Medicine & Health articles from March 2005

Medicine & Health archives from March 2005

MedPAC urges congress to move on pay for performance.(MedPAC)
March 7, 2005... Whether or not Congress follows, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has set its own clear course for the future of provider payments: Medicare should pursue a pay-for-performance strategy, offering more money to providers who improve the...

States unhappy with most of feds' hoped-for Medicaid cuts.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)
March 7, 2005... Medicaid is on the table for cuts later this year in Washington. Governors have Medicaid at the tops of their agendas, too. But at the National Governors Association's annual winter meeting last week, little agreement emerged. In its...

"National marketplace" bill gets new attention.(Insurance Markets)
March 7, 2005... Legislation that would allow health insurers to operate under a single state's regulations while selling in all states continues to evolve on Capitol Hill, and the White House is signaling its support for the concept. Rep. John Shadegg...

McClellan says CMS will protect duals ...(Medicare Rx Drug Coverage)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
March 7, 2005... Without a transition period of at least six months, the poorest and most vulnerable seniors and disabled people may suffer when their pharmaceutical coverage shifts from Medicaid to Medicare on Jan. 1, 2006. That message was voiced...

... But others express doubts.(Medicare Rx Drug Coverage)
March 7, 2005... The three other witnesses at the hearing all praised CMS' efforts: For example, Tina Kitchin, MD, medical director of Oregon's Department of Human Services, characterized them as "heroic." Nevertheless, she said, "Oregon continues to have some...

Medicaid and uninsured creep up on business agenda.(Medicaid)
March 7, 2005... Usually, one good way to clear a room in Washington is to stand up and say, "Medicaid." While a congressional Medicare hearing is generally standing room only, with waiting lines around the block, Medicaid garners little interest. But that...

FDA could use more authority on labels, official says.(In Other News)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... If Congress were to boost the Food and Drug Administration's statutory authority to require drug-labeling changes, the move "would be very helpful" in promoting drug safety. So Deputy Director Sandra Kweder, MD, of FDA's office of new drugs,...

AARP provides Rx evidence, mental health groups want broad focus.(In Other News)(American Association of Retired Persons)
March 7, 2005... The seniors lobby AARP has placed its considerable weight behind the concept of evidence-based medicine. On Feb. 24, the group launched a Web site, www.aarp/ResearchRx, that allows consumers and physicians to "review conclusions about drug...

Tobias expects more generic aids drugs.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Aspen Pharmacare was the first drug-maker to get a generic AIDS regimen approved for purchase with American foreign aid funds, but it will likely not be the last. So U.S. Global AIDS coordinator Randall Tobias told Congress March 3. Unlike...

National Governors Association.(People)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Kathleen Nolan joined the National Governors Association late last year as director of the health division in NGA's Center for Best Practices. She was formerly senior director for prevention at the Association of State and Territorial Health...

Congressional budgeters want tougher Medicaid cuts than Bush.(Medicaid and the Budget)
March 14, 2005... In separate resolutions approved last week, budget committees in the House and the Senate seek even bigger spending cuts in Medicaid than the White House proposed in its budget released in February. If the houses agree on a budget resolution,...

MedPAC seeks level payment playing field for competition, P4P.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)
March 14, 2005... The likely short-term consequence of two March 8 congressional hearings to discuss the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's new report on physician-owned specialty hospitals: Congress will extend the moratorium on opening new physician-owned...

Gao: Pharma, not CMS, controls rebate amounts.(Medicaid Rx Rebates)
March 14, 2005... Because of insufficient oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, states may not be getting price breaks they are entitled to from drugmakers under the Medicaid prescription drug rebate program, established by Congress in...

Poor in nation's mid-section most likely to lack clinics.(Community Health Centers)
March 14, 2005... In this year's White House budget, President Bush announced a new goal on access: establishing "a health center in ever poor county in America." Now, an analysis released by the National Association of Community Health Centers shows how...

Low-hanging DM fruit clings stubbornly to bough.(Health Disparities)(diabetes management)
March 14, 2005... When Aetna, Inc., included chronic-illness initiatives in its program to decrease racial and ethnic health disparities, the company saw improving diabetes management as "low-hanging fruit." Instead, "what we found was that it was very complex,"...

U. Penn. authors on report cards: it's all or none.(Quality Measurements)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Caution is the watchword of much of what Rachel Werner and David Asch say about health care report cards in the March 9 Journal of the American Medical Association. Ironically, though, one solution the University of Pennsylvania physicians...

IOM: administration muzzled CDC on smallpox vaccine program.(Bioterrorism and Public Health)(Institute of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
March 14, 2005... The federal government did not clearly articulate the rationale behind its campaign to voluntarily vaccinate health care workers and first responders against smallpox. The result: Key constituencies failed to buy into the program, and only...

McClellan touts private-sector interest in Medicare drug coverage.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services doesn't anticipate needing government-run fallback plans anywhere in the country to deliver the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, Administrator Mark McClellan told reporters at a conference...

Medicaid audits illegitimately targeting mentally ill children, Lawmakers say.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... The federal Department of Health and Human Services is asking states to repay Medicaid funds that they've spent on institutionalizing mentally ill children, contrary to clear congressional intent. That's the charge in a March 8 letter to...

So much for "Industry Best Practices" being efficient.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Private-sector health-plan drug formularies are too loose to be real money-savers. That seems to be the word from the Congressional Budget Office, which raised its estimate of future Medicare costs after learning Medicare formularies will mimic...

Tommy Thompson's very busy day(s).(In Other News)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson took on a slew of new jobs recently. He'll be a partner in the Washington office of international law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and he'll also serve as senior adviser and...

Schumer loses attempt to bar protesters from avoiding fines through bankruptcy.(In Other News)
March 14, 2005... By defeating an amendment that would have prevented violent protesters--notably those protesting abortion--from discharging court-ordered fines in bankruptcy, GOP leaders have paved the way for enacting a major bankruptcy code overhaul. ...

Food and Drug Administration.(People)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2005... Food and Drug Administration Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning William Hubbard is retiring after 32 years with the Department of Health and Human Services, the last 14 spent at FDA. Replacing him is Randall Lutter, an FDA economist...

For AMA, McClellan inserts some pills in sugar.(Medicare and Physicians)(American Medical Association, Mark McClellan)
March 21, 2005... Speaking to the American Medical Association's annual advocacy conference March 15, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mark McClellan repeatedly assured the docs that CMS values them and their input and won't take major...

What to expect in Medicare Rx: varying premiums, PDPs for duals.(In Medicine & Health Perspectives this week ...)
March 21, 2005... Uncertainty surrounds many facets of Medicare's prescription drug benefit, as plan-sponsor hopefuls gear up to submit their applications March 23. Drug-only insurance plans bearing partial risk for enrollees' prescription-drug costs are...

Johnson builds groundwork for SGR replacement.(Physician Compensation)(Nancy Johnson)
March 21, 2005... At a March 15 hearing, Nancy Johnson (R-CT) continued her push for fundamentally restructuring the way Medicare pays physicians. The current system is based on a "sustainable growth rate" formula, which attempts to keep Medicare's physician...

Is GOP moving beyond a one-cap-fits-all fix?(Medical Liability)
March 21, 2005... Caps, caps, and only caps. Up to now, the Bush administration and congressional Republican leaders have stuck to a limited script on overhauling the medical liability system: To bring down doctors' malpractice insurance costs, put strict caps...

Johnson on imaging: who says more is bad?(Medical Imaging)(Nancy Johnson)
March 21, 2005... The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission says Medicare should set national standards of expertise for providers who bill the program for performing and interpreting diagnostic imaging studies. Ways and Means Health Subcommittee chair Nancy...

Execs dislike mandatory and public error reporting.(Patient Safety)
March 21, 2005... Hospital executives overwhelmingly oppose state laws that require hospitals to report medical errors and then disclose those reports to the public. In a survey of hospital chief executive officers and chief operating officers, 73 percent...

Senate substitutes Medicaid commission for Medicaid cuts.(In Other News)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Senate Substitutes Medicaid Commission For Medicaid Cuts. In a 52-48 March 17 vote, the Senate stripped 514 billion in Medicaid cuts from its budget resolution. Both the Senate and House completed their versions of the budget on the 17th....

Senate Panel generally friendly toward FDA nominee, but Crawford Dodges issue on emergency contraception.(In Other News)
March 21, 2005... Senate Panel Generally Friendly Toward FDA Nominee, But Crawford Dodges Issue On Emergency Contraception. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee quizzed Food and Drug Administration Commissioner-designate Lester Crawford...

Barton vows NIH restructuring legislation this year.(In Other News)(National Institutes of Health)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... * Barton Vows NIH Restructuring Legislation This Year. Echoing a vow he made for 2004, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Joe Barton (R-TX) said March 17 that he hopes to introduce a bipartisan bill "in the next two to three months" to...

MedPAC of two minds on whether government should snag MA risk-adjustment savings.(In Other News)(Medicare Advantage)
March 21, 2005... MedPAC Of Two Minds On Whether Government Should Snag MA Risk-Adjustment Savings. President Bush's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal would provide an additional $8.3 billion for Medicare Advantage private health plans from 2006 through 2010 by...

Margaret Elehwany.(People)(Brief Article)
March 21, 2005... Margaret Elehwany, formerly assistant director for congressional affairs with the American Medical Association, has joined the staff of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as legislative assistant for health. She also served as legislative counsel to...