Topic: Medicare
The Associated Press examines political ads on health reform. "With the country sharply divided over the sweeping new insurance law, Republicans and their allies are taking to the airwaves to attack i ... moreWebMD breaks down the health reform changes and explains what they mean for you and your family if you already have health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. ... more
Today's updates on the continuing implementation of the health law include Medicare chief Don Berwick's behind the scenes push for 'accountable care organizations,' tax anxiety in the medical device i ... more
Healthcare Reforms Don't Go Far Enough The Los Angeles TimesSome sort of Medicare-for-all program remains the only equitable way that every American can be provided with adequate and affordable covera ... more
Proposal would reward drug companies for reducing resistance The United States must focus on conserving the use of antibacterial drugs, or face a public health crisis from rapidly rising rates of anti ... more
Under Obamacare, the folks in Washington are given the task of finding ways to make health care more affordable. Medicare Chief Donald Berwick, a fan of Brittain #39;s failing National Health Service, ... more
Surer Footing For Medicare The Washington Post Under the act, Medicare is stronger than it has been in years, and seniors will get new benefits. That's no illusion; that's progress (Dr. Donald Berwick ... more
The organizations want CMS to hold off on making proposed revisions to the medical inflation rate until a comprehensive study is done. ... more
by Skeptical Scalpel, MDThe Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) and its antecedent, the Surgical Infection Prevention project, have been around for several years.In short, these consist of seve ... more
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan highlighted the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge to enroll five mil ... more
Debunking Medicare Myths Kaiser Health News What's needed most today in American health care is innovative change which drives up productivity and value. With the right incentives, that's what the pri ... more
UCSF researchers today unveiled a prototype model of the first implantable artificial kidney, in a development that one day could eliminate the need for dialysis. The device, which would include thous ... more
Some airplane reading, catching up with RSS Feeds on a program that is one of my "favorite things", Netnewswire. File under: What happens when you forget to add value to the customer. From Phillip Mil ... more
I continue to be impressed with the quality of wonkery displayed by the folks whose submissions you'll see below. Looking back at the first 'Review I ever hosted, I was struck by how many wonk-blogger ... more
A survey of hospital finances by Forbes found that "some American hospitals make 25 cents or more for every $1 in patient revenue they take in," Forbes reports. The list, "done by the American Hospita ... more
The Fiscal Times: A Medicare program that has agreed to pay for counseling for seniors who smoke but are not yet sick could help the program, and America's health system, lower costs. "Smoking costs t ... more
Now that the Centers for Medicare #038; Medicaid Services has caused a ruckus by unexpectedly conducting a so-called National Coverage Analysis for the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine, the agency la ... more
The folks in Washington that gave us the "bridge to nowhere " have done it again, this time with health insurance. ERRP (Early Retirement Reinsurance Program) as announced by HHS is supposed to make ... more
Modern Healthcare: Health reform has left "industry executives scrambling to project what will happen to revenue and expenses in the coming decade." Some are using models to guess what will happen whe ... more
CMS says a slight rate increase for Part D insurance, combined with discounts required by the health reform law, will make medications more affordable. ... more
The Wall Street Journal: "Faced with mounting debt and looming costs from the new federal health-care law, many local governments are leaving the hospital business, shedding public facilities that can ... more
As Reform Improves The Overall Market, Inefficient Insurers Could Take Hits Kaiser Health News We want to spend just a little less, so that we have more money for other purposes. And we want to spend ... more
Instructions for state Medicaid directors to distribute some of the funding for electronic medical records through their programs beginning next year have been circulated by the federal Centers for Me ... more
I usually try to make nice when guest posting on someone else's blog but I have to call 'em when I see 'em... Larry, you pulled your punches in "Isn't it a Conflict of Interest?"Â The Annals of Int ... more
HHS is proud of their site for all things related to health insurance. Healthcare.gov has been up almost 2 months and it seems to have everything you want to know about health insurance options.Seems ... more
People who want to give up smoking may be entitled to Medicare cover for evidence-based cessation counseling, the HSS (Department of Health and Human Services, USA) announced. Before this announcement ... more
News outlets report on hospital issues, including a Moody's report suggesting a negative outlook for not-for-profit hospitals. The Moody's report, which was released on Thursday found that "improvemen ... more
The Los Angeles Times: Obama administration officials at a meeting in Los Angeles Thursday touted their efforts to crack down on health care fraud, "saying quickly expanding criminal enterprises are c ... more
Kaiser Health News staff writer Jessica Marcy reports: "Under federal rules, most people with disabilities who are younger than 65 aren't eligible for Medicare until more than two years after they qua ... more
Truth Catches Up To Democrats On Health Care CNN Americans told lawmakers in Washington that they wanted reforms that would lower costs; Democrats in Congress increased them. They said they wanted Med ... more
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the expansion of the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services' (CMS) Rural Community Hospital demonstration program, through the Affordable Care Act. Up to 20 ... more
The Obama administration has touted the report as proof that the health system overhaul is helping Medicare's finances. ... more
by Jaan Sidorov, MDAccording to the Washington Post, it is highly unlikely that Congress will undo the planned #8220;sustainable growth rate formula #8221; (SGR) mandated Medicare fee schedule cuts ... more
Better identification of Indigenous patients in general practices would improve their access to Medicare benefits such as health checks that could help 'Close the Gap', yet many GPs don't consider eth ... more
For seniors addicted to smoking mdash; whether they got that way from a YouTube video or not mdash; Medicare is expanding its coverage to include tobacco-cessation counseling for those who haven €™t ... more
This article says it all. Â Yes, the harshest critic is Jean Mitchell who has shown the same thing in physical therapy as MedPAC has appropriately informed Congress. Â Unfortunately, Â the physical t ... more
The new buzzword in health politics: Comparative Effectiveness. Comparative effectiveness, often seen as CE, is not to be confused with continuing education.I can understand the concern that CE wil ... more
Go here to read a publication from the folks at the NCPA telling the readers much they need to know about PPACA.It is a welcome counterpoint to the rosy and in parts misleading picture painted in t ... more
Hospital readmissions are both common and costly. A 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that about 20 percent of Medicare patients are readmitted within 30 days, costing ... more
The Hill: "The Obama administration on Wednesday expanded Medicare to cover more seniors hoping to kick their tobacco habits." Previously, Medicare rules allowed the program to cover tobacco-related c ... more
The latest people to object to the recent decision by the Centers for Medicare #038; Medicaid Services to open a National Coverage Analysis of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine happen to be two US ... more
If you like your Medicare Plan D (prescription drug coverage), too bad, you will probably have to make a change come next year.So much for Obama #39;s promise that "if you like your plan you can keep ... more
The Associated Press: An effort to streamline the entangled field of Medicare drug plans could mean as many as 3 million seniors "could force 3 million seniors to switch plans next year whether they l ... more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expanded Medicare coverage of evidence-based tobacco cessation counseling, removing a barrier to treatment for all tobacco users covered by Medicare. ... more
The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services is proposing to slightly loosen the Medicare coverage policy for left ventricular assist devices. Heartwire ... more
Recall that back in March of this year, Democragt Sen. Max Baucus admitted that the true goal of Obamacare: was socialist redistribution of wealth. Now, he's gone what some might consider a step fur ... more
The retail prices for the 217 most widely used brand-name drugs rose an average of 8.3 percent last year, despite a drop in inflation, according to a new survey by AARP. And for the most popular meds, ... more
News outlets look at a variety of issues surrounding Medicare. WRAL: "The national health care reform law, which was was designed to provide insurance coverage and access to physicians to m ... more
What do Americans think about when they think about prescription drugs? A new survey finds that cost, safety and industry influence over physicians are on a lot of minds. The overall picture suggests ... more
The new buzzword in health politics: Comparative Effectiveness. Comparative effectiveness, often seen as CE, is not to be confused with continuing education.I can understand the concern that CE will ... more
This article says it all. Â Yes, the harshest critic is Jean Mitchell who has shown the same thing in physical therapy as MedPAC has appropriately informed Congress. Â Unfortunately, Â the physical th ... more
by Stephen C. Schimpff, MDWhether we have commercial insurance through our employer or Medicare, the incentives are poorly aligned to lower costs and improve quality.In fact, they actually encourage ... more
A new analysis has found that short-term and long-term costs of prostate cancer care vary considerably based on which treatment strategy a man initially receives. Published early online in Cancer, a p ... more
Dr. Wes: #8216;Twas the Week Before School Starts.. Full genius. Mine is driving to her second year away, and Dr. Wes fully captures our experience last year (this years #8217; a little more settle ... more
Dr. Donald Berwick Centers for Medicare Medicaid Department of Health and Human Services Attention: Â CMS-1503-P P.O. Box 8013 Baltimore, MD Â 21244-8013 Re: Â Medicare Program: Payment Policies U ... more
The results of this study by Jean Mitchell (who has published extensively about conflicts of interest in health care) and colleagues attest yet again to the rampant conflicts of interest that exist i ... more
ISBN 0-316-31696-2) Malcolm Gladwell describes Tipping Points as levels at which the momentum for change become unstoppable. To quote from Gladwell, when defined from a sociologic perspective a ti ... more
by Jeffrey Hall Dobken, MDHard choices and healthcare reform are here. Donald Berwick, M.D., has been installed as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services as a €œrece ... more
A pay-for-performance (PFP) program implemented at one of the nation's largest general hospitals appeared to have a marked effect on expediting final radiology report turnaround times (RTAT), improvin ... more
For Cost Control, Vouchers And Medicare Don't Mix Kaiser Health News With the ambition of reducing the federal debt, Congressman Paul Ryan has offered a proposal to convert Medicare to a voucher-based ... more
For Cost Control, Vouchers And Medicare Don't Mix Kaiser Health News With the ambition of reducing the federal debt, Congressman Paul Ryan has offered a proposal to convert Medicare to a voucher-based ... more
U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they expect Medicare patients enrolled in the federal health insurance program's prescription drug benefit to see their premium costs remain flat next year.Sour ... more
ISBN 0-316-31696-2) Malcolm Gladwell describes Tipping Points as levels at which the momentum for change become unstoppable. To quote from Gladwell, when defined from a sociologic perspective a tip ... more
The best quality of HCV healthcare was delivered when specialists and generalists work together, supporting development of specialist/primary care collaboration to improve quality of HCV care. Meds ... more
A new CNN poll found that health care remains a big issue for voters ahead of November's midterm elections with more than 80 percent of respondents saying it was very or extremely important to them, T ... more
The results of this study by Jean Mitchell (who has published extensively about conflicts of interest in health care) and colleagues attest yet again to the rampant conflicts of interest that exist in ... more
Let's say that you're being treated for breast cancer. Four-and-a-half years ago, Bob observed that folks "really don €™t need health insurance for routine things like doctor visits for mundane afflic ... more
Wrong Way On Health Care The Washington Post One of the most promising aspects of the new health-care reform is the creation of an independent board to recommend changes in federal health programs and ... more
Dr. Donald Berwick Centers for Medicare Medicaid Department of Health and Human Services Attention: Â CMS-1503-P P.O. Box 8013 Baltimore, MD Â 21244-8013 Re: Â Medicare Program: Payment Policies Un ... more
c="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/tweetbutton-for-wordpress/images/tweet.png" style="border:none" title="Congress is actually increasing physician Medicare pay" alt="Congress is actua ... more
A Road Map To Saving Medicare The Washington Post Only in Washington could the government raid one entitlement program to finance a brand-new one and still claim that deficits have been reduced and en ... more
Health Affairs: Medicare Doesn't Work As Well For Younger, Disabled Beneficiaries As It Does For Older Enrollees - This paper examines "how well Medicare works for [the 8 million] nonelderly disabled ... more
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Paula Oertel, whose brain tumor disappeared for nine years while she was on an expensive drug and returned after she temporarily lost her insurance coverage, has died as a ... more
The Economist: In an effort to staunch the flow of up to $60 billion a year to Medicare fraudsters, federal officials are launching a series of new safeguards that target program areas favored by the ... more
A group of Arizona lawmakers has become the latest to challenge the federal health law as they "joined a conservative watchdog group Thursday in filing a 78-page lawsuit" challenging the law's mandate ... more
The AMA says the new Part B projections reinforce the need for a permanent solution on physician pay. ... more
Earlier this week, a 23-year-old Omaha man filed a lawsuit claiming that Genentech and Biogen failed to warn of the risks involving the use of their Rituxan immunosupressant -and the subsequent damage ... more
by John GeverElderly people who are depressed may be at twice the risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer #8217;s disease over time #8212; but it #8217;s unclear whether depression causes dementi ... more
In three recent polls, large percentages of Americans said the health law would cut Medicare benefits, slash doctors pay and ration health care to patients, all false claims that remain pervasive desp ... more
by David WilliamsOne of the big complaints about the recently enacted health care reform law is that it does little to control costs. There is some truth to that because the major focus is on inc ... more
Hello, everyone, nice to see you again. There is a cool and welcome breeze wafting across the Pharmalot corporate campus this morning. And so what better way to greet such inviting weather than with a ... more
Donald Berwick, who was recently appointed as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services without a Senate hearing, did not list donors who contributed up to $5 million to the thin ... more
California Should Regulate Health Care Premiums San Francisco Chronicle Within a few years, 6 million uninsured California residents will finally get medical coverage as part of the newly passed feder ... more
Health News Florida: "A former hospital executive has accused Naples-based Health Management Associates of offering money, free rent and private jet trips to entice doctors to refer Medicare patients ... more
The Department of Health and Human Services has mailed out a third round of $250 checks to help seniors who enter the Medicare Part D coverage pay gap for prescription drugs, WCAX [in Vermont] reports ... more
Study found trend followed start of Part D plan Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Antibiotics, Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, Seniors' Health ... more
As part of a special section on aging, The Washington Post reports on telemedicine for seniors: "Imagine a 75-year-old receiving wireless medication reminders, straight to his beeping wristband. ... A ... more
Starting in January, seniors enrolled in Medicare will be able to receive no-cost preventive services -- including breast cancer screening -- under a provision of the federal health reform law (PL 111 ... more
A Bitter Health Care Pill The Boston Globe Short of transforming the medical payment system, can we bring down health care costs by feasible fixes? Yes, by reducing the number of services that must be ... more
Upcoming Medicare cuts to hospitals will have a bigger negative impact on nonprofit facilities than their for-profit counterparts, The Dallas Morning News reports. "In a note to investors, Moody's sa ... more
Antibiotic use appears to have increased among older adults whose prescription drug coverage improved as a result of enrolling in Medicare Part D, with the largest increases for broad-spectrum, newer ... more
FoIB Jeff M writes:"My wife's primary care provider is going out on her own and will no longer accept insurance, but her business model is a flat-fee based practice ... since the PA-C does not contrac ... more
Study found trend followed start of Part D plan ... more
On Saturday, news outlets covered President Barack Obama's weekly address. This week the topic was Medicare. The Washington Post: "President Obama on Saturday took credit for placing Medica ... more
The Wrong Prescription Chicago Tribune Beginning, like the United States, with excellent intentions, [each of the Nordic countries'] health care system evolved similarly. Initially, all care was cover ... more
The Associated Press: While President Barack Obama "has set a high priority on battling health care fraud and waste" in Medicare, private contractors are slow in referring cases to law enforcement. " ... more
Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press: A new Medicare rule may ding dialysis centers by up to two percent of their reimbursement in 2012 if they don't meet quality standards the agency sets. The progr ... more
Despite skepticism from Republicans, a new report concludes that the health system overhaul will more than double the life of the program. ... more
Antibiotic use appears to have increased among older adults whose prescription drug coverage improved as a result of enrolling in Medicare Part D, with the largest increases for broad-spectrum, newer ... more
Two recently released projections of what Obama Care (PPACA aka ACA) will do paint different pictures.The paper by the Medicare Trustees take the provisions as written,assume that the provisions will ... more
Prospects for the U.S. Medicare retiree health program brightened significantly from last year as a result of cost cuts resulting from healthcare reform legislation, a government report said on Thursd ... more
The new health law will buttress Medicare for a dozen more years than previously expected, according a report issued Thursday by the program's trustees, The Washington Post reports. But, "[t]he relati ... more
Some physician specialty organizations are backing Senate legislation to eliminate the new Medicare panel established by the health reform law. ... more
The Medicare Board of Trustees announced that the economic outlook for both trust funds that support Medicare have been significantly improved thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ... more
by Bob Doherty For years, physicians have argued that the specter of annual cuts in Medicare will cause many of them to leave the program, or at the very least, to limit how many ne ... more
U.S. Panel Warns Against Australian-Made Flu Shot for Young Children Women Want Sexy Clothes When Ovulating: Study Health Care Reform Extends Medicare Fund: ... more
The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday that says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs better oversight of Medicaid managed care contracts. The Hill ... more
The Associated Press: The annual trustees report on Medicare and Social Security found that Medicare's hospital trust fund will last 12 years longer because of the health overhaul - until 2029 - but o ... more
First the good news. The latest Medicare Trustee report says there is enough money to fund Medicare an additional 12 years. And everyone cheered . . .But wait, there #39;s more!The life support only h ... more
A new study published Tuesday in Health Affairs suggests that nurse anesthetists' quality of work is not lower when they aren't supervised by a doctor, The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports. "T ... more
Veteran television star Andy Griffith appeared in a new commercial for Medicare that promotes health law changes the administration says should help seniors, such as free wellness visits and lower dru ... more
Looks like ObamaCare© is about to zing you again: ol' Andy is talking about this because he believes it? Please. First, as a senior citizen, he's about to see his own Medicare benefits - including ch ... more
Missouri voters sent Barack Obama and the Democrats in Washington a loud and clear message yesterday by voting no to Obamacare's mandate: About 71 percent of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, P ... more
The Hill: A report issued Monday by the Obama administration found that the new health care law "will save Medicare $8 billion by the end of 2011, and $575 billion over the next decade, largely by imp ... more
The New York Times profiles Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and details the rising Republican star's positions on health care and social programs, among other things. Under his controversial "Roadmap for Amer ... more
The Louisville, Ky., health insurer both "increased its Medicare Advantage membership," "benefited from patients' recent lower demand for health-care services" and also "sought to get out in front of ... more
Lasers illuminate women #8217;s health in inaugural open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express WASHINGTON, August 2 – A new study of breast cancer survivors may help physicians ease a common side ... more
The dog days of summer are upon us.  Known for being the hot and humid time of year the term is believed to have come from the fact that in late July and early August Sirius, the €œdog star, € r ... more
Significant geographic variation exists for carotid endarterectomy and carotid stenting among Medicare beneficiaries, a new study shows. Medscape Medical News ... more
In a sharply worded letter to the Centers for Medicare #038; Medicaid Services, the American Society of Clinical Oncology takes the federal agency to task for conducting a coverage review of the Prov ... more
The White House says the new health law will save Medicare about $8 billion by the end of next year and $575 billion during the rest of the decade, according to a new report the Obama administration i ... more
America's hospitals strongly disagree with the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services' final inpatient rule. The rule cuts billions of dollars from the health care system at a time when patients ar ... more
Philip Klein points out over at American Spectator that both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Congressional Budget Office have said that the Obama administration cannot claim tha ... more
Much has been said about Obamacare, both pro and (mostly) con, but few have managed to so eloquently and succinctly sum up the impact of Obamacrap. Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute does his best t ... more
Substantial Regional Differences Exist In The Treatment For End-Stage Kidney Disease In Older Adults
Patient care is impacted as practices report laying off staff and reducing services in response to Medicare's new policy. ... more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services celebrates the 45th anniversary of Medicare, the Federal health care program that guarantees health security and coverage for people over 65 and younge ... more
Nexium is a parable of what's wrong with health care. Along with so many other things, keeping a lid on spending seems to have gotten lost in the health care overhaul. In ... more
Nexium is a parable of what's wrong with health care. Along with so many other things, keeping a lid on spending seems to have gotten lost in the health care overhaul. In ... more
Premium subsidies, bans on higher premiums and coverage denials based on gender, and required maternity and newborn care coverage among most significant in reducing women #8217;s exposure to health co ... more
by Merrill Goozner The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services could save a half billion dollars a year by switching its beneficiaries with macular degeneration to Genetench #8 ... more
Recognizing that earlier in July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released rules outlining which health care providers will get ... more
Modern Healthcare: Funding to help doctors and hospitals buy electronic medical records could begin to flow through the Medicare program as early as May 2011, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servi ... more
Several Senate Republican leaders are now pushing a new, partial health-overhaul repeal bill that targets a Medicare cost-cutting panel, The Hill reports. The panel, the Independent Payment Advisory B ... more
Politico reports that business groups are preparing ads for the November elections and some are targeting health reform. "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already vowed to invest $75 million in the mi ... more
On July 30, 2010, we celebrate 45 years of the Medicare program. In 1964, a year before Medicare was established, almost half of older Americans did not have health insurance, and only a quarter were ... more
The AMA welcomes the Government's introduction of new regulations that require midwives and nurse practitioners to collaborate with medical practitioners in order to provide Medicare-funded services t ... more
AARP on Tuesday "threw its influence" behind a number of plans to reduce Medicare fraud, including the bipartisan Medicare Fraud Enforcement and Prevention Act, which would increase penalties on nabbe ... more
Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt issued the following statement today on a provision in the U.S. Senate's small business legislation that would require ... more
Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) said it welcomed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) decision not to include oral medications without IV equivalents in Medicare's End Stage Renal Diseas ... more
Meet one-therd of your new health care system (click to enlarge): Via The Joint Economic Committee (Hat tip - Patterico) "In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwh ... more
Modern Healthcare: Medicare payment for end-stage renal disease care may soon be tied to performance and quality measures if a new proposed rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service ... more
Dr. Donald M. Berwick, the new head of the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, faces continued hostility in the Senate, The New York Times reports. "[T]wo weeks after taking office, Dr. Berwick ... more
Medicare Part D may be helping more older Americans with heart failure get meds used to control the disease. A new study of nearly 7,000 older heart failure patients in a big insurance plan found the ... more
Given the intense interest in the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine, Wall Street is closely tracking the launch of the controversial Dendreon product, which was recently launched at a price tag of $93, ... more
After much anticipation, the Centers for Medicare #038; Medicaid Services last night issued its new rules on the bundling payment system for meds used to treat anemia. The bottom line is that after t ... more
Anemia drugs €œwere a profit center, now they €™ll be an expense, € Yee said in a July 23 telephone interview. €œNow there will be some incentive to use the minimal amount. € The cost of anyth ... more
Brand drugs are generally significantly more expensive than therapeutically equivalent generic products. This report analyzes a large subse ... more
Anemia drugs €œwere a profit center, now they €™ll be an expense, € Yee said in a July 23 telephone interview. €œNow there will be some incentive to use the minimal amount. € The cost of anyth ... more
Brand drugs are generally significantly more expensive than therapeutically equivalent generic products. This report analyzes a large subse ... more
Who:  MedPAC': The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33) to advise the U.S. Congress on ... more
In an analysis of Medicare data, African Americans were at least as likely as whites to be treated at "America's Best Hospitals" top-ranked for cardiac care when it came to MI, but the story was a bit ... more
by Richard Reece, MD Everybody knows politics is a balancing act. One must balance promises against reality. For example, how does government keep Medicare intact for seniors while cu ... more
So you've had that emergency earectomy, and you're relieved that the bulk of the cost will be borne by your health insurer. How disheartening, then, when the EOB (Explanation of Benefits) arrives, and ... more
One may argue over the efficacy and/or morality of end-of-life care, but it has long been a personal choice. The emphasis, however, appears to be on the "has been" piece; it appears that the MVNHS©:" ... more
As America slowly moves towards full government-run health care, rationing, and the destruction of the bond and relationship between the patient and his/her doctor, Britain, a country with a long expe ... more
The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that will change how Medicare pays for dialysis services for Medicare beneficiaries who have end-stage renal disease (ESRD). CMS ... more
Medicare beneficiaries in some parts of the United States appear more likely to receive carotid endarterectomy, a surgical procedure to clear blockages in the artery supplying blood to the head, where ... more
The outlook is that health system reform combined with some temporary increased stability in Medicare pay may lead to expansion. ... more
CMS outlines new benefits and physician incentives for 2011 but also projects a 6.1% reduction to overall doctor pay. ... more
AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, challenged the major parties to commit to a serious review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to reflect the comprehensive nature and quality of care that patients ... more
The elimination of Medicare's consultation codes has had a negative impact on physician efforts to improve care coordination and reduced the treatment options available to Medicare patients, according ... more
Not visiting a family physician regularly, lack of supplemental health insurance, and level of education all contribute to disparities in colorectal cancer screening among Medicare beneficiaries. Me ... more
Billings Gazette: "Come this fall, several of Montana's hospitals will start benefitting financially from an obscure provision in the federal health reform bill that ups Medicare payments in 'frontier ... more
With the introduction of the Government's Medicare Locals scheme, the future role of Divisions of General Practice is unclear, according to an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Pr ... more
Medicare reforms recently introduced by the Federal Government, including changes to Levels B, C and D consultation item descriptors, may not be sufficient to change consultation patterns in general p ... more
The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a number of changes to Medicare home health payments for 2011 that will promote efficiency in payments, implement provisions of the Afforda ... more
Those who continue to conflate health care with health insurance may, in fact, have a point.Just not the one they thought they were making:"Women in labour have been forced to wait while epidural equi ... more
The government run health insurance plan for seniors continues to lose money every year and fraud continues unabated. The Miami Herald reports that Florida has become the Medicare fraud capital of th ... more
In what US authorities called the largest Medicare fraud takedown in history, raids involving 350 agents were carried across the USA, including Houston, Detroit, New York, and Miami. So far, 94 people ... more
Berwick: Bigger Than Kagan The Wall Street Journal Barack Obama's incredible "recess appointment" of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is probably the mos ... more
Senate Republicans are still angry over President Obama's recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Politico: "Republicans on the Finance Committe ... more
Every few weeks, something unexpected happens to keep the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine in the news in a big way. Last month, the Centers for Medicare #038; Medicaid Services unexpectedly decided ... more
Martha Rosenberg - Writer Pfizer is best known for Lipitor, a drug that brings cholesterol down and Viagra, a drug that brings other things up.But the "world's largest research-based pharmaceutica ... more
Martha Rosenberg - Writer Pfizer is best known for Lipitor, a drug that brings cholesterol down and Viagra, a drug that brings other things up.But the "world's largest research-based pharmaceutica ... more
Medicare plans to use data on returning patients as quality measure, but study questions validity Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Page: Health Facilities ... more
The federal government has issued new regulations defining the "meaningful use" of electronic medical records, a requirement doctors must fulfill in order to gain funds from a $27-billion pot set asid ... more
Medicare plans to use data on returning patients as quality measure, but study questions validity ... more
When I see the words "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show," I don't think of Neil Diamond (although I'm a big fan of his music), I immediately think of Barack Obama. I think of Obama out on his ... more
The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) issued the following statement on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Informa ... more
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) President and CEO Karen Ignagni today released the following statement on the new meaningful use regulations released by the Department of Health and Human Serv ... more
Americans Deserve To Hear Berwick's Plans For Massive Medicare Cuts The Hill As is well-known, Congress has a constitutional duty to examine presidential nominees like Dr. Berwick. But apparently, the ... more
Physician and Harvard professor Donald Berwick was sworn in to become the next administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Monday, The Boston Globe reports. Chris Hager, the agenc ... more
I've read all day. From the Center from American "Progress:""These regulations provide a promising foundation for encouraging the effective use of health information to improve patient care. With comi ... more
Radical Reformer Has The Right Message On Medicare The Baltimore Sun In an ideal world, Berwick would be Medicare's Winston Churchill, a prophetic voice who emerges from the wilderness and ends ... more
Why, you might ask, are we spending so much time on the so-called "high risk pools" for folks who've had difficulty obtaining insurance on their own? The reason is quite simple: the pools are exemplar ... more
Radical Reformer Has The Right Message On Medicare The Baltimore Sun In an ideal world, Berwick would be Medicare's Winston Churchill, a prophetic voice who emerges from the wilderness and ends years ... more
On Sunday's talk shows, top Obama adviser David Axelrod said the president's decision to appoint Donald Berwick, a doctor and Harvard professor, to run the federal Medicare and Medicaid agency, was me ... more
Bloomberg Businessweek: "Elderly patients caught between U.S. hospitals and Medicare auditors pushing to cut costs are increasingly facing tens of thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills. ... ... more
News outlets report on issues affecting doctors. Three months the health law passed, the American Medical Association is finding itself "itself with fewer friends on Capitol Hill and more critics ques ... more
The Associated Press: The two chairman of President Obama's debt commission told the National Governors Association Sunday that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are sucking up the entire federal ... more
The two-day advisory committee meeting this week to review the safety of GlaxoSmithKline #8217;s Avandia diabetes pill is about much more than any one drug or even the larger issue of drug safety - it ... more
Researchers at Brown University have found that the length of an average Medicare-certified hospice stay in a nursing home has doubled during the last 10 years. The study, which will appear in the Aug ... more
With Donald Berwick's Appointment, The Doctor Is (Finally) In The Washington Post President Obama got serious this week about the ticking time bomb in his new health-care legislation -- the lack of an ... more
The Hill reports that Republicans are charging the Obama administration with evading questions on Dr. Donald Berwick's ties to the health care industry. President Barack Obama used a recess appointmen ... more
The New York Times Prescriptions Blog: "The Obama administration is sending $250 checks to more than 300,000 older Americans who paid higher drug costs in the Medicare coverage gap known as the 'dough ... more
The Medicare and Medicaid contractor's legal troubles began after an 18-month undercover investigation of its business practices. ... more
Here are the top posts from the past month, based on the number of times they were viewed. 1. Doctors make far less money than most people think 2. Tips for students who want to shado ... more
WASHINGTON -- Rosiglitazone (Avandia) should be pulled from the market because of the "serious" cardiovascular risk the diabetes drug poses, which exceeds that of competitor pioglitazone (Actos), F ... more
WASHINGTON -- Rosiglitazone (Avandia) should be pulled from the market because of the "serious" cardiovascular risk the diabetes drug poses, which exceeds that of competitor pioglitazone (Actos), F ... more
Hospice care, certified and reimbursed by Medicare, offers specialized end-of-life care in the nursing-home setting. A new study finds that the average length of hospice stays is growing and has doubl ... more