Medicine & Health articles from July 2004

Medicine & Health archives from July 2004

Many companies do, some don't jack up prices for drug card debut.(Prescription Drugs)
July 5, 2004... Pharmaceutical manufacturers showed "a very diverse set of behaviors" in brand-name drug pricing in the months between enactment of the new Medicare drug law and implementation of its initial, transitional provision--a drug discount card...

Economists: big Medicare changes can't wait ... but probably will.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)
July 5, 2004... This is the first part of a Perspectives series on Medicare and the nation's fiscal future. Economists--from the left, right, and center--seem to be on the same page these days. According to the hymnal they're singing from, the United...

Providers for poor getting gypped on drug prices.(Prescription Drugs)
July 5, 2004... The 340B program is supposed to guarantee that community health centers, public hospitals, and other federal grantees, such as family-planning clinics and black-lung clinics, that deliver care to disadvantaged populations can get prescription...

Manufacturer wrap-arounds: big savings, big confusion.(Medicare Rx Discount Cards)
July 5, 2004... Drugmaker discounts that "wrap around" the Medicare-endorsed discount cards are a large part of what makes the cards such a good deal for low-income beneficiaries. But they can also make it extremely difficult for beneficiaries to determine...

Child coverage still on upward trend; adult coverage declines.(The Uninsured)
July 5, 2004... The percentage of American children who lack health-care coverage continued its six-year decline in 2003. That's according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics' National Health...

PhRMA principles encourage communicating trial results.(Clinical Trials)(Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)
July 5, 2004... The drag industry is promising to reveal the results of clinical trials, even the negative ones. "We commit to timely communication of meaningful results of controlled clinical trials of marketed products or investigational new drugs that...

Justice to hear Medical marijuana case.(In Other New)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... * Justices To Hear Medical Marijuana Case. In its next term, the Supreme Court will consider how far the federal Controlled Substances Act reaches in prohibiting medical use of marijuana. The Court said June 28 that it would hear the...

Some seniors expected drug cards to raise prices, in survey.(In Other New)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... * Some Seniors Expected Drug Cards To Raise Prices, In Survey. Among people aged 65 and over, only 25 percent said in an April 2004 survey that they expected a Medicare discount drug to save them money. Seven percent said they expected that a...

AARP opts for step therapy on drug prices.(In Other New)(American Association of Retired Persons )(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... * AARP Opts For Step Therapy On Drug Prices. The seniors group AARP would push for the federal government to directly negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers, but only if prices can't be held down through two less drastic steps,...

If it ain't HIPAA-compliant, it might as well be paper.(In Other New)(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... * If It Ain't HIPAA-Compliant, It Might As Well Be Paper. Beginning July 6, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will further delay payment on electronic claims that do not meet the electronic transaction standards of the Health...

CMS rule boosts ambulance payments.(In Other New)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... * CMS Rule Boosts Ambulance Payments. Some ambulance services will get a "super-rural" bonus under an interim final rule issued July 1 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The bonus increases the base rate by 22.6 percent for...

Walt Francis is a consultant at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs.(People)(Brief Article)
July 5, 2004... Walt Francis is a consultant at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs. The retired Health and Human Services Department employee, who became famous for doing the Consumer...

UNAIDS: HIV rates up globally, Asia particularly worrisome.(HIV/AIDS)
July 12, 2004... A record 4.8 million people were infected by the HIV virus in 2003, says a new report from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS released the report July 6 in Bangkok, in anticipation of the XV International AIDS Conference that...

States take measured approach to health-care legislation.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)
July 12, 2004... States passed only eight new coverage mandates in the most recent legislative session, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association reported June 24 in its mid-year "state of the states" reports. "This is a huge falling off," the Blues' Susan...

HHS OIG says Scully pressured Foster, but didn't break law.(Tom Scully)(Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General)(Rick Foster)
July 12, 2004... During the debate over last year's Medicare overhaul, former Medicare chief Tom Scully pressured the program's chief actuary not to reveal that the administration's cost estimates substantially exceeded those Congress was using. That's the...

One formula can't meet all doctor payment goals.(Physician Payment)
July 12, 2004... Come fall, expect Congress and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to increase their attention to a task that's likely upcoming soon--overhauling Medicare's physician-payment formula. That was the prediction of MedPAC Executive...

Lawmaker taking wait-and-see attitude on uninsured charges.(Hospital Charges)
July 12, 2004... Hospitals--both for-profit and not-for-profit--are "chastened" by recent congressional scrutiny of the high charges uninsured patients face and generally are revising their billing policies to ensure that uninsured people get a fairer shake....

NIH reauthorization will include conflict-of-interest pay rules.(National Institutes of Health)
July 12, 2004... With about 4,000 of the National Institutes of Health's 6,000-plus scientists pulling in significant amounts of extra pay under a statutory provision originally intended to apply to researchers hired only temporarily, it's time to completely...

House panel puts tight rein on health spending.(Appropriations)
July 12, 2004... In a July 8 voice vote, the House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee approved $142.5 billion in fiscal year 2005 discretionary spending for the three departments. The amount is slightly above the president's budget request of...

FDA: authorized generics still authorized.(Generic Drugs)(Food and Drug Administration)
July 12, 2004... The Food and Drug Administration has okayed a tactic that brand-name companies are increasingly using to discourage generic competitors from challenging patents. By statute, the first generic company that successfully challenges a...

Prepare for more fights at the pharmacy counter.(In Other News)
July 12, 2004... * Prepare For More Fights At The Pharmacy Counter. Ever marvel at how busy Medicare discount drug-card sponsors must have been, contacting thousands of pharmacies around the country to ensure they'd participate in their programs? It turns out...

Big players explore hospital report card for California.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
July 12, 2004... * Big Players Explore Hospital Report Card For California. The independent California HealthCare Foundation has enlisted key groups and individuals in the provider-quality world to explore creating a California Hospital Report Card. In a...

WHO wants drug trial registry.(In Other News)(World Health Organization)
July 12, 2004... * WHO Wants Drug Trial Registry. World Health Organization officials said July 7 that they hope to spearhead establishment of an international registry of research trials on drugs, the Washington Post reports. WHO would model its worldwide...

Sandra Foote is the new director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' chronic-care improvement pilot, which was enacted in last year's Medicare law.(Brief Article)
July 12, 2004... Sandra Foote is the new director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' chronic-care improvement pilot, which was enacted in last year's Medicare law. Previously, she was head of George Washington University's Health Insurance...

Senate continues contentious debate over reimportation.(Prescription Drug Prices)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... Amid reports that the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee could mark up drug reimportation legislation as early as this week, the Senate Judiciary Panel held a wide-ranging, polarized hearing on the subject July 14. ...

Value-added tax, global budget could be in your future.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)
July 19, 2004... This is the second part of a Perspectives series on Medicare and the nation's fiscal future. The first part was published July 5. If you think that Medicare can persist over the long haul without significant tax increases, benefit redesign,...

Trade pacts moving in Congress contain drug provisions.
July 19, 2004... A free trade agreement that would allow drug companies to challenge coverage decisions made by the Australian government and permit the companies to ban exportation of drugs from Australia to the United States has been negotiated. The...

Frist: limit tax exclusion for employer-based coverage.(On The Hill)(Bill Frist)
July 19, 2004... Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) wants to cap the value of employer-based health coverage that employees can exclude from their taxable incomes. In a July 12 speech, Frist said the current unlimited exclusion gives Americans...

Consumer-friendly quality measures up on JCAHO Web site.(Health Care Quality)(Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
July 19, 2004... Using a new Web tool launched by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, consumers can get easy-to-understand, institution-specific ratings of hospitals' performance on several quality and safety measures...

House approps votes to block 75-percent rule.(Appropriations)
July 19, 2004... In an amendment to the fiscal year 2005 spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services, the House Appropriations Committee voted July 14 to bar Medicare authorities from reinstating a limit on the definition of an "inpatient...

Weldon aims to protect mergers involving Catholic hospitals.(Dave Weldon)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... The appropriations panel also approved Rep. Dave Weldon's (R-FL) amendment stripping federal funds from state and local governments if they compel providers or insurers to perform, pay for, or even refer patients elsewhere for abortions. ...

FTC won't challenge hospital merger.(Antitrust law)(Federal Trade Commission)
July 19, 2004... A split Federal Trade Commission said July 1 that it would not bring an antitrust challenge to the merger of two Waukegan, IL, hospitals, Victory Memorial Hospital and Provena St. Therese Medical Center. In 2000, the hospitals combined into a...

In senate, something for both friends and foes of tobacco.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... Before the Senate passes its version of corporate tax legislation on July 16, it amended the bill (HR 4520) to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory power over tobacco products. The 78-15 vote in favor of the amendment reflected...

Thompson on obesity: the next big thing.(In Other News)(Tommy Thompson )(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... By removing language from the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual stating that obesity itself is not a disease, the Department of Health and Human Services is enabling the program to pay for treatments for obesity itself, not just for associated...

Bush picks Levinson as new HHS IG.(In Other News)(Health and Human Services)(Daniel Levinson)(Inspector General)(President George Bush)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... President George Bush will nominate General Services Administration Inspector General Daniel Levinson to be the new IG for the Department of Health and Human Services, the White House announced July 13. There has been no permanent HHS IG...

House approves Bioshield.(In Other News)(legislative bill approved )(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... In a long-awaited 414-2 July 15 vote, the House sent legislation authorizing Project Bioshield to the White House for President Bush's expected signature. The bill, S 15, provides $5.6 billion over 10 years to encourage the development of...

Lifespans plummet as AIDS takes toll on sub-Saharan Africa.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... Among information emerging from the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok is data on the disease's stunning effect on average lifespans in sub-Saharan Africa. Between 1990 and 2002, average life expectancy dropped from 53.6 years...

New children's health data: fewer teens are moms, more kids are overweight.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... Teen motherhood is still on the wane, but childhood obesity is rising, according to a new report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Among the good news is that the birth rate for teenaged mothers in 2002...

Leslie Norwalk.(People)(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... Leslie Norwalk, who's been serving as acting deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has been officially named deputy administrator. Prior to assuming the acting deputy role, Norwalk was counsel and policy...

Dan Boston.(People)(lobbyist )(Brief Article)
July 19, 2004... At month's end, lobbyist Dan Boston leaves Baker, Donelson to partner with former Senate Finance Committee aide Monica Tencate in the strategy and advocacy firm she founded, Health Policy Source, Inc. Boston is a former House Commerce panel...

Thompson wants to jump-start move to health connectivity.(E-Health)(Tommy G. Thompson)
July 23, 2004... Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson July 20 pushed forward with what could be a significant legacy of his tenure if he succeeds: finally incentivizing American health care's great leap forward into the age of electronic...

HSAs set for boom, but potential as personal savings vehicle is low.(Perspectives)(Health Savings Accounts)
July 23, 2004... This is the first in a Perspectives series on the current state of account-based consumer-directed health plans. With much of Republican Washington's hopes for health-care system change riding on the success of so-called consumer-directed...

Grassley and Stark want more oversight over JCAHO.(Hospital Accreditation)(Chuck Grassley)(Pete Stark)(Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
July 23, 2004... On July 20, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) unveiled a proposal to give the federal government greater control over the private organization that qualifies hospitals for Medicare funding. The Joint Commission on the...

Dems: protect COLAs from medicare law.(Medicare Premiums)(Cost of living adjustment)(democrats)
July 23, 2004... Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are already being eaten into by Medicare premiums for physician and hospital outpatient services, and the new drug benefit is about to make the problem significantly worse. That's the message of a...

Greenwood to lead Bio.(People)(Jim Greenwood)(Biotechnology Industry Organization)
July 23, 2004... Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-PA) is exchanging his oversight gavel for a post among the overseen. Greenwood announced July 22 that he will leave Congress when his term ends in January to take over as head of the Biotechnology Industry Organization....

FBI: fraudsters increasingly willing to harm patients.(Fraud)(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
July 23, 2004... Health care is "where the crooks are going these days," and some new trends are unnerving, said Federal Bureau of Investigation health care chief Tim Delaney July 13. Besides an influx of organized criminals, such as Russian immigrant crime...

Senate passes long-stalled patient safety bill.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
July 23, 2004... * Senate Passes Long-Stalled Patient Safety Bill. By unanimous consent July 22, the Senate passed legislation (S 720) that would set up a voluntary and confidential system for reporting medical errors and near-misses. There has long been...

Gregg calls off reimportation mark-up.(In Other News)(Judd Gregg)(Brief Article)
July 23, 2004... * Gregg Calls Off Reimportation Markup. It will be at least September until the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee marks up legislation allowing the reimportation of prescription drugs. On July 20, panel chair Judd Gregg...

Bush signs bioshield legislation.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
July 23, 2004... * Bush Signs Bioshield Legislation. President Bush July 21 signed legislation authorizing Project Bioshield, an initiative he first proposed in his 2003 State of the Union message. Bioshield authorizes $5.6 billion over 10 years to...

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.(People)(Robert Dyer appointed)(Brief Article)
July 23, 2004... Robert Dyer, who previously directed management and budget for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has rejoined the agency as its chief operating officer. Between his federal stints, Dyer has been a consultant.

CMS.(People)(Center for Medicaid and State Operations appoints Charlene Brown )(Brief Article)
July 23, 2004... Charlene Brown is CMS's new acting deputy chief operating officer. Previously, she was deputy director of the agency's Center for Medicaid and State Operations.