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Georgia Medicaid, PeachCare beneficiaries enroll HMOs despite concerns over partial rollout

Georgia's Medicaid and PeachCare programs has enrolled hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries in HMOs "despite complaints that the program has become an administrative and medical nightmare in areas where it has been tried so far," the Florida Times-Union reports.

4 Sep 2006

Debate over specialty hospitals will continue

"The battle over so-called specialty hospitals is set to make headlines again" because of a recent CMS decision, a Washington Times editorial states (Washington Times, 8/31).

4 Sep 2006

Pennsylvania starts the Pace Plus Medicare program

Pennsylvania on Friday began the Pace Plus Medicare program, under which the Medicare prescription drug benefit will provide primary coverage for low-income residents and the state PACE and PACENET programs will fill any gaps in coverage, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

4 Sep 2006

U.S. Magistrate recommends end of oversight of Hawaii adult mental health division by Federal Court

U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang last week recommended in his 12th and final report to U.S. District Judge David Ezra that the court end oversight of the Adult Mental Health Division of the Hawaii Department of Health because of significant improvements in mental health services provided by the division.

4 Sep 2006

Washington Post examines 'Natural Family Planning' Centers

The Washington Post on Thursday examined "natural family planning" centers, which "tailor" the type of care provided with the religious beliefs of the physicians.

1 Sep 2006

Sen. Durbin, Rep. Davis criticize plan to end Medicaid reimbursements for special education services

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) on Tuesday warned that a plan to end Medicaid reimbursements for transportation and special education administration would affect the ability of schools to provide mandated services to low-income students with disabilities, the Chicago Tribune reports.

1 Sep 2006

U.S. health care system offers good value in terms of life expectancy gains despite rising costs

U.S. residents have benefited from increases in health care costs since 1960 through increased life expectancy, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

1 Sep 2006

Next Massachusetts Governor will be responsible for implementing law requiring health insurance coverage

While Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has earned "widespread praise" for the state's "first-of-its-kind" law requiring all state residents to have health insurance by July 2007, the next governor will "shoulder much of the responsibility for whether the law succeeds," the Boston Globe reports.

1 Sep 2006

UNC Health Care announces new efforts to inform low-income patients about financial assistance

The UNC Health Care system in North Carolina on Tuesday announced plans to begin new efforts to inform low-income patients about financial assistance through a revised telephone message, signs and a financial aid hotline, the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Stancill, Raleigh News & Observer, 8/30).

1 Sep 2006

Md. Senatorial Candidate Mfume touts single-payer health care system

Former Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), a candidate for Maryland's Democratic Senate nomination, on Wednesday touted universal health insurance during an event at the University of Maryland Medical Center, at which he gained endorsements from Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Albert Wynn (D-Md.), the Baltimore Sun reports.

1 Sep 2006

Researchers analyze increases in medical expenses versus improvements in health

Despite dramatic increases in health expenses since 1960, the return on medical spending is high, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Michigan.

30 Aug 2006

Report questions CMS Cancer Care Research Program

HHS inspector general Daniel Levinson in a report released on Wednesday questioned the legitimacy of a one-year research program conducted by CMS in which the federal government and Medicare beneficiaries paid oncologists a total of about $275 million to report information on chemotherapy side effects that might lead to improved care for cancer patients, the AP/South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

30 Aug 2006

Primary care physicians should receive pay by the hour

"We must make primary care a more manageable business by changing the way we pay for it," with primary care physicians paid by the hour, Robin Cook, a physician and author of the novel "Crisis," writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

30 Aug 2006

Some large employers contract directly with medical groups to reduce health care costs

Investor's Business Daily on Monday examined how some large employers, such as Sprint Nextel and Waste Management, have begun "cutting the middleman in heath insurance" and have "signed direct-contracting deals with medical groups instead of insurers" to help reduce costs.

30 Aug 2006

Elderly in British hospitals malnourished

If you are elderly and sick in Britain, hospital may not be the best place for you.

30 Aug 2006

Portuguese government approves community sites where injection drug users can inject themselves under supervision

The Portuguese government has approved the establishment of community sites where injection drug users can inject themselves under supervision, and new measures call for needle-exchange programs to be installed in prisons by 2008, AFP/Today Online reports.

30 Aug 2006

End of moratorium on new specialty hospitals likely to prompt 'building boomlet'

The decision earlier this month by CMS not to extend a moratorium on approval of new specialty hospitals likely will prompt a "building boomlet" of the facilities, the Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Aug 2006

Hospital system in New Orleans examined one year after hurricane Katrina

The Boston Globe on Monday examined the hospital system in New Orleans one year after damage from Hurricane Katrina forced most facilities in the city to close.

30 Aug 2006

Officials of the Christian Science Church seek recognition of faith healing under Massachusetts law requiring health care coverage

The Boston-based Christian Science Church is concerned that the Massachusetts law passed earlier this year requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers might not recognize the church's insurance plans that cover faith healing, the Boston Globe reports.

30 Aug 2006

Nurses in New Jersey begin strike over health plan in proposed contract

Almost all of the 1,300 nurses at the 584-bed Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., on Thursday began a strike over a fee that they would have to pay for medical procedures performed outside of their health plan network under a proposed contract, the New York Times reports.

30 Aug 2006

Healthcare News

Georgia Medicaid, PeachCare beneficiaries enroll HMOs despite concerns over partial rollout

Debate over specialty hospitals will continue

Pennsylvania starts the Pace Plus Medicare program

U.S. Magistrate recommends end of oversight of Hawaii adult mental health division by Federal Court

Washington Post examines 'Natural Family Planning' Centers

Sen. Durbin, Rep. Davis criticize plan to end Medicaid reimbursements for special education services

U.S. health care system offers good value in terms of life expectancy gains despite rising costs

Next Massachusetts Governor will be responsible for implementing law requiring health insurance coverage

UNC Health Care announces new efforts to inform low-income patients about financial assistance

Md. Senatorial Candidate Mfume touts single-payer health care system

Researchers analyze increases in medical expenses versus improvements in health

Report questions CMS Cancer Care Research Program

Primary care physicians should receive pay by the hour

Some large employers contract directly with medical groups to reduce health care costs

Elderly in British hospitals malnourished

Portuguese government approves community sites where injection drug users can inject themselves under supervision

End of moratorium on new specialty hospitals likely to prompt 'building boomlet'

Hospital system in New Orleans examined one year after hurricane Katrina

Officials of the Christian Science Church seek recognition of faith healing under Massachusetts law requiring health care coverage

Nurses in New Jersey begin strike over health plan in proposed contract

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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