Medicine & Health articles from June 2004

Medicine & Health archives from June 2004

Drug cards off to slow start.(Medicare Rx Discount Cards)
June 7, 2004... On June 1, seniors and disabled Medicare beneficiaries could start using their Medicare-endorsed drug discount cards, but sign-ups for the cards are off to a slow start. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mark McClellan...

Candidates' representatives spar over money, mandates, and more.(Perspectives)
June 7, 2004... This is the second in a Perspectives series on health-care proposals of the presidential candidates, President George Bush and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). The first appeared in our May 31 issue. Two very different visions of America's...

Gop: stop badmouthing cards; Dems: do auto enrollment.(Medicare Rx Discount Cards)
June 7, 2004... At the June 2 Democratic briefing, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) released a report concluding that, since CMS began displaying price information for the discount cards on May 3, "there has been little change" in the least expensive prices available...

Gregg reimportation bill enters fray.(Rx Reimportation)
June 7, 2004... A new bill that would permit Americans to import prescription drugs from Canada and potentially from 15 European Union countries was unveiled June 2 by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), chair of the committee of jurisdiction in the Senate. As...

Court rules abortion ban unconstitutional.(Reproductive Rights)
June 7, 2004... A San Francisco federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional Congress' attempt to ban certain abortion procedures, giving opponents of the law the first victory in a battle almost certain to end at the Supreme Court. In a June 1...

Analysts dissect the drug card.(Medicare Rx Discount Cards)
June 7, 2004... Not surprisingly, the penumbra of issues raised by Medicare's prescription drug discount card program were front and center at a June 1 health reporters' breakfast featuring Marilyn Moon of the American Institutes of Research, Project Hope John...

Hewitt sees single-digit HMO premium increases for some companies.(Health Maintenance Organizations)
June 7, 2004... The consulting firm Hewitt Associates is predicting what passes these days for a cooling in health care premium increases. Hewitt says initial HMO rate increases for 2005 are averaging 13.7 percent, compared to 17.5 percent at the same time...

House votes to ban OTC sale of steroid precursors.( Over The Counter (medications not requiring a prescription) )(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Responding to the recent spate of publicity about the use of performance-enhancing drugs by high-profile athletes, the House on June 3 overwhelmingly passed legislation to ban over-the-counter sale of steroid precursors, substances that the...

House panel will air hospital-charge issues this week.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... After gathering information for several months on hospital billing and collection practices, especially as they affect uninsured people, the House Energy and Commerce Investigations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the issue June 10.

Consumer-directed plans strong sellers among ethnic minorities, says PacifiCare Exec.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... A high-deductible insurance policy with first-dollar coverage for preventive care--linked to a health savings account--is PacifiCare's "fastest selling product," Chief Medical Officer Sam Ho, MD, told a Harvard School of Public Health symposium...

House panel approves extension--but a short one--for waiver program.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... A House Judiciary Subcommittee on June 3 approved a one-year extension for the J-1 visa waiver program, which places foreign physicians in areas of the United States that face a shortage of doctors. The program, which expired May 31,...

Of doughnuts and chronic illness.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... The so-called doughnut hole in the Medicare prescription-drug coverage that will begin in 2006 could be a problem for chronic disease management that's a major focus of the new Medicare law, said Project Hope John M. Olin Senior Fellow Gail...

Remember when Medicare private plans were the clear path to saving federal dollars?(In Other News)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Once upon a time, the GOP mantra was that private plans would save money in Medicare. Those days are officially gone, replaced by the view that well managed private plans will integrate beneficiaries' care, which is a clinical good although the...

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.(Arnold Milstein appointed.)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Completing the roster of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission for 2004-2005 is new appointee Arnold Milstein, MD. In recent work, Milstein, who is medical director of the Pacific Business Group on Health, has focused on value purchasing and...

At Rx-card hearing: can more choice be the wrong choice?(Medicare-Endorsed Rx Cards)
June 14, 2004... At a June 8 Senate Finance Committee hearing, several Democratic senators expressed concern that seniors were finding it difficult to choose among dozens of Medicare-approved discount cards. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mark...

Seniors confused, skeptical about Medicare changes.(Perspectives)
June 14, 2004... Elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries, far from being excited about the prescription drug benefits included in the Medicare Modernization Act, dislike the new law's provisions and find them confusing. That's the message from focus...

ABC to present MSP auto-enrollment plan.(Low-Income Assistance)(Access to Benefits Coalition)(Medicare Savings Programs)
June 14, 2004... Representatives of the Access to Benefits Coalition will meet June 14 with government officials to present ABC's plan for auto-enrolling certain low-income Medicare beneficiaries in the $600 annual "transitional assistance credits" available...

Lawmakers would boost credits, but old tough issues remain.(Health Care Tax Credit)
June 14, 2004... Policymakers from all parts of the political spectrum want success for the fledgling health-care tax credit Congress enacted in 2002. The credit, which became operational in August 2003, was intended to help workers displaced from their jobs by...

Employers seek many-fold path to Medicare drug subsidies.(Employers and Medicare)
June 14, 2004... Employers that offer retiree health insurance for Medicare-eligible people will qualify for significant subsidies if the drug coverage they provide meets certain standards, according to the new Medicare law. Hoping to sway the Centers for...

State rule variation, not state rules, drives move to self-insure.(State Insurance Regulations)
June 14, 2004... It's not coping with burdensome state regulations per se but coping with different regulations in more than one state that drives employers to self-insure. That's the finding of unpublished new research by Wayne State University's Gail Jensen,...

Corrigan mulls departure as senators worry about cash.(HHS Inspector General)
June 14, 2004... One year after Dara Corrigan was named acting Principal Deputy Inspector General, she still hasn't been named official head of the Health and Human Services IG office, nor has the Bush administration nominated anyone else to lead the office...

Hospitals' big bad-debt problem permanent, says ratings agency.(Standard & Poor reports)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... The continuing gradual decline in the portion of employers who offer health insurance, along with increased cost-sharing requirements for people who have coverage, virtually guarantees that hospital spending on uncompensated care will keep...

This card gets you salad.(Ann Ubl gets appointed at American Hospital Association)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... The Medicare discount drug card has hit the big time, garnering its own page on the satirical Web site The Onion. Onionites have come up with their own card advertisement--viewable at http://www.theonion.com/infograph/ index.php?issue=4023 ...

Ann Ubl moves up to vice president for legislative affairs at the American Hospital Association.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Ann Ubl moves up to vice president for legislative affairs at the American Hospital Association. Prior to joining AHA four years ago, she worked for the Federation of American Hospitals.

Moving into a top AHA advocacy spot is Mark Seklecki, now executive director of political affairs.(American Heart Association )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Moving into a top AHA advocacy spot is Mark Seklecki, now executive director of political affairs. The 17-year AHA veteran will be top manager of AHA's Political Action Committee in his new post.

America's Health Insurance Plans.(Scott Styles appointed)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Scott Styles, most recently of Bergner, Bockorny, Castagnetti & Hawkins, is the new senior vice president of federal affairs at America's Health Insurance Plans. He has been chief of staff for Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and was a State...

Loeffler Jonas and Tuggey.(Loeffler Jonas and Tuggey L.L.P. appointed Rob Sweezy )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services director of public and government affairs Rob Sweezy is now a partner at the lobbying firm Loeffler Jonas and Tuggey.

House panels put hospital charges under microscope ...(Hospital Charges)
June 21, 2004... High hospital charges, particularly at not-for-profit providers, that affect some uninsured patients will get scrutiny from two key House panels during the week of June 21. And in further troubling news for the industry, Mississippi lawyer...

Safety net sagging under multiple stresses.(Perspectives)
June 21, 2004... It's access to care that really matters for health, not necessarily insurance coverage. So goes one oft-heard principle--articulated mainly by some Republican policymakers--for developing fixes to one of the biggest problems challenging U.S....

Pressure mounts for clinical trial registry.(Rx Clinical Trials)
June 21, 2004... In response to the steady stream of evidence that unfavorable results of pharmaceutical clinical trials tend to get suppressed while favorable results get published, support is growing for the idea of mandating that all trials and their...

AG dept: Rx card users will not face food-stamp cuts.(Medicare Rx Discount Cards, Department of Agriculture)
June 21, 2004... The food stamp allotments of low-income Medicare beneficiaries will not be reduced when those beneficiaries get discounted and free drugs through Medicare-endorsed prescription drug discount cards. So said Eric Boost, Deputy Secretary of...

Medpac almost, but not quite, recommends LTCH moratorium.(Long Term Care Hospitals, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... With Medicare spending on long-term care hospitals nearly quintupling between 1993 and 2001--from $398 million to $1.9 billion annually--the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission grew worried enough to consider recommending a moratorium on...

Medco exec calls stand-alone Rx plans 'half-baked idea'.(Medco Health Solutions Inc., David Snow, drug plans )
June 21, 2004... The president of one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers says that health insurers will not offer the stand-alone drug plans envisioned by the Medicare Modernization Act. Speaking June 9 at a Goldman Sachs health care...

Finance chair seeks means to increase IG funding.(Office of Inspector General, Charles E. Grassley)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Finance Chair Seeks Means To Increase IG Funding. Concerned that the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General won't have enough money to meet oversight and enforcement demands of the massive new Medicare Modernization Act, Senate...

Grassley: FDA actions "not in the best interest of the consumer" on safety.(Charles E. Grassley, Food and Drug Administration)
June 21, 2004... Grassley: FDA Actions "Not In The Best Interest Of The Consumer" On Safety. Based on a months-long investigation of the Food and Drug Administration's handling of a staff members' contrarian view that most antidepressants are unsafe for...

AARP backs Dorgan-Snowe Rx importation bill.(Byron L. Dorgan, Olympia J. Snowe)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... AARP Backs Dorgan-Snowe Rx Importation Bill. On June 16, the seniors group AARP endorsed a bipartisan bill to legalize importation of prescription drugs from Canada and eventually from other countries. CEO Bill Novelli said his organization...

Fifty employers, fifty drugs, zero PBMs.(pharmacy benefit managers)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Fifty Employers, Fifty Drugs, Zero PBMs. Fifty of the nation's biggest employers are joining together to purchase directly from manufacturers the fifty drugs they spend the most on, bypassing pharmacy benefit managers that typically manage...

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.(Mark Willenbring appointed)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Joining the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is Mark Willenbring, MD. Formerly professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, he will direct NIAAA's division of treatment and recovery research.

Supremes: state suits against health plans violate ERISA.(Patients' Rights)
June 28, 2004... Enrollees in employer-sponsored health plans can't sue in state court for malpractice when the managed care organization that runs the plan refuses to pay for physician-recommended care. That's what a unanimous Supreme Court held June 21 in...

Lower premiums? Medicare PPOs? Don't bet on it, analysts say.(Preferred Provider Organization)
June 28, 2004... Medical cost trends are slowing, but don't expect a price-savvy, consolidated insurance industry to lower premiums to match. That was among the predictions offered by a panel of financial and policy analysts who assembled in Washington June...

Finance chief drafts law for tax-exempt organizations.(Not-For-Profit Sector, Chuck Grassley)(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Saying that too many tax-exempt charitable organizations have turned into "cesspools" due to "big money, tax free, and no oversight," Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is circulating draft legislation to tighten rules for the...

Health coverage part of general benefits decline.(Employer-Based Coverage)
June 28, 2004... The percentage of full-time private-sector workers participating in employer-sponsored health coverage decreased from 80 percent in 1989-90 to 56 percent in 2003. That's perhaps the most striking example of a general decline in the...

FEDS, MEDPAC, QIOs promise new focus on info tech.(Quality Improvement Organizations, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission)
June 28, 2004... Where the nation's discussion of health care is going at present isn't all that clear. But one thing is certain: Examining the potential role of clinically oriented information technology in holding down costs and improving quality will be a...

Panel takes big health-care bite, but will it chew?(House Ways and Means Committee)
June 28, 2004... On the domestic front, health care remains among Americans' top worries. Unabated high numbers of uninsured people, burgeoning costs, and doubts about care quality are just some of the issues voters may look to Washington to ease. Accordingly,...

Easy to say, not so easy to agree on.(Consumer-Directed Health Care)
June 28, 2004... Many lawmakers and analysts agree that increasing patients' awareness of the cost and value of diagnostics and treatments may help drive costs down and quality up in the U.S. health-care system. But underneath the apparent agreement lie a host...

Who knows what consulting arrangements lurk in the hearts of health researchers?(National Institutes of Health scientists' consultancy services for pharma companies )(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Who Knows What Consulting Arrangements Lurk in the Hearts of Health Researchers? Drug companies report about 100 consulting arrangements with National Institutes of Health scientists of which the NIH has no knowledge, House Energy and Commerce...

Bar on anti-reimportation FDA spending still in house bill.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Bar On Anti-Reimportation FDA Spending Still In House Bill. Under the fiscal year 2005 Agriculture Department spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee in a June 23 voice vote, the Food and Drug Administration could not spend...

Baucus pushes medicare pay-for-performance bill.(Max Baucus )(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Baucus Pushes Medicare Pay-For-Performance Bill. In line with recent recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, top-ranking Senate Finance Committee Democrat Max Baucus (MT) is introducing a bill to establish performance-based...

Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates.(James Capretta appointed)(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... James Capretta leaves the top healthcare spot at the White House Office of Management and Budget to become managing director of the lobbying firm Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.(Kris Morris appointed)(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... American Hospital Association vice president for legislative affairs Kris Morris departs AHA to open a legislative affairs office for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.