Medicine & Health articles from July 2003

Medicine & Health archives from July 2003

CMS, premier launch pay-for-performance demo. (Hospital Reimbursement).(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
July 14, 2003... Starting next year, top performing hospitals can get a boost in Medicare reimbursements under a three-year demonstration project unveiled July 10. In addition, hospitals that perform poorly will be at risk for losing money in the last year...

GAO: quality may suffer in community care waivers ... (Medicaid 1915 Waivers).
July 14, 2003... States aren't adequately reporting to federal officials quality information on so-called 1915 waivers--Medicaid programs that provide long-term care through home- and community-based services rather than institutions. That's the finding of...

... But CMS says state and patient flexibility are key. (Medicaid 1915 Waivers).
July 14, 2003... In an aggrieved-sounding response, CMS makes the case that, in its overly regulatory focus on waiver review, GAO ignores key facts about both congressional intent and the evolution of health care. HCBS waivers are a different animal from...

Medicare conferees might want a snickers. (Medicare Rx).
July 14, 2003... At a July 1 forum organized by the non-partisan Alliance for Health Reform, Patrick Morrisey, House Energy and Commerce Committee GOP deputy staff director, not surprisingly said the Senate should move towards the House bill in the Medicare...

House wants FEHBP Rx benefits for federal retirees. (Retiree Rx Drugs).(Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan)
July 14, 2003... Under legislation adopted by the House July 8, federal retirees would be guaranteed pharmaceutical coverage in line with that enjoyed by active employees under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, rather than being forced to rely on...

Senate DEMS block GOP damages caps. (Medical Liability).(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... In an outcome which surprised exactly no one, Democrats succeeded July 9 in blocking Senate consideration of a Republican measure that would have capped non-economic damages in medical liability cases at $250,000. The legislation, S. 11,...

Why three PPOs? Scully speaks. (Medicare Private Plans).(preferred provider organizations)
July 14, 2003... The administration has put its weight behind a Medicare private-plan structure that would offer comprehensive coverage through three preferred provider plans per region. The provision might be expected to please proponents of a...

AIDS vaccine not on horizon, says Fauci ... (Global AIDS).(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Implementing widespread prevention and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS is more important than ever because of scientific barriers to developing a vaccine, said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Tony Fauci, MD, in a...

... But grantees likely can buy generic drugs. (Global AIDS).
July 14, 2003... Fauci said that nongovernmental organizations and other groups that receive grants under the Bush administration's AIDS initiative should be able to go on procuring lower-cost generic drugs by whatever means they've used in the past. ...

And the last shall be first, and the moderate shall lie down with the conservative. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... And The Last Shall Be First, And The Moderate Shall Lie Down With The Conservative. Traditionally, Congress leaves the annual spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education--the biggest of thirteen...

International AIDS effort only two-thirds funded. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... International AIDS Effort Only Two-Thirds Funded. President Bush's plan to fight the international AIDS epidemic, which Congress recently enacted, authorized $3 billion a year over 5 years, and the administration has touted the funding level as...

HHS pushes E-Health. (In Other News).(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... HHS Pushes E-Health. The Department of Health and Human Services has taken two steps towards developing a national electronic health care infrastructure, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said July 1. HHS signed an agreement with the College of...

FDA requires trans fat information on labels. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... FDA Requires Trans Fat Information On Labels. Under a new Food and Drug Administration rule, manufacturers of most conventional food and some dietary supplements must list the so-called trans fat content of their products, in addition to...

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (People).(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... James Stone, former commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, is deputy administrator of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Medicare overhaul: it's not just about drugs. (Perspectives).
July 14, 2003... The congressional conference committee that will begin this week to seek compromise between House and Senate versions of a Medicare prescription-drug bill will also have numerous other smaller matters on its plate. The following are some...

Quality still big concern for nursing homes. (Nursing Homes).
July 21, 2003... From a disturbingly low starting point, the nursing home industry is making progress in improving quality... maybe. That was the decidedly mixed message that emerged from the latest in a series of oversight hearings on the topic held by...

GOP Senator questions cuts in prevention funds. (SAMHSA).
July 21, 2003... The substance-abuse treatment versus prevention debate continues to surround the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Queried persistently by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) about why the Bush administration has repeatedly...

Panel seeks financial data to study uninsured issue. (Uninsured).
July 21, 2003... Uninsured people often must pay highly inflated prices for care, in part to help providers, make up for discounts they offer to big third-party payers So says a July 16 letter sent by GOP leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee...

High charges make high profits, says CNA. (Hospital Charges).(California Nurses Association)
July 21, 2003... On average, a hospital with high total charges compared to costs nets significantly higher profits, according to a an analysis by the left-leaning Institute for Health & Socio-Economic Policy for the California Nurses Association. ...

House approves bioshield bill. (Bioterrorism).(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... In a 421-2 vote, the House July 16 voted to give the administration $5.6 billion over ten years to purchase drugs, vaccines, and other bioterrorism countermeasures. HR 2122 is the House's version of Project Bioshield, an initiative...

Funding, human-resource issues crippling biodefense. (Bioterror Workforce).
July 21, 2003... Tightening federal budgets are among the top causes of a "biodefense workforce crisis," according to a report by the Partnership for Public Service. Congress has authorized some federal agencies to offer higher salaries to win scientists...

American Legion demands better access for vets. (Veterans' Health).
July 21, 2003... The time has come to include veterans' health among mandatory spending programs like Medicare--as Congress has occasionally contemplated--rather than subjecting it to the whims of the annual appropriations process. That was the message American...

No answers, but some swear at Florida Med mal hearing. (Medical Malpractice).
July 21, 2003... In the running dispute between Republican leaders of the Florida state Senate and Gov. Jeb Bush (R) over a proposed $250,000 cap on nonecomonic damages in medical-malpractice cases--Bush wants it; many senators don't--a committee heard...

Physician, don't gag thyself. (Ethics).
July 21, 2003... Almost one-third of physicians say they at least sometimes do not discuss useful treatments to patients because of perceived coverage restrictions, according to an article in the current issue of Health Affairs. What's more, the ethically...

House to vote on reimportation. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... The House is set to vote during the week of July 21 on HR 2427, which would authorize the importation and reimportation, from industrialized countries, of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration and manufactured in FDA-approved...

EEOC proposes to allow coordination of retiree benefits with Medicare. (In Other News).(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... Under a July 14 proposed rule from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an employer could offer less generous health coverage for older retirees eligible for Medicare or state-sponsored retiree health benefits than it does for younger...

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Mental Health Services. (People).(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... Rhode Island's director of mental health, retardation, and hospitals, Kathryn Power, will be the director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Mental Health Services. She has directed the Rhode Island...

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. (People).(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... Elizabeth Adams has been named national press secretary of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Previously, she was executive director of NAMI's Kansas affiliate.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences. (People).(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... Erik Jakobsson is the first director of the center bioinformatics and computational biology at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Previously he was a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

AdvaMED. (People).(Brief Article)
July 21, 2003... At AdvaMED, Elizabeth Jacobson is a new executive vice president, presiding over technology and regulatory affairs for the medical technology-industry group. A research geneticist, Jacobson spent 26 years at the Food and Drug Administration,...

Medicare panel convenes, as handicapping, gripping go on. (Perspectives).
July 21, 2003... As negotiations begin to produce a Medicare bill that can get majority approval in both of the two divided chambers--including a three-fifths majority in the Senate--and win the signature of President George Bush, there's no shortage of...

House votes to allow drugs from abroad. (Rx Drug Importation).
July 28, 2003... Despite vigorous opposition from the White House, the drug industry, the Food and Drug Administration, and House Republican leaders, the House voted July 25 by a surprisingly strong 243-186 margin to allow Americans to purchase FDA-approved...

Help panel passes medical errors bill. (Patient Safety).
July 28, 2003... The Senate Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee unanimously appproved patient safety legislation July 23. After several Congresses worth of trying and a spring filled with cancelled mark-ups, the panel approved a bill, S 720,...

Medicare conferees aim for mid-September wrap-up. (Medicare).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... House and Senate Medicare negotiators on July 24 announced agreement on relatively uncontroversial provisions that would give regulatory relief to providers and make Medicare's contracting system more competitive. The conferees, having...

White House: "we want a deal" on Medicare. (Medicare).
July 28, 2003... The president wants to sign a Medicare prescription drug bill this year, and in the end he may not be too particular about details. Asked about administration preferences among provisions in two bills now being considered in a conference...

Medicare Rx may be benign for current benefits ... (Retiree Benefits).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... In a July 21 statement, Senate Finance chair and Medicare conferee Charles Grassley (R-IA) touted an Employee Benefit Research Institute analysis showing that, in Grassley's words, "any Medicare prescription drug benefit is likely to have a...

... But new retirees in trouble regardless. (Retiree Benefits).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Future retirees are likely to see less-coverage than current retirees enjoy no matter what Medicare offers, the EBRI researchers say. Driven by costs, accounting changes, and regulatory and legal pressures, employers likely will "continue to...

Bush panel backs full parity for mental illness. (Mental Health Report).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... In an interim report issued late last year, President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health was virtually silent on financial questions, including whether inadequate insurance coverage for mental-health treatment fosters poor-quality...

Senate bill gives FDA ability to order pediatric testing. (Rx Pediatric Testing).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration would reacquire the authority to order drugmakers to conduct pediatric testing under legislation (S 650) the Senate adopted July 23. The FDA had this authority under its so-called "pediatric rule," but a federal...

Kennedy: where is vaccine injury table? (Smallpox).(Sen. Edward Kennedy)(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Three months after Congress voted to establish a compensation program for those injured by side effects from the smallpox vaccine, the administration has yet to issue the table of vaccine-related injuries necessary to pay claims. That was Sen....

House allocates $2 billion for international AIDS battle. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... * House Allocates $2 Billion For International AIDS Battle. The United States would spend only about $2 billion in the fight against the international AIDS epidemic under fiscal year 2004 spending bills approved by the House of Representatives....

Blue Dogs back Senate Medicare provisions. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... * Blue Dogs Back Senate Medicare Provisions. Twenty-eight members of the conservative Democrat "Blue Dog" coalition in the House sent a July 24 letter to Max Baucus (MT), a Medicare conferee and senior Senate Finance Committee Democrat,...

Ryan rejects giving FFS Medicare commercial insurance tools. (In Other News).(Rep Paul Ryan)(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... * Ryan Rejects Giving FFS Medicare Commercial Insurance Tools. If traditional Medicare is to compete with private plans, some have said, it must be given the sorts of tools private plans have, such as the right to pay providers differently...

VA will dispense prescriptions from private docs. (In Other News).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... * VA Will Dispense Prescriptions From Private Docs. In a move aimed at reducing enormous waiting lists, the Department of Veterans' Affairs health system will waive for a limited number of vets its rule requiring a visit with a VA physician...

Iraqi health ministry dodges a bullet. (In Other News).
July 28, 2003... * Iraqi Health Ministry Dodges A Bullet. A Louisiana contractor appointed by the Bush administration to direct health-facility construction in postwar Iraq was booked into a detention center July 21 on charges that he stiffed 15 subcontractors...

deNovis. (People).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Beginning September 1, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services deputy head Ruben King-Shaw will be board chair and chief marketing officer of the information-technology company deNovis. The privately held company is based in...

Department of Treasury. (People).(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Most recently, King-Shaw's led the Department of Treasury's implementation of a complex system for advancing tax credits to help pay for health coverage. That effort--scheduled to go live August 1 in a small-scale initial program for workers...

Medicare by the numbers: a tale of many tradeoffs. (Perspectives).
July 28, 2003... Ideologies drive some aspects of the debate over reconciling House and Senate Medicare prescription-drug measures, such as how, and if, market competition will occur between private health plans and government-run Medicare. But other big issues...