94% of Nursing Homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards in 2007

Tuesday 30 September 2008 at 4:04 pm Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes
By ROBERT PEAR - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year, and for-profit homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes, federal investigators say in a report issued on Monday.

About 17 percent of nursing homes had deficiencies that caused “actual harm or immediate jeopardy” to patients, said the report, by Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. (more)

Medicaid enrollment growing in states as the nation's economy is slumping

Tuesday 30 September 2008 at 4:00 pm Economic slump finds more people on Medicaid
Downturn challenges states to help uninsured, report finds
BY PATRICIA ANSTETT • FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER

The nation's slumping economy is triggering growing Medicaid enrollment, a challenge to states like Michigan as they serve more uninsured people, state and national Medicaid experts said Monday.

"If the downturn is prolonged, and it contributes to large increases in Medicaid enrollment and spending, then this state and every other one will have to look at options to rein in spending," said Vern Smith, Michigan's former Medicaid director and coauthor of a report released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Medicaid spending. (more)

Study finds family health insurance costs rising

Monday 29 September 2008 at 2:37 pm Family health insurance costs up
By South Florida Business Journal

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage in 2008 — with employees on average paying $3,354 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost — according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.

The survey found many more workers are also enrolled in high-deductible plans. (more)

House passes Economic Stimulus Bill that would include more funding for health insurance for low-income people

Monday 29 September 2008 at 2:27 pm House Backs Stimulus Bill, but It Stalls in Senate
By ROBERT PEAR - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The House on Friday passed a bill intended to revive the economy with $61 billion of federal spending, but the Senate blocked consideration of a similar bill, and President Bush issued veto threats against both.

The economic recovery package, approved in the House by a vote of 264 to 158, has little chance of becoming law on its own. But it could become a bargaining chip in negotiations between Congress and the White House over Mr. Bush’s $700 billion proposal to shore up the nation’s financial system. (more)

Legislation would allow Congress to approve veterans' medical care budget one year in advance

Friday 19 September 2008 at 1:14 pm Action Is Sought to Ensure Timely Financing for V.A.

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ - The New York Times

As the veterans’ health system strains to handle a growing caseload, a move is under way in Congress to avoid yearly delays in financing that can hamper the medical care of the nation’s veterans.

The legislation would allow Congress to approve the money for veterans’ medical care one year in advance. In so doing, it would separate veterans’ health care financing from the crush of appropriations and political horse-trading that take place at year’s end. (more)

Supreme Court to hear arguments that could give pharmaceutical companies protection against liability

Friday 19 September 2008 at 1:10 pm Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices

By ADAM LIPTAK - The New York Times

MARSHFIELD, Vt. — When Diana Levine starts talking about her rock ’n’ roll days, she plays a little air guitar, mimicking the way she used to handle her electric bass in bands like the Re-Bops and Duke and the Detours. But Ms. Levine is missing much of her right arm, which was amputated below the elbow after a medical disaster. (more)

How safe is your insurance policy? - San Francisco Chronicle reports

Thursday 18 September 2008 at 4:25 pm by Kathleen Pender

The federal takeover of insurance giant AIG has consumers wondering: How safe is my insurance policy?

If you have an AIG policy, it's probably safe. Although the parent company needed an $85 billion loan from the government to stay afloat, its 71 state-regulated U.S. insurance subsidiaries have always been well capitalized and were in no danger of not being able to pay their claims, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The company got in trouble mainly by buying and guaranteeing mortgages and mortgage securities in other subsidiaries. (more)

Congress gave approval to a bill expanding protections for people with disabilities

Thursday 18 September 2008 at 3:59 pm Congress Passes Bill With Protections for Disabled

By ROBERT PEAR - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Congress gave final approval on Wednesday to a major civil rights bill, expanding protections for people with disabilities and overturning several recent Supreme Court decisions.

The voice vote in the House, following Senate passage by unanimous consent last week, clears the bill for President Bush.

The White House said Mr. Bush would sign the bill, just as his father signed the original Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. (more)

Nevada's Democratic state senators discuss health care

Wednesday 17 September 2008 at 5:03 pm Nevada's Democratic state senators said Tuesday their agenda for the 2009 Legislature will include a plan to reduce the number of children with no health insurance.

Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said the Senate Democrats also want to mandate coverage of autism by insurance companies and improve consumer access to health records. Also on the agenda is a plan to help employees of small businesses get insurance.

"These are important times for our state leaders, with record foreclosures and a downturn in the economy that affects the pocketbooks of every Nevada family," Horsford said. "One important thing we can all do together despite these difficult economic times is improve access and transparency in heath care for children, seniors and employees of small businesses." (more)

Senate Special Committee to hold a hearing about direct-to-consumer promotions of medical devices

Wednesday 17 September 2008 at 4:52 pm Consumer Ads for Medical Devices Subject of Senate Panel
By BARRY MEIER - The New York Times

As makers of medical devices like artificial knees and heart stents increasingly pitch their products directly to consumers, some lawmakers, medical groups and others are calling for restrictions on such advertisements, claiming they mislead patients.

The amount of medical device advertising directed to consumers on television or over the Internet — an estimated $193 million last year — represents just a small fraction of the volume of consumer advertising for prescription drugs, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a consulting firm. (more)

CMS rules to ban cold calling by insurance agents for Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plans

Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 12:00 pm Medicare rules ban cold-calling by insurers
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

Medicare issued new rules Monday that restrict insurance agents' contact with the elderly and disabled when selling prescription drug plans and more comprehensive health coverage called Medicare Advantage.

The regulations will go into effect Oct. 1, which is when insurers can begin marketing their plans for 2009. Among the changes mandated by Congress are: (more)

Studies compare health care plans of McCain and Obama

Tuesday 16 September 2008 at 11:47 am Studies Detail Contrasts in Rivals' Health-Care Plans
Obama's Proposal Would Insure More but at Higher Cost

By LAURA MECKLER - The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain's health-care plan would make only a small dent in the ranks of the uninsured, at best covering about five million more people, two new reports conclude.

Democratic nominee Barack Obama would cover more people -- eventually adding about 34 million, according to one of those reports, by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. (more)

Health insurance crisis? Who are the uninsured?

Monday 15 September 2008 at 11:57 am Patterson: Health insurance crisis? Numbers say otherwise
By Tom Patterson, Commentary - Easy Valley Tribune.com

We’re frequently reminded that 47 million Americans lack health insurance. Their number has fluctuated between 14 percent and 16 percent of the population for the past 15 years, yet left wingers insist that only a government-managed universal health care system can resolve this crisis.

But who are the uninsured? The answer may surprise you — and lead to much different conclusions about what to do. (more)

Nurses want better working conditions more than they do extra pay

Monday 15 September 2008 at 11:44 am What Nurses Want
Recruitment Plans Focus On Working Conditions Over Financial Rewards

By V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writer

Nurse Jennifer Dimmick helped her 71-year-old patient, George Mulligan, struggle from a chair to his feet for his daily walk around the corridor outside his room at Inova Fairfax Hospital. (more)

Health Net agreed to pay a heafty fine and to reinstate 926 cancelled policies

Friday 12 September 2008 at 11:54 am Health Net to reinstate 926 dropped policyholders in California
Under an agreement with the state, the company also will pay $3.6 million in penalties and as much as $14 million in medical reimbursements it had earlier denied. It does not admit wrongdoing.
By Lisa Girion and Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times staff writers

In a continuing state crackdown on health insurers, Health Net Inc. of Woodland Hills has agreed to offer new coverage -- no questions asked -- to 926 people whose policies it canceled after they got sick. (more)

Health care, strong issue in U.S. but not has hot as Energy and Economy, per The New York Times report

Friday 12 September 2008 at 11:51 am Health Care Issue, Not Quite Hot, Remains Strong
By KEVIN SACK - The New York Times

ROSWELL, Ga. — When Representative Tom Price spoke to the Roswell Kiwanians the other day, the first three questions concerned health care. When he appeared four days later before the Sandy Springs Rotarians, no one asked about it at all.

As energy and the economy consume more of the country’s political discourse, health care is an issue that can seem to vacillate in importance by the day, the place and the audience. (more)

Guaranteed coverage can cost much more for younger people

Thursday 11 September 2008 at 12:11 pm Coverage guarantee can hit young the hardest
By KEVIN FREKING - The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's campaign promise should prove irresistible to the millions of uninsured: guaranteed access to affordable health coverage, regardless of illness or condition.

The Democratic presidential nominee is proposing a National Health Insurance Exchange that would be like a government-run shopping mall for health insurance. It would negotiate prices and benefits with private insurers. Among the offerings would be a government-run, Medicare-like plan. (more)

One of the most Common Knee Surgeries is found to be ineffective

Thursday 11 September 2008 at 11:56 am Common Knee Surgery Called Unnecessary
Study Finds Arthroscopy Does No More for Arthritis Than Drugs, Physical Therapy
By Rob Stein - Washington Post Staff Writer

One of the most common surgical procedures performed in the United States -- arthroscopy to treat arthritis in the knee -- is useless, researchers reported yesterday.

"I think we have definitive evidence that that procedure is ineffective," said Brian Feagan of the University of Western Ontario, whose findings are being published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "If it isn't effective, patients should not be undergoing it." (more)

Retail clinics have not reduced overall medical costs despite competition from MinuteClinics

Wednesday 10 September 2008 at 11:41 am Retail clinics haven't cut health costs, study finds

A study of HealthPartners patients found that overall medical costs rose despite competition from MinuteClinics.

By CHEN MAY YEE, Star Tribune

Going to a MinuteClinic is cheaper for patients than going to a physician's office or urgent care, but there is no evidence that the advent of the popular retail clinics reduced medical costs overall. (more)

Only 2 percent of graduating medical students plan to work as primary care doctors

Wednesday 10 September 2008 at 11:34 am Fewer US med students choosing primary care
By CARLA K. JOHNSON - The Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Only 2 percent of graduating medical students say they plan to work in primary care internal medicine, raising worries about a looming shortage of the first-stop doctors who used to be the backbone of the American medical system.

The results of a new survey being published Wednesday suggest more medical students, many of them saddled with debt, are opting for more lucrative specialties. (more)

California's budget impasse threatens health services

Tuesday 09 September 2008 at 12:03 pm State budget impasse threatens health services
Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

California's budget impasse becomes the longest ever today, threatening to force the shutdown of many health care services across the state if a deal is not struck soon.

The state has been without a spending plan since the new fiscal year began on July 1. The previous record for the latest budget enacted was 67 days in 2002, when then-Gov. Gray Davis signed a spending plan on Sept. 5. (more)

John McCain's and Barack Obama's positions on Prescription Drug Issues, per report by The Hill

Tuesday 09 September 2008 at 11:49 am Biotech industry not seeing much difference between McCain, Obama
By Jeffrey Young

John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s positions on prescription drug issues are virtually indistinguishable, according to a former Republican congressman and senior drug industry lobbyist.

Former Rep. Jim Greenwood (Pa.) is a centrist Republican who retired in 2004 after six terms in the House to take over the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). He said the group would not endorse Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) or Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) and declined to state his personal preference. (more)

FDA posts names of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems

Monday 08 September 2008 at 11:56 am FDA posts list of prescription drugs with possible problems
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems, in an effort to better inform doctors and patients.

The first list is a bare-bones compilation naming 20 medications and the potential issue for each. It provides no indication of how widespread or serious the problems might be, leading some consumer advocates to question its usefulness, and prompting industry worries that skittish patients might stop taking a useful medication if they see it listed. (more)

U.S. researchers have found a gene that may help tp develop AIDS vacine

Monday 08 September 2008 at 11:49 am Gene may hold key to neutralizing HIV: U.S. study

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The AIDS virus is especially hard to fight because few people develop antibodies to neutralize it, but U.S. researchers said on Thursday they have found an immunity gene that may offer a new way to fight back.

They said the gene Apobec3 helps mice develop antibodies against an HIV-like virus, and they think the same gene in humans could lead to a potent vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. (more)

Health care, a prime issue in this year's presidential election

Friday 05 September 2008 at 11:46 am Insurance accessibility could see big changes under the next president
by Gary Gosselin | Michigan Business Review

Spiraling costs and the parallel rise in the numbers of the uninsured make health care a prime issue in this year's presidential election.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain promise to close or reduce the insurance gap for some 47 million uninsured Americans and to curb the rising cost of care.

"You have very different approaches that are kind of consistent with the ideological split that has existed on health care in this country," said Alwyn Cassil of the Center for Health System Change in Washington, D.C. "You have in Obama's proposal a stated goal of significantly increasing coverage and universal coverage with expansion of public programs and private coverage." (more)

About 85 percent of private insurers' marketing materials fail to meet all of Medicare's guidelines

Friday 05 September 2008 at 11:42 am Auditors: Drug marketing falls short
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

About 85 percent of the marketing materials that private insurers use for their prescription drug plans fail to meet all of Medicare's guidelines for those products, federal auditors said Thursday.

The marketing products include enrollment applications for the Medicare drug benefit or explanations of a plan's benefits and rules. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has dozens of requirements for how the information is supposed to be presented to the elderly and disabled. Auditors found that the materials routinely violated one or more of those requirements. (more)

Hight gas prices force some sick Americans to skip or delay medical treatments

Thursday 04 September 2008 at 11:29 am Gas prices confine sick people
By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

Sick Americans who travel far or frequently to get medical treatment are skipping or delaying appointments, leaving support groups and applying for grants to defray high gasoline prices.
People who visit the doctor multiple times each week or month, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and people needing dialysis, have been hardest hit. (more)

Health care costs rising 5.7% per Mercer consulting firm survey

Thursday 04 September 2008 at 11:23 am Study: Workers to pay more for health care
By CANDICE CHOI AP Business Writer © 2008 The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Get ready for another hike in copays and deductibles. A survey being released Thursday by the Mercer consulting firm found 59 percent of companies intend to keep down rising health care costs in 2009 by raising workers' deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket spending limits.

On average, health care costs will go up by an estimated 5.7 percent next year for both workers and their employers, the study found. That repeats this year's 5.7 percent hike and a 6.1 percent jump in 2007. (more)

Cost of health care for retirees

Wednesday 03 September 2008 at 5:18 pm Health care access, costs paramount for retirees
By DAVE CARPENTER

CHICAGO - The first three years of retirement were a frightening experience for Peggy Lambert. She was repeatedly denied proper health insurance because of preexisting health problems.

It's a nightmare scenario for millions of older Americans, only with a good ending in this case.

"All I can say is that when I turned 65 it was one of the happiest days of my life because I could go on Medicare and then get supplemental insurance," said the retired registered nurse from Maryville, Tenn., now 67. (more)

More companies offering on-site health care services

Wednesday 03 September 2008 at 5:10 pm Companies offering on-site health care
By Stacey Burling - Inquirer Staff Writer

Like so many other companies, Cardone Industries Inc. in Northeast Philadelphia was struggling with the cost of its workers' health care.
Too many of its 4,000 employees, a melting pot of immigrants from dozens of countries, lacked primary-care doctors. Rather than deal with problems early, they'd wait until they were really sick, then head for emergency rooms, the priciest place to get health care. On top of that, a small but growing number of workers was turning down the company's health insurance plan because it was too expensive. (more)

A new web tool to check prescription drug name mistakes

Tuesday 02 September 2008 at 12:44 pm Watch out for drug names that look, sound alike
By LAURAN NEERGAARD - AP MEDICAL WRITER

WASHINGTON -- Take the generic drug clonidine for high blood pressure? Double-check that you didn't leave the drugstore with Klonopin for seizures, or the gout medicine colchicine.

Mixing up drug names because they look or sound alike - like this trio - is among the most common types of medical mistakes, and it can be deadly. Now new efforts are aiming to stem the confusion, and make patients more aware of the risk. (more)

Whistle-blowers helped US to recover 9.3B from health care providers

Tuesday 02 September 2008 at 12:37 pm Whistle-blowers help US recoup $9.3 billion
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

Whistle-blowers helped authorities recover at least $9.3 billion from health care providers accused of defrauding states and the federal government, according to an analysis of Justice Department records.

The department ramped up efforts in the 1990s to combat health care fraud by using private citizens with inside knowledge of wrongdoing. They now initiate more than 90 percent of the department's lawsuits focusing on health care fraud. (more)