look at the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or "PEPFAR," at the same time that the National Institutes of Health announced the initiation of a large-scale clinical trial...

Non-discrimination rules threaten wellness programs: health plans need to be sure to offer 'reasonable alternatives' to avoid trouble.(HIPAA)
February 19, 2007... Health plans that are using wellness programs to offer premium reductions or other benefits to those who complete them could place their programs in jeopardy. The Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services recently issued...

More workers opt out when their contribution increases.(Industry Notes)
February 19, 2007... In a bit of "dog-bites-man" news, more employees decide to opt out of their employer-sponsored health plans when they have to pay more toward premium coverage, a study has found. "The take-up rate generally falls as the worker premium...

Rebates, fraud stem from opaque pricing data, experts say.(Industry Notes)
February 19, 2007... Price transparency in Medicare Part D is key to curbing fraud and abuse in the benefit program and could result in lower drug prices for the federal government and beneficiaries, pharmaceutical industry experts and government officials said...

Supermarket giant credits wellness initiatives with lowering costs.(Industry Notes)
February 19, 2007... In a new world where even Wal-Mart (among others) is agitating for a national universal-coverage system, supermarket behemoth Safeway, Inc. says that it's managed to cut outlays for its employees by stressing healthy behaviors, according to the...

Health care costs will double in 10 years, CMS analysts predict: federal spending will rise; personal spending may fall.(Health Policy)
February 26, 2007... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Office of the Actuary has released a report detailing "National Health Expenditure Projections 2006-2016," and it contains news that may encourage privatized health-care purchasers and frustrate...

Senators urge health care reform before the next elections: bipartisan group appeals to the president.(Reform)
February 26, 2007... Citing the rapidly rising costs of health care as a problem that can't wait until 2008 for a solution, a group of l0 senators, including five Republicans and five Democrats, expressed confidence in Congress' ability to pass comprehensive health...

Inadequate billing codes may restrict consumer access to alternative treatments: sustaining a government-sponsored monopoly could cost $51 billion in savings.(Billing)
February 26, 2007... Department of Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt has reiterated his commitment to consumer-driven health care, but critics allege that he is taking choices away from the very consumers he seeks to empower. On Oct. 16, 2006,...

New study suggests rapid growth in wireless healthcare technology: wireless growth could improve patient care.(Health IT)
February 26, 2007... The market for wireless technology in the medical community could triple by 2010, industry researchers say. Research firm Kalorama Information recently released a new study on "Wireless Opportunities in Healthcare," which values the...

Texas 911 call could spell An emergency for specialty hospitals: patient's death causes further scrutiny from lawmakers.(Specialty Hospitals)
February 26, 2007... The weather forecast for doctor-owned specialty hospitals just got a lot stormier, so now's the time for physicians to patch their roofs. Physicians owning single-specialty hospitals have been a recent source of controversy, and Medicare...

CMS will be reporting on quality to patients.(Industry Notes)
February 26, 2007... A new project to report on providers' quality will help them improve their outcomes. But it'll also provide information on practices' performance to beneficiaries, to help them choose a better doctor, warns the Center for Medicare & Medicaid...

New quality measures adapt to EMRs, include cost of care.(Industry Notes)
February 26, 2007... Yet another organization wants to examine physician practices' quality of care to see how they measure up. The National Committee for Quality Assurance released an expanded set of measures, guidelines and technical specifications based on...

Case management holds down expenses for seriously ill patients.(Industry Notes)
February 26, 2007... A comprehensive case-management program made significant inroads in reducing costs and hospital admissions, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Managed Care. Researchers conducted the study over an 18-month period,...

Standards group wants to review PPOs.(National Committee for Quality Assurance, preferred provider organizations)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... A prominent accreditation organization has announced that it will expand its oversight from health maintenance organizations and point-of-service plans to include preferred provider organizations. The NCQA will evaluate PPOs on the same set...

In other news ...(National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, American Society of Clinical Oncology oppose access to unapproved drugs for terminally ill)(Brief article)
February 26, 2007... The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship and the American Society of Clinical Oncology submitted friend-of-the-court briefs to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. They're opposing a claim by the Abigail Alliance for Better Access to...