Medicine & Health articles from July 2008

Medicine & Health archives from July 2008

Senate votes to avert Medicare pay cut for 18 months; power is in President Bush's hands as he considers whether to sign the bill into law.(Medicare)
July 11, 2008... Physicians and other health providers are getting closer to a short-term solution to their Medicare payment woes. On July 9, the Senate voted to support the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331). Although the...

2009 fee schedule proposes 5.4 percent cut to Medicare pay; CMS wants comments on the proposal by Aug. 29.(Fee Schedule)
July 11, 2008... Lawmakers haven't yet healed the problems with the 2008 fee schedule, but CMS churns forward with proposed cuts that could hurt health providers in 2009. Under the proposed 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (published in the July 7...

Georgia legislators oppose Bush Medicare cuts; bipartisan initiative against funding cuts to Medicare beneficiaries.(Legislative Update)
July 11, 2008... The Georgia Health Care Association and the American Health Care Association commended Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-2), John Barrow (D-12), and David Scott (D-13) for their leading role in...

CMS proposes changes for RHCs and FQHCs; rules would update certification and participation regulations and payment provisions.(Regulatory News)
July 11, 2008... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued additional proposed rules regarding certification and participation regulations and payment provisions for rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers, according to a press...

Study shows increasing HIV/AIDS incidence; analysis reveals upward trend in certain groups over a five-year period.(Studies and Reports)(Report)
July 11, 2008... A recent report on trends in diagnoses of HIV/AIDS among men in the 33 states that have had confidential, name-based HIV case reporting since at least 2001 shows that the number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the male-to-male sex category increased...

Possible master switch gene found for juvenile arthritis; pediatric researchers find a common gene region in all types of childhood arthritis.(Research)
July 11, 2008... Researchers have found that a gene region known to play a role in some types of adult rheumatoid arthritis is also present in all types of childhood arthritis, according to a report in PRNewswire. The researchers think the responsible gene may...

Do copays deter women from getting mammograms? Cost sharing may be discouraging patients.(Insurance)
July 11, 2008... Cost sharing may be discouraging patients from getting the preventive care they need, according to a recent study. A copayment of as little as $12.50 was often enough to deter women from getting screening mammograms. The study, recently...

Infectious diseases going untreated and undiagnosed; poverty common in stricken areas, study says.(Studies and Reports)
July 11, 2008... Hundreds of thousands of low-income residents of inner cities of the United States, the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, and areas near the Mexican border and Native American reservations remain undiagnosed and untreated for diseases that are...

24 million in U.S. are diabetic, data shows; nearly 8 percent of the entire population affected.(Health Statistics)
July 11, 2008... Nearly 24 million people in the United States are now affected by diabetes, according to a report released on June 24th by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This represents an increase of more than 3 million in approximately two...

Senior falls result in more TBIs; report shows spike in traumatic brain injuries.(Studies and Reports)
July 11, 2008... Nearly 8,000 fatalities and 56,000 hospitalizations occurred in 2005 among Americans 65 and older due to traumatic brain injuries from falls, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released in the June...

Congress passes legislation protecting doctors from Medicare pay cut: legislators override presidential veto within one day.(Medicare)
July 18, 2008... Congress voted July 15 to override President Bush's veto of H.R. 6331, which will ensure that the Medicare legislation canceling a physician reimbursement cut that went into effect July 1 will be enacted. The bill provides for a physician...

CMS pilot program proves a huge money saver; new report shows almost $700 million in improper Medicare payments.(RAC's)
July 18, 2008... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a report on July 11 that offers fresh evidence that the Recovery Audit Contractor pilot program is successfully identifying improper payments. These findings will help the agency improve the...

AMA apologizes for history of racial inequality; association promises to increase the ranks of minority physicians in the workforce.(Policy)
July 18, 2008... The American Medical Association apologized July 10 for "its past history of racial inequality toward African-American physicians" and detailed its "current efforts to increase the ranks of minority physicians and their participation in the...

Latest ranking shows best U.S. hospitals; California gets four places in honor roll.(Quality Assessments)
July 18, 2008... After analyzing data on 5,433 medical centers, U.S. News & World Report has released this year's 16 specialty rankings in its annual listing of the best hospitals in the U.S. Of these facilities, only 170 hospitals were ranked in one or more...

Report analyzes cost of new cancer interventions; cancer clinicians should consider cost of treatment vis-a-vis the benefits.(Clinical Studies)
July 18, 2008... Cancer clinicians should be vigilant about the economic impact of new interventions which often have substantial costs, cautions a report appearing in the latest issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, a peer-reviewed journal of the...

Big pharma to limit distribution of trinkets to physicians; new code of conduct puts voluntary restrictions on freebies freeway.(Kickbacks)
July 18, 2008... Pharmaceutical companies have adopted a new voluntary Code on Interaction with Healthcare Professionala to take effect in January 2009, under which drug companies will no longer offer pens, mousepads, and many other similar nonconforming gifts...

AAP recommends prescription of statins for kids; association releases new guidelines for lipid screening and cholesterol management.(Clinical Studies)
July 18, 2008... With a decade of new data about risk factors for cardiovascular disease under its belt, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelines for lipid screening and cholesterol management in children, reported Medscape Pediatrics on...

Women experience higher incidence of memory impairment; men and women in their 90's show marked differences in memory-related disease frequency.(Studies and Reports)
July 18, 2008... Women over the age of 90 are significantly more likely to have dementia as compared to men in their 90s. Research over the years has shown that the risk of dementia for both men and women increases from age 65 to 85, but a recent study...

Terminal cancer information not shared, report shows; Swedish study could have bearing on U.S. cancer reporting.(Studies and Reports)
July 18, 2008... More than 40 percent of widowers in Sweden whose wives died from cancer four or five years earlier reported they were either never told about the incurable nature of their spouse's cancer or were told during the last week of her life, according...

Congress introduces Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act: bill would create national patient registry and increase public awareness.(Policies & Legislation)
July 24, 2008... Pulmonary fibrosis kills 40,000 Americans each year and an estimated two-thirds of patients die within their first five years of diagnosis, but lawmakers are taking action to alleviate the effects of this disease. Reps. Brian Baird (WA-03)...

Senate approves increased global AIDS spend: Congress now commits $48 billion to fight AIDS worldwide.(Policies & Legislation)
July 24, 2008... The U.S. Senate voted on July 16 to spend $48 billion to fight AIDS globally over the next five years, despite opposition from some conservative Republicans, according to a report published on alertnet.org. The Senate voted 80-16 in favor...

FDA closes in on Salmonella outbreak source: but cause of contamination remains unconfirmed.(Clinical News)
July 24, 2008... More than 1,200 people in 43 states have contracted Salmonella and the source of the contamination is yet to be precisely determined. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced July 21 that "one jalapeno pepper sample is a...

Senate probes links between drug makers and psychiatrists: APA asked to provide an accounting of its financing.(Capitol Hill News)
July 24, 2008... Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has expanded his investigations into relations between physicians and drug makers, according to the pharma blog site pharmalot.com. Psychiatrists are...

FDA changes drug review policy: agency adopts policy that will help communicate better.(FDA Policy)(Food and Drug Administration )
July 24, 2008... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced July 9 that it is revising the way it communicates to drug companies when a marketing application cannot be approved as submitted, according to a release on its Web site. FDA's Center for...

Working-age adults show increase in major chronic illnesses: cost of prescription drugs a huge problem.(Studies and Reports)
July 24, 2008... As the number of working-age adults who have major chronic conditions grew between 1997 and 2006, those without health coverage in this group experienced substantial depletion in access to health care, according to a new study by Kaiser Family...

Race, location factors in cancer survival: U.S., Japan, and France show variances in cancer types and recovery rates.(Studies & Reports)
July 24, 2008... There are large global variations in cancer survival, and within the United States, survival rates vary among geographic locations and racial groups, according to a report published online in Medscape Medical News July 18. A new study...

Project showcases potential of quality improvement techniques: researchers call for development of preparedness performance metrics.(Quality Assessments)
July 24, 2008... The country's preparedness to respond to a large-scale public health emergency, such as an influenza pandemic, is inadequate, according to a report in an article published July 15 on the Health Affairs" Web site. This could, however, be...

Obesity increases across America: an estimated 25.6 percent of U.S. adults report being obese.(Statistical Abstract)
July 24, 2008... The proportion of American adults who report that they are obese has increased nearly 2 percent between 2005 and 2007, according to a report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. An estimated 25.6 percent of U.S. adults reported being...

U.S. brings up the rear in healthcare measures: Americans getting less bang for their buck.(Quality of Care)(Clinical report)
July 31, 2008... Think the land of the free and the brave offers the best medical care in the world? Think again. The U. S. health care system fails on most quality measures, according to a report released on the Reuters Health Web site on July 17. Number...

Prescription drug trafficking becoming a menace: online marketplace out of control.(Drugs)
July 31, 2008... Prescription opioids, stimulants and central nervous system depressants are widely available online--and 85 percent of Web sites selling these controlled drags do not require a prescription, according to the latest report from the National...

CMS new MACs spread nationwide: carriers and FIs soon a thing of the past.(Billing)
July 31, 2008... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been faithfully paring down its number of contractors who process claims. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 calls for Medicare Contracting Reform--which...

Alarming rates of HIV incidence surface among U.S. Blacks: report presents grim picture of AIDS prevalence rates.(Chronic Disease)
July 31, 2008... If blacks in the United States comprised a country, it would rank 16th in the world in terms of the number of people living with the AIDS virus, according to a report released July 29 by the Black AIDS Institute. The report presents an...

Study reveals public financing flaws of U.S. health care: the sickest and oldest, not the poorest, benefit.(Health Care Financing)
July 31, 2008... Citizens at the lower end of the income scale aren't as indulged as one would think with public financing for health care. Public expenditure on health care benefits seniors and those in poor health but does not particularly help low-income...

House passes tobacco legislation by a landslide: but many hurdles to cross before bill becomes law.(Capitol Hill News)
July 31, 2008... The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation on July 30 that would for the first time give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products. Given the long history of warnings about the dangers of...

Congress overrides Medicare pay cut, senior advocates relieved: legislators override presidential veto in one day.(Medicare)
July 31, 2008... President Bush's veto of a bill including a physician payment update left many worried about senior's access to health care, but breaking news has eased that concern. Congress voted July 15 to override the veto of H.R. 6331, which will...

Congress delays Bush's Medicare trigger bill: reductions in Medicare spending put on hold.(Capitol Hill News)
July 31, 2008... President Bush is 0-for-2 this month in his quest to reduce Medicare spending. Earlier in July, the president vetoed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), only to see his veto overridden by Congress. This week,...