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CMS study predicts healthcare spending may double by 2019

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc.. Unlike other industries, spending on healthcare showed no signs of slowing down and the sector made its biggest one-year jump ever according to a new study by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

17 Feb 2010

States struggle with insurance cost and coverage in Ohio, Rhode Island and Nebraska

The Columbus Dispatch reports that a health-insurance co-operative founded by Tom Rose, a retired businessman from Marietta, Ohio, "hopes to give people who feel alone in the health-care market that power-in-numbers feeling. ... Benefits Unlimited Inc. started in 2007 and started accepting dues-paying members across the nation last month. ... Annual dues range from $25 for an individual or household to $1,500 for employers or associations with 500 or more people.

17 Feb 2010

Scienta Health signs agreement with Partners HealthCare to provide advanced acute care to its clients

Scienta Health today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Boston-based Partners HealthCare, the leading academic medical network in the U.S. Partners HealthCare includes major teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School: the Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, McLean Hospital, a treatment and research leader in mental illness, chemical dependency and learning disabilities; and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a top-ranked rehabilitation facility.

17 Feb 2010

Investigation: Dangerous caregivers missing from federal database of disciplinary records

News outlets report on health care fraud and legal issues, including missing disciplinary records in a federal database of dangerous caregivers and a new federal bill that would target fake Medicare claims for prescriptions and equipment.

17 Feb 2010

Poll says most Americans want to start over on health reform

In a new poll from Zogby International and the University of Texas Health Science Center, more than half of respondents said Congress should start over on health care reforms, The Hill reports.

17 Feb 2010

Study shows value-based plans can improve adherence for diabetes medicines

A study by CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), published this week in the American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, finds that insurance benefit designs that reduce the cost of medications for plan participants result in patients being more likely to start and stay on their medication therapy.

17 Feb 2010

As politics swirl, both sides prepare for health care summit

With the White House health summit quickly approaching, members from both sides of the aisle "are pressing story lines on how the reform debate has played out that aren't as tidy or truthful as Democrats and Republicans would like voters to believe," Politico reports. "The summit could help reset the negotiations, but with [President Barack] Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, other top administration officials and 37 lawmakers all in attendance, the likelihood of a serious breakthrough appears dim."

17 Feb 2010

Two prominent Georgia physicians call for Senate action to stop 21% Medicare cut

Making a plea to Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, two prominent Georgia physicians who head national physician organizations joined with American Medical Association (AMA) President J. James Rohack, M.D. to call for Senate action this month to stop a 21 percent Medicare cut that will hurt seniors and military families on March 1.

17 Feb 2010

Even with new medical schools opening, shortages mar workforce

Nearly two dozen medical schools have recently opened or may open across America, "the most at any time since the 1960s and '70s," The New York Times reports. These new institutions "are seeking to address an imbalance in American medicine that has been growing for a quarter century. Many bright students were fleeing to offshore medical schools, or giving up hope entirely, when they could not get into domestic schools. Meanwhile, American hospitals were using foreign-trained and foreign-born physicians to fill medical residencies. During the 1980s and '90s only one new medical school was established."

17 Feb 2010

Amid stalled health reform efforts, advocates emerge for the state-by-state approach

Proponents of state-based health reform are saying that the federal stall over a health overhaul is giving states a perfect opportunity to showcase what they can do to solve the health care cost and coverage crisis, The Washington Post reports.

17 Feb 2010

National symposium aims to attract more women for a rewarding career in surgery

While interviewing for postgraduate residency positions soon after giving birth to her third child, Dr. Sharona Ross recalls, she was very hesitant to bring up her infant and two small children at home. She thought it would hurt her chances for a career in surgery.

17 Feb 2010

American Heart Association announces strategic goal to reduce stroke and cardiovascular diseases

Racial gaps exist in women's heart-health awareness, women's knowledge of heart attack warning signs requires attention and nearly half of women report they would not call 9-1-1 if they were having heart attack symptoms, according to new research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Feb 2010

Health reform pressure points: Excise tax, individual mandate, antitrust legislation

"An agreement to tax high-cost, employer-sponsored health insurance plans, announced with fanfare by the White House and labor unions last month, is losing support from labor leaders, who say the proposal is too high a price to pay for the limited health care package they expect to emerge from Congress," The New York Times reports.

16 Feb 2010

Obama administration announces $1 billion in new health IT grants

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis Friday announced the release of $1 billion in stimulus funds to expand the use of electronic records and to train health care workers.

16 Feb 2010

Budget cuts hit health care services in Minnesota, Oklahoma and California

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposal to cut a net of $347 million from programs for sick, aged, disabled and jobless people is akin to the advice an ailing George Washington got from his doctors 210 years ago, one critic said Monday: Bleed him, in hope of a cure. Pawlenty would eliminate the General Assistance program in which about 20,000 disabled and very-low-income people receive an average of $175 a month.

16 Feb 2010

IRS helping thousands pay for health insurance

The IRS is helping more than 40,000 residents of Michigan buy health insurance "after they lost their jobs to foreign competition or had their pension plans terminated," The Detroit News reports.

16 Feb 2010

Will health care savings be used to reduce the deficit?

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey writes: "In their effort to overhaul the health system, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats pressed hospitals, drug makers and other providers to accept billions of dollars in government payment cuts and new fees to help finance the legislation.

16 Feb 2010

Advice on decoding and correcting medical bills

The Los Angeles Times offers advice to consumers on how to understand and correct medical bills.

16 Feb 2010

WellPoint cancels Investor Day, schedules conference call to review 2010 financial outlook

WellPoint, Inc. today cancelled its Investor Day previously scheduled for February 23, 2010, and announced that management will review the Company's 2010 financial outlook during a conference call on March 17, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Company continues to expect full year 2010 net income to be at least $6.00 per share, subject to its ability to secure and maintain sufficient premium rates.

16 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 16, 2010

Today's health policy headlines cover a range of topics -- from using health savings to reduce the deficit to how tort reform fits into the current health reform negotiations.

16 Feb 2010

Healthcare News

CMS study predicts healthcare spending may double by 2019

States struggle with insurance cost and coverage in Ohio, Rhode Island and Nebraska

Scienta Health signs agreement with Partners HealthCare to provide advanced acute care to its clients

Investigation: Dangerous caregivers missing from federal database of disciplinary records

Poll says most Americans want to start over on health reform

Study shows value-based plans can improve adherence for diabetes medicines

As politics swirl, both sides prepare for health care summit

Two prominent Georgia physicians call for Senate action to stop 21% Medicare cut

Even with new medical schools opening, shortages mar workforce

Amid stalled health reform efforts, advocates emerge for the state-by-state approach

National symposium aims to attract more women for a rewarding career in surgery

American Heart Association announces strategic goal to reduce stroke and cardiovascular diseases

Health reform pressure points: Excise tax, individual mandate, antitrust legislation

Obama administration announces $1 billion in new health IT grants

Budget cuts hit health care services in Minnesota, Oklahoma and California

IRS helping thousands pay for health insurance

Will health care savings be used to reduce the deficit?

Advice on decoding and correcting medical bills

WellPoint cancels Investor Day, schedules conference call to review 2010 financial outlook

First Edition: February 16, 2010

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