Medicine & Health articles from June 2005

Medicine & Health archives from June 2005

U.S. unprepared for flu outbreak, experts warn: pandemic flu would flood hospitals, overpower public health system.(Public Health)
June 6, 2005... With researchers saying it's a question of when and not if a global influenza pandemic will strike, a U.S. House panel scrutinized the nation's readiness to confront such a public health crisis--and concluded there's much work to be done. ...

Congress scrutinizes hospitals' tax-exempt status: tax law offers little guidance on what qualifies as 'charitable care.'.(Hospitals)
June 6, 2005... If blindfolded and taken to a hospital, would patients know whether they were in a for-profit or nonprofit facility? That's the question that Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA) asked in opening a May 26 hearing on tax exemptions for hospitals. Convened by...

Studies say huge malpractice awards are just doctors' empty fears: still, obstetricians pack up and move to states with capped damage awards.(Medical Liability)
June 6, 2005... Escalating medical malpractice insurance payments have nothing to do with huge lawsuit judgment awards, but actually reflect general health care spending increases, according to a Health Affairs study released May 31. A separate study...

Senators attack DTC drug marketing: bipartisan legislation would cut advertising costs out of Medicare, Medicaid drug pricing.(Pharmaceuticals)
June 6, 2005... Are drug manufacturers benefiting from one too many tax advantages? Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and John Sununu (R-NH) think so. The two legislators are leading a bipartisan effort to reduce direct-to-consumer prescription-drug advertising...

Shrinking budgets, increasing costs plague Medicaid benes: out-of-pocket expenses getting out of control says CBPP.(Medicaid)
June 6, 2005... It looks as if Medicaid beneficiaries already struggling to afford care could have a tougher road ahead. Based on the findings of a pair of recent reports, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is casting a grim future for Medicaid...

Overcrowded EDs harming patient care, group says: reimportation, Medicare Part D affecting agendas across country.(Hospitals)(emergency department)
June 6, 2005... The president of a leading emergency medicine society says that emergency departments are seeing patients at alarming rates, and if Congress goes ahead with its planned decreases in Medicare spending, over-crowded EDs could become an epidemic....

Inpatient rehab facilities to receive 2.9-percent boost: CMS offers good news for teaching facilities.(Rehab)
June 6, 2005... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services May 25 published its massive 2006 proposed inpatient rehab facility payment rule in the Federal Register, letting IRFs know to expect aggregate payments to increase by $180 million over this year's...

Empire BCBS settles physician suit.(In Other News ...)(BlueCross BlueShield)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Another health plan is vowing to streamline its claims payment process and be more transparent with physicians in order to settle a massive class action lawsuit. Empire BlueCross BlueShield announced May 23 that it will pay physicians $7...

Plans, PBMs, pharmacy jockey for Part D positioning: are pharmacies raising rates for health plans?(Medicare)
June 13, 2005... As the implementation of the prescription drug benefit draws closer, health plans are grappling with the fact that their current business partners soon will become their competitors. Health plans interested in participating in Medicare Part...

Should physicians receive rewards for decreasing hospital spending? Is 'pay for performance' incompatible with physician pay limits?(Medicare Reimbursement)
June 13, 2005... When physicians take good care of patients, Medicare spends less on hospital care but doctors never see any of those savings. That could change, if the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council has its way. PPAC passed a resolution at its May...

Thank uninsured debtors for insurance premium hikes: new study predicts premiums to skyrocket to pay for uninsured.(Health Insurance)
June 13, 2005... A Families USA report released June 8 put a real price tag on how much private health insurance premiums increase to compensate for uninsured Americans' health care debts. As these rising premiums force more employers to drop health care...

Leavitt lays the groundwork for NHIN standards: HHS touts public-private collaboration for HIT interoperability.(Health IT)(United States. Department of Health and Human Services)
June 13, 2005... In the Department of Health and Human Services' ongoing mission to create a nationwide electronic health information network, Secretary Michael Leavitt is putting many of last year's plans into action. Accompanying Leavitt's efforts, a massive...

Latest pro-cannibus efforts go up in smoke: Supreme Court deals a blow to medical pot users.(Courts)
June 13, 2005... Chalk up another victory for the federal government in the war on drugs--and a setback for advocates of medical marijuana. The U.S. Supreme Court June 6 ruled that federal authorities could prosecute sick people who use cannabis under a...

4.3-percent pay cut could become 2.7-percent boost: but a permanent solution to physician payment woes may have to wait.(Physicians)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Physicians could avert next year's planned pay cut of around 4.3 percent if one of two new bills makes it into law. Both bills are called the Preserving Patient Access To Physicians Act of 2005, and both would replace the scheduled cut with...

Study: welfare recipients suited for long-term care jobs: new research finds a way to kill two birds with one stone.(Welfare Reform)
June 13, 2005... The United States faces the challenge of getting poor people off public assistance and into the workforce at the same time it needs more paraprofessionals to meet the nation's long-term care needs. Those two problems may share a solution,...

Results mixed for coverage expansion proposals: report: there's no magic wand to wave at all states' uninsured rates.(Coverage)
June 13, 2005... Under current federal health coverage expansion proposals, some states may be able to reduce their uninsured rates by more than 20 percent. However, certain proposals are more beneficial than others to certain states. That's the conclusion...

FTC shoots the 'messenger model' in NM antitrust probe.(In Other News ...)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Another independent practice association reached a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission to settle antitrust charges. The San Juan IPA had represented around 80 percent of the non-hospital-employed physicians in the Farmington, NM...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
June 13, 2005... The previous issue of M&H incorrectly named a health insurer that settled a class action lawsuit with physicians. The lawsuit was settled by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield of Rochester, NY, not Empire BlueCross BlueShield of New York, NY. We...

CMS demanding extensive formularies from PDPs: some sponsors of prescription drug plans say government is reneging on its word.(Medicare Drug Benefit)
June 20, 2005... Could the Part D drug benefit wind up being a lot less profitable than many prospective sponsors hope? New guidance released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services echoes what the agency has been telling many sponsors in...

Medicaid shouldering too much financial burden, studies say: why researchers disagree with Medicaid reform proposals.(Medicaid)
June 20, 2005... As a special, presidentially appointed commission rolls up its sleeves to figure out how to cut billions out of the Medicaid budget, one independent think tank is offering some sobering figures on the enormity of the task. The Center for...

Moratorium ends as a new set of prohibitions begins: CMS' plans could slow booming growth of new specialty hospitals.(Specialty Hospitals)
June 20, 2005... Just as specialty hospitals were breathing a sigh of relief when the 18-month moratorium ended on June 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services put up a few more roadblocks. CMS froze approvals for new physician-owned specialty...

Senators want drugmakers to grant them more info: Baucus, Grassley asking questions about 'educational grants.'.(Pharmaceuticals)
June 20, 2005... For years, major drug companies have been giving state governments and other organizations "educational grants," ostensibly to be used to promote good health and to inform the public of treatment options that they may not have known about. ...

Momentum returning for patient safety bill: experts cite providers' litigation fears as the key stumbling block.(Patient Safety)
June 20, 2005... Can there be a patient safety law without a reform of malpractice tort law? We may soon find out. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health heard testimony June 9 from a variety of health experts on the need for patient safety...

Uninsured, underinsured could face even pricier futures: the poor and chronically ill are less likely to have adequate health coverage, studies show.(Access)
June 20, 2005... When taken together, a pair of recent reports from The Commonwealth Fund portends a grim forecast for the nation's uninsured and underinsured rates--especially if more costs are shifted to the beneficiary in the future to curb federal...

Bristol-Myers squibb will impose marketing ceasefire on new products.(In Other News ...)
June 20, 2005... In a move that may impel rivals to follow suit, the drugmaker announced June 14 that it will not issue direct-to-consumer advertising for drugs until the drugs have been on the market for at least one year. Bristol-Myers Squibb says the...

One confirmation down, one to go?(In Other News ...)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... The Senate June 8 confirmed Daniel Levinson for inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services after Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) withdrew the hold he had placed on the proceedings. Lautenberg had been hoping to spur HHS to...

Frist-Clinton 'Health TEQ' Bill offers anti-kickback exemptions: legislation calls for uniform health care quality measures, interoperability standards.(Health IT Legislation)
June 27, 2005... The latest piece of health information technology legislation is gaining quite a bit of support. Strange bedfellows Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) joined forces over HIT interoperability, proposing the...

Health costs still increasing far beyond inflation: report: economic growth cannot keep up with annual health care spending bumps.(Costs)
June 27, 2005... Americans paying for private health care have experienced a leveling-off in annual spending increases recently, but that does not necessarily bode well for the future, according to a new report from the Center for Studying Health System Change....

AHQA cries foul on JAMA study debunking QIOs' effectiveness: Medicare QIOs have no significant impact on quality of care, JAMA researchers say.(QIOs)
June 27, 2005... The American Healthcare Quality Association refuted a study on Medicare's quality improvement organizations, published in the June 15 Journal of the American Medical Association, arguing that the researchers used outdated information and...

Seniors unwilling to accept reduced choices in Medicare: research provides warning to Medicare Advantage health plans.(Medicare)
June 27, 2005... Medicare Advantage plans might have a harder time winning over fee-for-service and MediGap beneficiaries than they think. A new survey by the Center for Studying Health System Change shows that seniors are quite unwilling to sacrifice their...

Governors offer plan to rein in Medicaid costs: Congressional Democrats criticize impact on most vulnerable Americans.(Medicaid)
June 27, 2005... Medicaid would provide a smaller safety net under a reform plan crafted by the nation's governors. Govs. Mark Warner (R-VA) and Mike Huckabee (D-AR) presented the National Governors Association's Medicaid proposal to the Senate Finance...

Public health advocates decry committee's HHS budget cuts: incoming Medicare Rx program makes already tight budget that much tighter.(Budget)(Department of Health & Human Services)
June 27, 2005... Amid warnings of flu pandemic and concerns over bioterrorism, House Republicans have proposed cuts to the nation's public health budget. The House Appropriations Committee on June 16 approved a fiscal year 2006 spending measure that gives...

State AGs: we beat big tobacco, we'll beat big pharma: AGs want lower prices for drugs, and they'll go to court for it.(Pharmaceuticals)
June 27, 2005... A group of state attorneys general is calling states to action in the fight to "fix" the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. In the June 20 report "Addressing the Cost and Benefits of Prescription Drugs," the National Association of Attorneys...

Health plans propose lowest rate increases in 5 years: health trend should abate somewhat, but it's still far beyond inflation.
June 27, 2005... The cost of health coverage has been increasing faster than anyone can catch up with, but there's a chance it's at least slowing down a tad. That's according to new analysis released by benefits firm Hewitt Associates. Hewitt predicts that...