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Wall Street Journal examines increased popularity of Medicare Advantage Plans

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined how hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries have begun to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans, which offer "traditional benefits without the usual restrictions on access to doctors and hospitals" and some additional benefits.

30 Aug 2006

Massachusetts ends plans to partner with not-for profit to simplify Medicaid application process

Massachusetts will not be working with RealBenefits, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Community Catalyst that sells computer software to not-for-profit groups to make data input faster, to simplify the Medicaid application process, the Boston Globe reports.

28 Aug 2006

Many programs to recruit, train minority providers lose federal grant money this year

HHS recently awarded four institutions across the country $11.8 million in Center of Excellence grants, which over three years will fund training, recruitment and retention of medical students and medical faculty members from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, the New York Times reports.

28 Aug 2006

Decline in participation in employer-sponsored health plans

Large companies that employ 1,000 or more workers are experiencing a decline in participation in employer-sponsored health plans because of increases in out-of-pocket costs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Aug 2006

Diverting nonemergency cases from EDs in Canada does little to improve care quality for other patients

Diverting nonemergency cases from emergency departments in Canada does not have much impact on the efficiency or timeliness of care given to sicker patients, according to a study published Wednesday on the Annals of Emergency Medicine Web site, the Houston Chronicle reports.

24 Aug 2006

WellPoint to expand consumer-driven health plans to individuals, more companies

Officials for Indiana-based WellPoint, the largest U.S. health insurer in terms of membership, on Tuesday announced that the company on Jan. 1, 2007, will begin to offer consumer-driven health plans to individuals and companies of all sizes, the Indianapolis Star reports.

24 Aug 2006

Medicaid reimbursements for emergency care for undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma increase 154% in three years

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority paid health care providers $9.7 million to treat 4,450 undocumented immigrants under Medicaid's Alien Emergency Services Program in the fiscal year that ended June 30, compared with $3.8 million to treat 2,054 people in 2003, the Daily Oklahoman reports.

24 Aug 2006

Medicare policy offering coverage for certain treatments to clinical trial participants examined

"Medicare's Requirement for Research Participation as a Condition of Coverage: Is it Ethical?" Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 Aug 2006

New Jersey Gov. Corzine signs bill to track company employees enrolled in public health insurance programs

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) this week signed a bill (S539) that will track how many employees at large companies are enrolled in the state's public health insurance programs, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

24 Aug 2006

Michigan Civil Rights Commission rules that small businesses must include birth control coverage

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission on Monday ruled that businesses that have fewer than 15 employees in the state and offer comprehensive prescription coverage to their employees must cover birth control prescriptions, the Detroit News reports.

24 Aug 2006

Massachusetts Agency proposes health care premium levels for low-income residents

The Massachusetts Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, which is tasked under the state's new health insurance law with determining what premiums are affordable for low-income state residents, is proposing that the state's lower-income uninsured residents spend up to 6.6% of their income to purchase health coverage, the Boston Globe reports.

20 Aug 2006

Groups that oppose abortion rights object to nomination of Von Eschenbach to permanently head FDA

Groups that oppose abortion rights are calling on President Bush to withdraw the nomination of acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to permanently head the agency because FDA might approve Barr Laboratories' application for nonprescription sales of its emergency contraceptive Plan B for women ages 18 and older.

20 Aug 2006

Federal report calls for changes in procedures for evacuating nursing home residents during disasters

The emergency evacuation plans of nursing homes located in the Gulf States during four hurricanes within the past year met federal and state regulations but had a number of problems, according to a report issued on Friday by HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson, the New York Times reports.

20 Aug 2006

CMS rejects Georgia plan to raise threshold for exemptions to Medicaid estate recovery rules

CMS has rejected a Georgia law that would have prohibited the state from recovering up to $100,000 of a deceased Medicaid beneficiary's estate to recover costs for nursing home care, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

20 Aug 2006

UK hospitals not prepared for terrorism

UK hospitals are poorly prepared to cope with a "major incident," such as an act of terrorism, say doctors in Emergency Medicine Journal.

17 Aug 2006

Georgia physicians file lawsuit alleging that HMOs have not paid Medicaid claims

Three private HMOs contracting with Georgia to oversee care for Medicaid beneficiaries have not paid providers for millions of dollars in outstanding claims, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

17 Aug 2006

Healthcare News

Wall Street Journal examines increased popularity of Medicare Advantage Plans

Massachusetts ends plans to partner with not-for profit to simplify Medicaid application process

Many programs to recruit, train minority providers lose federal grant money this year

Decline in participation in employer-sponsored health plans

Diverting nonemergency cases from EDs in Canada does little to improve care quality for other patients

WellPoint to expand consumer-driven health plans to individuals, more companies

Medicaid reimbursements for emergency care for undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma increase 154% in three years

Medicare policy offering coverage for certain treatments to clinical trial participants examined

New Jersey Gov. Corzine signs bill to track company employees enrolled in public health insurance programs

Michigan Civil Rights Commission rules that small businesses must include birth control coverage

Massachusetts Agency proposes health care premium levels for low-income residents

Groups that oppose abortion rights object to nomination of Von Eschenbach to permanently head FDA

Federal report calls for changes in procedures for evacuating nursing home residents during disasters

CMS rejects Georgia plan to raise threshold for exemptions to Medicaid estate recovery rules

UK hospitals not prepared for terrorism

Georgia physicians file lawsuit alleging that HMOs have not paid Medicaid claims

New plan to confront HIV-related health worker shortages

Pride, prejudice, and paediatrics

New rules for hospital visitors in the UK

Government money for sexual health used to pay off debts

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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