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Medicare cuts to wheelchair reimbursements prompt opposition from lawmakers, suppliers

Lawmakers from several states recently criticized Medicare cuts that will change reimbursement rates for power wheelchairs, the AP/Columbia State reports.

22 Oct 2006

Kaiser Permanente ordered to reinstate benefits it illegally canceled

The California Department of Managed Health Care on Wednesday ordered Kaiser Permanente to reinstate coverage for an individual policyholder because the insurer's cancellation of the coverage was illegal, the Los Angeles Times reports.

22 Oct 2006

More than 600,000 Medicare prescription drug benefit beneficiaries must apply for low-income subsidy

More than 600,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries who were automatically enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit and received a subsidy toward premium costs this year will have to apply to receive the subsidy for 2007 because their eligibility status has changed, CMS officials said on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

22 Oct 2006

Lower employer health insurance coverage fuels rising number of uninsured

The decline in the number of employers offering health insurance has led to a rise in the percentage of U.S. residents who are uninsured, according to two issue papers released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, CQ HealthBeat reports.

22 Oct 2006

Columnist explores reasons for discrepancy in U.S., foreign health spending, related life expectancies

The answer to why many countries spend less on health care than the U.S. and have higher life expectancies is "fantastically complicated -- but also fantastically important," New York Times columnist David Leonhardt writes.

19 Oct 2006

Competition in health care industry can help reduce costs

"Choice and competition work in health care," but "most of us aren't lucky enough to have access to a market shaped by them," Robert Moffit, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece.

19 Oct 2006

Louisiana residents open to reforming or eliminating charity hospital system

Seventy-two percent of Louisiana residents believe the state's health care system needs to be changed or completely rebuilt in order to provide better care to the uninsured, according to a poll released Monday by the non-partisan Council for a Better Louisiana, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

19 Oct 2006

Hospitals taking steps to limit ED patient 'boarding'

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how a "growing number of hospitals are taking steps" to limit the practice of "boarding," in which hospitals admit emergency department patients when no rooms are available and leave them in hallways for extended periods of time.

19 Oct 2006

Despite aging U.S. population, few physicians specialize in treatment for the elderly

Even as the "population ages and more people ... need them ... geriatricians are in short supply," the New York Times reports.

19 Oct 2006

Blue Cross of California settles patient accusations that it systematically canceled policies

Blue Cross of California on Tuesday agreed to settle more than 70 lawsuits and claims filed by individual health plan members who alleged that Blue Cross illegally revoked their coverage, the Los Angeles Times reports.

19 Oct 2006

Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

The racial gap in preventive health care -- such as Pap tests, mammograms, and prostate and colorectal cancer screenings -- persists and might be larger than previously thought, a study published online in BMC Heath Services Research finds, the Washington Post reports.

17 Oct 2006

Hospitals lack clearly defined guidelines for medical interpretation services

As the U.S. immigrant population increases, many hospitals are seeking ways to improve their interpreter services, but there is "no clearly identified game plan for hospitals to decide what mix of language services to provide, by whom and how," United Press International reports.

17 Oct 2006

New Jersey Governor authorizes commission to study hospitals

New Jersey Gov. John Corzine (D) on Thursday signed an executive order creating a special 11-member commission that will study the state's 81 acute care hospitals and assess whether the facilities are necessary, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

17 Oct 2006

Hospitals reduce elderly mortality rate, though gap between best, worst hospitals in U.S. widened in 2005

Patients ages 65 and older last year were 69% less likely to die at hundreds of the best hospitals than hundreds of the worst, according to a study conducted by Colorado-based Health Grades, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

17 Oct 2006

Check out hospital rating before checking in

According to the latest study, the gap between the best and worst performing hospitals in the United States has widened by as much as 5 percent since last year.

17 Oct 2006

270,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries in California will be assigned new prescription drug plans

About 270,000 low-income elderly and disabled Californians will automatically be assigned to new Medicare prescription drug plans Jan. 1, 2007, because four plans will no longer be available next year, the Los Angeles Times reports.

16 Oct 2006

Group Health will reduce premiums for Washington State-subsidized health plan for low-income residents

Group Health Cooperative recently announced it would lower its monthly premiums for Washington's state-subsidized health plan for low-income working residents by as much as 80% beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the Seattle Times reports.

16 Oct 2006

Many health care organizations have employee retention issues

Sixty-nine percent of health care organizations report having moderate to great trouble retaining employees with critical skills, compared with 43% of organizations across all industries, according to a report released last Wednesday by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, the AP/Arizona Republic reports.

16 Oct 2006

Outpatient surgery centers 'poised to outnumber' general hospitals

The AP/Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday examined how outpatient surgery centers are "poised to outnumber general hospitals, if they do not already."

16 Oct 2006

Increased oversight, other efforts have reduced improper Medicare payment claims by $1.3B

Improved oversight and other efforts by CMS have helped reduce the rate of improper Medicare reimbursements for fee-for-service claims from 5.2% in 2005 to 4.4% in 2006 for a savings of $1.3 billion, according to agency Administrator Mark McClellan, CQ HealthBeat reports.

16 Oct 2006

Healthcare News

Medicare cuts to wheelchair reimbursements prompt opposition from lawmakers, suppliers

Kaiser Permanente ordered to reinstate benefits it illegally canceled

More than 600,000 Medicare prescription drug benefit beneficiaries must apply for low-income subsidy

Lower employer health insurance coverage fuels rising number of uninsured

Columnist explores reasons for discrepancy in U.S., foreign health spending, related life expectancies

Competition in health care industry can help reduce costs

Louisiana residents open to reforming or eliminating charity hospital system

Hospitals taking steps to limit ED patient 'boarding'

Despite aging U.S. population, few physicians specialize in treatment for the elderly

Blue Cross of California settles patient accusations that it systematically canceled policies

Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

Hospitals lack clearly defined guidelines for medical interpretation services

New Jersey Governor authorizes commission to study hospitals

Hospitals reduce elderly mortality rate, though gap between best, worst hospitals in U.S. widened in 2005

Check out hospital rating before checking in

270,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries in California will be assigned new prescription drug plans

Group Health will reduce premiums for Washington State-subsidized health plan for low-income residents

Many health care organizations have employee retention issues

Outpatient surgery centers 'poised to outnumber' general hospitals

Increased oversight, other efforts have reduced improper Medicare payment claims by $1.3B

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