Today's
Health News
sent to you by
The New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals
News for Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Medicare
and Medicaid Reimbursements
Uncompensated care up, hospital payment gaps widen in 2006-proof margin
[ahanews.com] Hospitals provided $31.2 billion in uncompensated care last
year, while the gap between Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and the actual
cost of patient care continued to widen, according to the AHA’s latest
annual survey of U.S. hospitals. Uncompensated care is up from $28.8 billion
in 2005. The survey measure includes charity care and bad debt, valued at
the cost to the hospitals of the services provided. The amount of uncompensated
care provided by hospitals has increased by $9.6 billion, or 44%, since 2000.
Read
More
Pilot
Project
Physicians Who Adopt Electronic Health Records Will Receive Higher Medicare
Payments Under Pilot Project
[kaisernetwork.org] HHS on Monday announced it is recruiting 1,200 physicians
across the U.S. to participate in a pilot project that will provide higher
Medicare reimbursements to physicians who use electronic health records, AP/Long
Island Newsday reports. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the project is an
important step toward meeting President Bush's goal of nationwide EHR adoption
by 2014.
Read
More
Unhappy
Docs
More docs are unsatisfied with their jobs [courierpostonline.com]
Job dissatisfaction among doctors is growing, fueled in part by the burgeoning
cost of malpractice insurance, lower reimbursements from health-care plans
and less face-to-face time with patients, according to a new poll out Tuesday.
Read
More
Stem
Cell Research
New Jersey Appellate Court Rules Referendum Asking Voters To Approve $450M
for Stem Cell Research Should Remain on Ballot [kaisernetwork.org]
A three-judge panel of a New Jersey appellate court on Friday unanimously
ruled that a Nov. 6 referendum that would allow the state to borrow $450 million
over 10 years to fund stem cell research in the state should not be removed
from the ballot, the New York Times reports (Peters, New York Times, 10/27).
If approved by voters, the funds would be used to award grants to institutions
-- including colleges, universities, and state and local government agencies
-- that conduct research on both adult and human embryonic stem cells, and
umbilical cord blood, according to state Rep. Neil Cohen (D).
Read
More
Child
Insurance
Federal Study Offers Dire Outlook on Child Insurance [nytimes.com]
Twenty-one states will run out of money for children’s health insurance
in the coming year, and at least nine of those states will exhaust their allotments
in March if Congress simply continues spending at current levels, a new federal
study says.
Read
More
Comparison
Drug Shopping Website
Comparison drug shopping / Rx for consumers
[pressofatlanticcity.com] Here's a question that becomes more pressing as
prescription-drug prices climb: How do you ease the burden of spiraling prices
for those who don't have insurance, or who have insurance that doesn't cover
drugs? The federal government answered that question by spending hundreds
of billions of dollars to cover prescription costs for seniors on Medicare
- although even that kind of sweeping government program can't cover all costs.
Read
More
News for Tuesday, October 30, 2007
New
Jersey Top Docs
HILLSBOROUGH: Five named “Top Docs” by NJ Monthly [couriernews.com]
Five physicians practicing at ID Care in Hillsborough have been named “Top
Docs” for 2007 in the infectious disease category by NJ Monthly magazine.
The determination is made based on an independent survey of New Jersey-based
physicians. Those earning the recognition by their peers in the state’s
most influential lifestyle publication are Dr. Donald T. Allegra, Dr. David
J. Herman, Dr. Edward J. McManus, Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, and Dr. Stephen J.
Williams.
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More
New
Jersey EMS System
N.J. mulls report on EMS fixes [CourierPostOnline.com] You're
down and you can't get your breath. Select one: A) You want two well-trained
paramedics to arrive and tend to your crisis. Or, B) You'd prefer to have
just one paramedic assisted by a less-schooled emergency medical technician.
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More
I.T.
MDs offered money to go paperless [newsday.com] The Bush
administration is recruiting about 1,200 doctors nationally to remove the
paperwork from their medical practice in return for higher Medicare payments.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt billed the project yesterday
as one of the administration's most important steps yet toward meeting President
George W. Bush's goal of nationwide adoption of electronic health records
by 2014.
Read
More
Comparison
Shopping
Comparison shopping for prescription drugs comes to NJ [newsday.com]
Isaac Luster needs seven prescription drugs, which, after Medicare's coverage,
costs him and his wife $500 a month out of their own pocket. That's why the
Lusters were enthused Friday that they can now comparison shop for prescription
drugs through a new state Web site allowing New Jerseyans to compare pharmacy
prices for the 150 most commonly prescribed medications.
Read
More
Presidential
Campaigns Regarding Health Care
Recent Developments in Presidential Campaigns Related to Health Care
[kaisernetwork.org] Summaries of several recent developments in presidential
campaigns related to health care appear below.
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More
Other
States
NY's Medicaid payments to doctors nearly last in nation [newsday.com]
Dr. Nancy Gadziala believes everyone, no matter how poor, has a right to health
care. And her conviction is costing her. A new report shows that while New
York's Medicaid program is one of the richest for patients in the country,
it's second to last when it comes to the amount it pays doctors and other
health care providers.
Read
More
News for Monday, October 29, 2007
MRSA
Officials weigh MRSA threat [NJ.com] It struck a high school
football player in Penns Grove, an elementary student in West Deptford and
at least a dozen other students in New Jersey. While school officials say
the infection is new to their classrooms, healthcare officials say it's been
around for years. Either way, near daily reports of methicillin-resistant
staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in recent weeks prompting automated telephone
calls to parents, letters sent home with students, and top-to-bottom school
cleanings are enough to put parents in New Jersey on edge.Doctors are hoping
to allay their fears. "The term superbug' I think it's an exaggerated
term," said Dr. Kendell Sprott, acting chair of pediatrics at the University
of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
Read
More
Charity
Care
Charity care squeezing region's hospitals [Courierpost.com]
The latest victim of New Jersey's health-care crisis? Healthy Congregations
at Somerset Medical Center, which provides a range of medical services to
the more than 1,500 uninsured or underserved people enrolled in the program.
Through partnerships with local congregations, the Somerville-based medical
center for the past five years has offered $25 doctor visits, as well as free
medication and lab tests through charity care. That was until the hospital
eliminated the service this month, citing a reorganization effort to "streamline
services and become more efficient."
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More
Health
Insurance
Health plan mergers harm patients, physicians, House panel told
[AHA.org] The American Medical Association and American Academy of Family
Physicians yesterday called for federal action to address growing consolidation
in the health insurance market. At a House Committee on Small Business hearing,
AAFP President James King, M.D., said, “Looking at the U.S. as a whole,
only two insurers cover a third of all commercially insured lives.
Read
More
Health
Care Crisis
Health care crisis [baltimoresun.com] The debate now raging
over how much money the federal government should spend to provide basic health
insurance for poor children is just an opening skirmish in what is likely
to be an all-out war in coming months and years over how to pay for health
care in America.
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More
Autism
Reports stress importance of early autism screening [northjersey.com]
The country's leading pediatricians group is making its strongest push yet
to have all children screened for autism twice by age 2, warning of symptoms
such as babies who don't babble at 9 months and 1-year-olds who don't point
to toys.
Read
More
News for Friday, October 26, 2007
Member
News
Same-day
brain surgery? Cooper can do it [Courierpost.com] Nancy Walker-Powell
went into Cooper University Hospital recently for brain surgery. Within a
few hours of having a benign tumor removed from the base of her skull, she
was enjoying a lobster dinner with her family. On Wednesday, Cooper unveiled
its newest tool, which allows doctors to perform brain surgery without making
an incision. For Walker-Powell, the Gamma Knife Perfexion meant mild sedation
was used instead of anesthesia.
Read
More
Federal
Health Care Legislation
Fight over child health care persists
[Courierpost.com] The Senate is the next stop for legislation to expand children's
health coverage, revised by Democrats but rejected by President Bush as little
changed from their earlier offering.” You can put lipstick on a pig,
but it is still a pig," said Texas Rep. Joe Barton, one of the more pungent
descriptions of a bill that cleared the House Thursday with less than the
two-thirds majority needed to overturn Bush's threatened veto. The vote was
265-142.
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More
Sen.
Grassley Proposes One-Year Halt to Medicare Physician Reimbursement Rate Cuts
[kaisernet.org] Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
on Wednesday said committee Republicans favor a one-year, rather than a two-year,
suspension of a 10% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements scheduled
to take effect on Jan. 1, 2008, CongressDaily reports. Grassley said that
lawmakers would have less difficulty with passage of a one-year suspension
of the scheduled reduction in physician reimbursements, with a two-year delay
likely to cost $20 billion
Read
More
Stem
Cell Research
Court defends N.J. stem cell ballot issue
[northjersey.com] An explanation of the $450 million state bond question on
whether to fund stem cell research will remain as worded on the Election Day
ballot, according to an appellate decision scheduled to be released today.
A lawyer for the Legal Center for Defense of Life, which argued the ballot
wording was incomplete, said Thursday that the group is considering an appeal
to the state Supreme Court.
Read
More
Cost
of Care
Who Pays for Efficiency?
[NYTimes.com] Indeed, the quest to save dollars in the nation’s $2.1
trillion annual health care bill is becoming a lucrative market of its own.
Thousands of companies, large and small, are pitching cost-saving ideas that
range from electronic patient records to new medical devices.
Read
More
Other
States
Mandatory Coverage Is Easier Said Than Done [NYTimes.com]
IT’S a seemingly simple solution to a nationwide problem: if people
do not have health insurance, just require that they buy it. The idea of making
coverage compulsory to help reduce the number of uninsured Americans —
currently 45 million — is gaining momentum.
Read
More
News for Thursday, October 25, 2007
Member
News
Jets announce 12-year naming rights deal with Atlantic Health for
new training facility [USA Today] The New York Jets announced a 12-year
naming rights deal Tuesday with Atlantic Heath for their new headquarters
and training facility. New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine attended a cornerstone
dedication ceremony at the site of the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center,
which is to be completed in late 2008.
Read
More
Federal
House Democrats Plan To Vote Thursday on Revised SCHIP Legislation
That Tightens Language on Income Limits, Undocumented Immigrants
[Kaisernet.org] The House this week will consider a modified bill to reauthorize
and expand SCHIP, "seeking to keep political pressure on Republicans
who supported President Bush's veto of an earlier bill," CongressDaily
reports (Bourge, CongressDaily, 10/23). The vetoed legislation would have
provided an additional $35 billion in funding for the program over the next
five years and increased total SCHIP spending to $60 billion. The additional
funding would have been paid for by a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the tobacco
tax Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/24).
Read
More
Senate
passes Labor-HHS spending bill [AHAnews.com]
The Senate last night voted 75-19 to approve a Labor-Health and Human Services
appropriations bill that includes an AHA-backed amendment to ease the U.S.
shortage of nurses and physical therapists. The amendment by Sens. Charles
Schumer (D-NY) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) would make available to registered
nurses and physical therapists 61,000 unused employment-based visas from past
years.
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More
Emergency
Preparedness
New mobile command center debuts [nj.com] The New Jersey
Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) unveiled a 2007 Ford Excursion
equipped with communication equipment to serve as a mobile command center.
It will be capable of relaying information back to the department's Health
Command Center during a public health emergency response.
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More
Other
States
St. Christopher's to get Temple's pediatric cases [currierpost
.com] Temple University will close its Children's Medical Center by the end
of the year, switching many pediatric services to nearby St. Christopher's
Hospital for Children. Under an agreement announced Wednesday, inpatient pediatric
care and selected outpatient services will be done at the 170-bed St. Christopher's,
which is adding 18 beds and two new operating suites to accommodate the additional
patients, spokeswoman Joan Gubernick said.
Read
More
News for Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Stem
Cell Research
Corzine
pushes for stem cell funds [notthjersey.com] Governor Corzine urged
New Jersey voters on Tuesday to approve a $450 million bond issue to fund
research of all types of stem cells, including those from human embryos. "Ethically
and morally, we're doing the right thing," Corzine said at the groundbreaking
of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey's Christopher Reeve Pavilion.
Read
More
Medicare
HHS Appeals Court Ruling That Would Have Required Release of Medicare Physician
Claims Data [Kaisernet.org] HHS on Oct. 19 filed notice to appeal
an August court decision that requires the department to release Medicare
physician claims data, Consumers CHECKBOOK/Center for the Study of Services
announced on Monday.
Read
More
Quality
Study examines factors that contribute to resident errors
[AHAnews.com] Physicians-in-training are more vulnerable than other clinicians
to medical errors that stem from poor teamwork, according to a new study by
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Based on a review of closed
medical liability claims, the study found that errors in judgment (72%), teamwork
breakdowns (70%), and lack of technical competence (58%) were the most common
contributing factors in errors involving trainees.
Read
More
Read
Study Abstract
Health
Care
IOM: Cancer care should address patient's psychosocial health
[AHA news.com] Cancer care providers should systematically screen patients
for psychosocial distress and connect them with needed help, concludes a new
report from the Institute of Medicine. Cancer patients’ psychosocial
needs can range from information about their therapies and the potential side
effects, to treatment for depression and assistance with daily activities,
the authors say.
Read
More
When
Doctors Steal Hope [NYTimes.com] Over the years, readers have shared
with me countless examples of times when doctors had given up hope, but patients
recovered anyway. Medicine is as much an art as a science, and doctors aren’t
infallible. Still, I’m often surprised how often doctors are willing
to put forth the worst-case scenario without offering the possibility of a
best-case scenario.
Read
More
News for Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Stem
Cell Research
N.J. Stem-Cell Research Facility Built By Taxpayers [NBC.com]New
Jersey Tuesday marks the start of construction on what is being hailed as
a world-class stem-cell research facility paid for with public money.Gov.
Jon S. Corzine is scheduled to attend the afternoon ceremony in downtown New
Brunswick. The $150-million, 18-story tower is to be built on a parking lot
next to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, near Rutgers University.
It will be within walking distance of several other schools and hospitals
and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
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More
N.J.
Stem Cell Dispute to Get Monday Appeals Court Hearing
[1010wins.com] An appeals court on Monday will weigh if New Jersey voters
should decide next month whether to borrow $450 million for stem cell research.Gov.
Jon S. Corzine and legislators approved the Nov. 6 ballot question in July.
However, abortion foes allege it's misleading and want the appeals court panel
to prohibit election workers from counting votes on the question.
Read More
MRSA
State doesn't track MRSA infections [Ocean County Observer]
A case of antibiotic-resistant staph infection appears at a Point Pleasant
school. Another at one in Lacey. constant news stories and recent cases close
to home have worried parents, making them think of the 17-year-old Virginian
student who died. But is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus really
becoming more common? "When I first heard about the case of the high
school student in Virginia who died I was alarmed but then I learned more
about it. It has hit a little close to home here," said Lacey parent
Colleen Rozzi.
Read
More
CMS
CMS RFP details plan to implement RACs in all states by March 2008
[AHAnews.com] The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday issued
a request for proposals for contractors to implement its Recovery Audit Contractor
program beginning in March 2008. Originally a demonstration project in the
states of California, Florida and New York, the Tax Relief and Health Care
Act of 2006 made the program permanent and instructed the agency to expand
the program nationwide by 2010.
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More
Public
Health
National strategy for public health and medical preparedness issued
[ahanews.com] The White House last week issued a directive establishing a
National Strategy for Public Health and Medical Preparedness. The strategy
focuses on disease surveillance; the stockpile and distribution of vaccines,
drugs and other medical countermeasures; mass casualty care; and community
resilience.
Read
More
Charity
Care
Do hospitals offer enough free care? [nytimes.com] Though
U.S. hospitals provide billions of dollars worth of free care, stories such
as Glenn's are among the issues that are putting nonprofit hospitals and their
tax-exempt status under scrutiny as never before in an important debate for
Michigan and the nation. State Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, U.S. Sen. Chuck
Grassley, R-Iowa, and activists around the country are among those asking
whether health systems provide the level of charity care they should to deserve
$12.6 billion in tax exemptions nationwide each year. Michigan hospitals receive
at least $600 million in breaks.
Read
More
News for Monday, October 22, 2007
New
Jersey Hospitals
Hospitals vying for Pascack coverage [NewJersey.com] Several
hospitals are competing to provide paramedic coverage to towns surrounding
Pascack Valley Hospital when its mobile intensive care unit is disbanded on
Nov. 14, a sign that such emergency coverage will likely continue despite
the impending bankruptcy. Hackensack University Medical Center said it also
was applying to run a satellite emergency department at the hospital.
Read
More
Patient
Safety and Quality
Senator urges HHS to finalize PSO regulations [AHAnews.com]
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) yesterday urged Health and Human Services Secretary
Mike Leavitt to finalize regulations creating Patient Safety Organizations,
as called for by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act. “I
am extremely disappointed and troubled to discover that today, the regulations
have still not been issued.
Read
More
Reduced
number of Cancer Deaths
*The Asterisk on Cancer Deaths [nytimes.com] There was good
news about cancer last week, a report that death rates in the United States
have begun falling by 2.1 percent a year, nearly twice the rate of previous
declines. But the same report, by the American Cancer Society and other groups,
also said certain cancers seem to be becoming more common — not hugely
so, but noticeable. Among those increasing in men and women are myeloma and
cancers of the thyroid and kidney. In women, melanoma and cancers of the bladder
have increased; in men so have cancers of the liver and esophagus.
Read
More
Children’s
Health
Ban Complex Drugs for Children, Official Says [nytimes.com]A
federal drug safety official told a panel of experts Thursday that they should
consider a ban on multisymptom over-the-counter pediatric cough and cold medicines
for children under 6.The official, Richard Abate of the Food and Drug Administration,
said the array of products combining multiple medicines led some parents to
overdose their children accidentally. He also advised that measuring devices
commonly included with the products be standardized and made easier to understand.
Read More
JCAHO
Joint Commission to discuss standards for leadership, medical staff
[ahanews.com] The Joint Commission will review revisions to its leadership
standards and medical staff standard for hospitals effective in 2009 during
free teleconferences on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1. The sessions will discuss the
connection between the medical staff standard (MS 1.20) and revised leadership
standards, and details for applying MS 1.20.
Read
More
News for Friday, October 19, 2007
New
Jersey Hospitals
N.J. hospital competition heats up over cardiac care [philly.com]
Arup K. Roy believe his 84-year-old father died unnecessarily at Virtua-West
Jersey Hospital Marlton following an angioplasty to unblock a heart artery
last year. The Marlton hospital is one of nine statewide, and the only one
in South Jersey, allowed to perform the procedure without a heart surgery
program on site - a policy that is now being challenged. In an Oct. 14 letter,
Roy - a physician in internal medicine at Ancora State Psychiatric Hospital
in Camden County - stated that he does not believe a community hospital such
as Virtua Marlton should be allowed to continue the procedures without surgical
backup.
Read
More
MRSA
Ocean County High School Open After Buildings Disinfected
[newsday.com] On the district's Web site, school officials say the student,
who is not identified, is receiving treatment for MRSA. Officials say cleaning
crews are sanitizing classrooms, locker rooms and other parts of the school.
The district tells parents that prevention is critical. Parents should remind
their children to practice good hygiene by frequently washing hands, covering
open wounds and not sharing water bottles, towels and clothing.
Read
More
School
in Media, PA Closed Today due to Superbug Infection [inquirer.com]
Indian Lane Elementary School in Media will be closed today for a thorough
cleaning and disinfection after a child tested positive for a "superbug."
After a doctor's visit, the student was found to have methicillin-resistant
staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which a recent report said was responsible for
more yearly U.S. deaths than AIDS.
Read
More
SCHIP
President Bush Outlines Compromise on SCHIP Legislation [Kaisernetwork.org]
Bush on Wednesday said that he will use his veto of the SCHIP bill to weigh
in on the future of the program and has assigned HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt,
National Economic Council Director Al Hubbard and White House Budget Director
Jim Nussle to negotiate with Congress. Bush said he is "confident we
can work out our differences" to reach a "common ground" on
SCHIP. Neither Bush "nor his three emissaries offered any changes to
the administration's standing position that eligibility" for SCHIP must
not be increased, but instead "reiterated that the president is willing
to add more money to help those who are eligible for the program but"
not enrolled.
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More
Medicare
Senate Committee Discusses Moves To Prevent Physician Payment Cut
[kaisernetwork.org] Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) at
a committee meeting on Wednesday outlined a $30 billion Medicare package that
could prevent a scheduled 10% Medicare physician reimbursement rate cut and
provide subsidies for rural and low-income seniors, CongressDaily reports.
Committee members discussed cuts to Medicare Advantage plan payments as a
way of funding the physician payment fix, but there appears to be considerable
resistance on the committee to cutting deeply.
Read
More
News for Thursday, October 18, 2007
Medical
Schools
Bloomberg Covers The Record Rise in Medical School Enrollment [Bloomberg.com]
A total of 126 medical schools enrolled 17,759 first-year students for the
current term, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier, after attracting 42,315
applicants, the Washington-based association said today. The number of students
who applied to medical school for the first time also reached an all-time
high, almost 32,000, as the TV series ``Grey's Anatomy'' aroused interest
in the field, educators said. The nation needs to train even more doctors,
because the population is growing and older physicians are retiring, said
Darrell G. Kirch, the association's president, at a news conference in Washington
today.
Read
More
MRSA
Increased Pressure on Hospitals to Stamp out Bacterial Bugs
[usatoday.com] Central line catheters are often used to administer medicine
and nutrition to patients with serious medical conditions. Inserted into a
large vein, such as the jugular, they keep people alive and make it possible
for blood to be drawn without repeated injections. They also can be a point
for bacteria to enter the bloodstream, sickening or killing patients whose
defenses already are weak. Physicians, safety advocates and government officials
are mobilizing to prevent the infections that have stricken an increasing
number of hospital patients over the past three decades.
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More
New
Jersey Hospital News
For-profit health care company is interested in arranging a deal that
would require doctors to become part-owners of the bankrupt Pascack Valley
Hospital [northjersey.com] Representatives of GP Medical Ventures,
a Tennessee-based corporation that specializes in purchasing hospitals in
bankruptcy, met with the medical staff Wednesday night to outline the role
physicians would play in a potential purchase. The physicians were told that
they would have to finance a $200,000 study to determine if a purchase is
feasible.
Read
More
Universal
Healthcare
The Commonwealth Fund Releases a “Road Map” for Healthcare
Reform [commonwealthfund.org] Presidential candidates, governors,
and members of Congress are advancing proposals to expand health insurance
coverage to all Americans—the most important step in improving access
to quality health care. This report, prepared for The Commonwealth Fund Commission
on a High Performance Health System, explores the different options and how
each may not only increase coverage for the uninsured, but also improve quality
and efficiency and gain control over spiraling health care costs. Proposals
are grouped into three approaches: tax incentives and the individual insurance
market; mixed private–public group insurance with shared responsibility
for financing; and public insurance.
Read
More
Medicare
A coalition of 22 organizations petitioned Congressional leaders for
mandated electronic prescribing for Medicare patients [healthmanagement.com]
The Institute of Medicine last year estimated medication errors harm 1.5 million
Americans annually, and the institute called for all physicians to adopt electronic
prescribing by 2010, according to the letter. “Unfortunately, fewer
than one in 10 physicians are meeting this challenge,” the letter states.
“As a result, neither patients nor physicians take advantage of critical,
available, real-time information that would improve outcomes, save lives and
dramatically reduce health care costs.”
Read
More
Children’s
Health
Report Highlights Lack of Planning for Kids In The Event of Flu Pandemic
[nj.com] Children would likely be both prime spreaders and targets
of a flu pandemic, but they're being overlooked in the nation's preparations
for the next super-flu, pediatricians and public health advocates reported
Wednesday. The report urges the government to improve planned child protections,
including how to care for youngsters if a pandemic closes schools. "Right
now, we are behind the curve in finding ways to limit the spread of a pandemic
in children even though they are among the most at risk," said Dr. John
Bradley of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which co-authored the report
with the Trust for America's Health.
Read
More
News for Wednesday, October 17, 2007
SCHIP
Poll Finds Majority of U.S. Residents Agree with Bush Administration
That Focus Should Be on Low-Income Families, but trust SCHIP to Democrats
[kaisernetwork.org] A USA Today poll surveyed 1,009 adults from Friday
to Sunday, about half of whom were questioned about children's health care.
The poll found that 52% of people agree that SCHIP beneficiaries should be
children in families with annual incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty
level, while 40% say SCHIP should be extended to children in families with
annual incomes up to 300% of the poverty level. In addition, 55% of respondents
said they are very or somewhat concerned that SCHIP would create an incentive
for families to drop private coverage.
Read
More
MRSA
Drug-resistant staph deaths may surpass AIDS deaths
[usatoday.com] More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections
each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government
reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused
by the germ. Deaths
tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public
health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one
form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.
The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people.
That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's
Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.
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More
Patient
Care Initiatives
Primary Care organizations try to make health care more convenient
[dailyrecord.com] The concept of creating a medical home is taking hold because
of leadership from the physician community, according to Melinda Abrams, senior
program officer at The Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that stimulates innovative
practices and policies in health care. This past March four primary care societies
-- the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians,
American Academy of Pediatrics and American Osteopathic Association -- jointly
issued guiding principles to build patient-centered initiatives, she said.
Research is under way to evaluate the trend, including a leading study by
the National Committee for Quality Assurance on how to measure the success
of such initiatives.
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More
Medicare
Medicare Beneficiaries Treated at Hospitals Ranked Highest on Quality
71% Less Likely To Die Than Those Treated at Lower-Ranked Facilities, Study
Finds [kaisernetwork.org] Medicare beneficiaries who receive care
in the highest-ranked U.S. hospitals are 71% less likely to die than those
who receive care in the lowest-ranked facilities, according to the 10th annual
Hospital Quality in America Study released on Monday by HealthGrades, HealthDay/Washington
Post reports. For the study, researchers examined the medical records of 41
million Medicare beneficiaries who received care in 5,000 hospitals between
2004 and 2006.
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More
Women’s
Health
NJ gets rated 'unsatisfactory' for women's health care [nj.com]
New Jersey gets high marks for women being able to access healthcare providers,
but receives an overall grade of "unsatisfactory" when it comes
to addressing other health issues affecting women, says a new report being
released today. The report, conducted by the National Women's Law Center and
the Oregon Health and Science University, also gives the nation as a whole
an "unsatisfactory" rating, contending that how healthy a woman
is depends largely on where she lives. Among all states, New Jersey is ranked
20th in the report. Vermont is rated the healthiest state for women in the
2007 report, while South Carolina and the District of Columbia fare the worse.
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More
News for Tuesday, October 16, 2007
SCHIP
States Facing Funding Shortage in Wake of Veto May Reduce Number of Children
In Insurance Plan [washingtonpost.com] Should the override fail,
the players will have to go back to the drawing board in search of a lasting
compromise while the decade-old program, originally set to expire Sept. 30,
continues operating until mid-November under a temporary measure that extends
the previous year's funding levels. But many state program leaders say the
short-term fix will not be enough to maintain existing enrollment if gridlock
continues. "It's almost the worst situation, because it puts us in a
holding pattern," said Martha Roherty, director of the National Association
of State Medicaid Directors.
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More
Republicans
feel heat in wake of SCHIP veto [usatoday.com] On television and
radio, in phone calls and e-mails, proponents of the five-year, $35 billion
increase are pressuring about 20 Republicans to switch sides and help override
President Bush's veto. The full-court press includes preachers, rock stars
such as Paul Simon and sick kids in an effort to sway the result — or
the next election. In New Jersey and here in Michigan, Reps. Jim Saxton and
Tim Walberg criticize their own states' use of children's health insurance
money. In New York, Rep. Randy Kuhl calls the bill "a backdoor attempt
at socializing medicine." Florida Rep. Tom Feeney says that under the
Democrats' bill, SCHIP stands for "Socialized, Cuba-style Health care
for Illegals and their Parents."
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More
Medicaid
First Decrease in Enrollment in Ten Years [northjersey.com] Overall
enrollment in state Medicaid programs fell 0.5% in fiscal year 2007, the first
decline in nearly a decade, according to the latest 50-state survey by the
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Forty-two states reported
they are working to cover more uninsured residents through strategies that
include expansions of Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) and promotion of private health coverage. However, their success
will depend on federal support for those expansions and reauthorization of
SCHIP, the authors note.
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Member
News
CDC Awards UMNDJ School One Million Dollars for Public Health Preparedness
Program [UMDNJ.org] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
has awarded $1,011,076 to the UMDNJ-School of Public Health to support the
work of the school’s New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness
(NJCPHP). This is the fourth consecutive year that the CDC has provided the
funding. “New Jersey has made major strides since 9/11 and the anthrax
letters of 2001, but as events such as Hurricane Katrina all too vividly reminded
us, public health preparedness means we cannot afford to rest on our laurels,”
said Dr. George DiFerdinando, the NJCPHP manager and a professor of Epidemiology
at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health. In 2001, Dr. DiFerdinando was the Acting
Commissioner of Health for New Jersey.
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News for Monday, October 15, 2007
Senate
Plan Announced
N.J. health insurance plan's costs questioned [philly.com] A key
state senator said yesterday that he soon would announce a plan that would
require all New Jerseyans to carry medical insurance, but the governor warned
that the plan could cost more than $1 billion. "We are going to announce
just after the new year," said Sen. Joseph Vitale (D., Middlesex). "We
continue to work on the final details of affordability and finance."
Vitale, the New Jersey Senate health chairman, has been working on his plan
for months. It would require all residents to have health insurance but would
keep policies affordable for low-wage earners. Vitale estimated it could cost
the state an extra $300 million per year.
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More
SCHIP
Effect on New Jersey Families Outlined
[nytimes.com] Under its ambitious policy to provide children’s health
insurance to the working poor, New Jersey has long been one of the most aggressive
states in the nation in throwing a wide safety net out for families like the
Martinezes of Bayonne, the Palmers of Sicklerville and the Urquizos of North
Plainfield. But the six children in those three families are among the 11,000
children in low- and middle-income families in New Jersey who will no longer
be covered by the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or S-Chip,
under new federal income eligibility rules.
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More
National
Health Report
National Cancer Institute Annual Report Released Today [nytimes.com]
Death rates from cancer have been dropping by an average of 2.1 percent a
year recently in the United States, a near doubling of decreases that began
in 1993, researchers are reporting. “Every 1 percent is 5,000 people
who aren’t dying,” said Dr. Richard L. Schilsky, a professor of
medicine at the University of Chicago and president-elect of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology. “That’s a huge sense of progress
at this point.” Much of the progress comes not from miracle cures, but
from more mundane improvements in prevention, early detection and treatment
of some of the leading causes of cancer death — lung, colorectal, breast
and prostate tumors.
Read
More
Children’s
Health Report
Children’s health care often misses mark [northjersey.com]
As Washington debates children's health insurance, a startling study finds
that youngsters who regularly see doctors get the right care less than half
the time -- whether it's preschool shots or chlamydia tests for teen girls.
The findings, from the first comprehensive look at children's health-care
quality, are particularly troubling because nearly all the 1,536 children
in the nationwide study had insurance. Eighty-two percent were covered by
private insurance. Three-quarters were white, and all lived in or near large
or midsized cities.
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More
News for Friday, October 12, 2007
Universal
Health Care
Universal push for insurance [philly.com] States from coast to coast
are seriously contemplating some form of universal health insurance, not just
for children but for adults as well. Gov. Rendell, stumping across Pennsylvania
this week to promote his plan for affordable insurance, is a prime example.
Expanded coverage for the uninsured is high on the agenda in more than a dozen
state capitals and is being considered in at least a dozen more. Four already
have it. The trend can be seen across the country.
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More
Graphic
Stat-by-State
Pharmaceuticals
Minnesota Limit on Gifts to Doctors May Catch On [newyorktimes.com]
Two years after Minnesota officials forbade drug makers to give doctors more
than $50 worth of food or other gifts per year, drug company sales representatives
there are having a far harder time marketing to doctors. The rule change was
small and almost accidental — a state official decided to interpret
a 1993 law differently from his predecessor. But the effect on drug makers
has been profound. The year after the change, the number of visits that Minnesota
primary care doctors accepted from drug sales representatives decreased at
about twice the rate of the decline reported by primary care doctors nationwide,
according to a survey by ImpactRx, a New Jersey firm that tracks pharmaceutical
marketing. A growing number of Minnesota hospitals and clinics have banned
routine visits from them.
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More
Patient
Safety
New device brings fast help to a failing heart
[USA today] On some emergency runs, Houston Fire Department paramedic Charles
Harper calls for his new rescue breathing tool before he has even seen his
next patient. Harper, who has been a medic for 20 years, can often hear the
fluid in someone's lungs from a room away. "You can hear them gurgling
before you even get to them," he says. "They are drowning in their
own fluid. It is one terrible way to suffer and die”
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More
Autism
Community forged by trials of autism
[northjersey.com] Autism is a common enemy, and parents, school districts,
politicians and doctors must unite to conquer it. That was the mission at
a symposium Thursday that gathered leaders from those fields. Special-education
coordinators from about 20 local school districts, among them Maywood, Waldwick
and Franklin Lakes, attended the event at Hackensack University Medical Center.
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More
Hospital
News
Doctors, investors may bid on Barnert [northjersey.com] A group of
investors and doctors could bid on Barnert Hospital in an effort to save the
bankrupt Paterson facility from closure. The group, led by Lebanese-American
businessman Sami Merhi, who ran a controversial freeholder campaign last year,
is still organizing but is planning to make an offer to buy the hospital,
Merhi said.
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News for Thursday, October 11, 2007
SCHIP
Children's health insurance / N.J. is no Alabama [press of atlantic
city] New Jersey's less-affluent families usually get the short end of the
federal-funding stick. Food stamps and other federal programs are based on
a federal poverty line that is clearly too low for this expensive state. New
Jersey ranks near or at the top of the nation in cost-of-living indexes. Bottom
line: Fifty grand goes a lot further in Alabama than New Jersey.
Read
More
Children’s
Health
Kids' health care often misses mark
[northjersey.com] As Washington debates children's health insurance, a startling
study finds that youngsters who regularly see doctors get the right care less
than half the time -- whether it's preschool shots or chlamydia tests for
teen girls. The findings, from the first comprehensive look at children's
health-care quality, are particularly troubling because nearly all the 1,536
children in the nationwide study had insurance.
Read
More
CMS
Survey
AHA urges OMB to deny CMS survey [ahanews.com] The AHA today urged
the Office of Management and Budget to deny a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services proposal to require 500 hospitals to complete a broad-based survey
on their financial relationships with physicians. While Congress directed
CMS in the Deficit Reduction Act to study physician investment in specialty
hospitals, the survey would go primarily to community hospitals and require
them to report on nine categories of compensation arrangements, with a potential
penalty for late responses of $10,000 per day.
Read
More
Quality
and Patient Safety
AHRQ reports sharp decline in certain inpatient mortality rates [neworktimes.com]
Inpatient mortality rates for 12 common diagnoses and surgical procedures
declined steadily from 1994-2004, according to a new report from the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality. The mortality rate for heart attack fell
by 43 per 1,000 admissions over the period, while the mortality rate for congestive
heart failure, pneumonia and stroke each fell by about 30 per 1,000 admissions,
AHRQ said. Among other declines, the mortality rate for heart bypass surgery
fell by 20 per 1,000 admissions while the mortality rate for abdominal aortic
aneurysm repair fell by 29 per 1,000 admissions.
Read Report
News for Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Medicaid
AHA urges CMS to notify hospitals of payment update sooner [AHAnews.com]
In a letter today, the AHA expressed disappointment with the way the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified hospitals of their failure to
meet the inpatient pay-for-reporting program requirements for the fiscal year
2008 annual payment update.
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More
CMS
CMS releases wage index data for review [ahanews.com] The Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released for review preliminary hospital
wage and occupational mix data that will be used to develop the proposed fiscal
year 2009 wage index, to be published this spring. Hospitals should review
the data and submit any requests for revisions and supporting documentation
to their fiscal intermediaries or Medicare administrative contractors by Dec.
7, according to the FY 2009 wage index development timetable.
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More
Other
states
Gov. looks to lotto as healthcare fix [latimes.com] In a high-stakes
gamble to revitalize healthcare negotiations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed
Tuesday to lease California's lottery to a private firm and use the money
to help guarantee medical insurance for everyone. Schwarzenegger submitted
a 200-page bill to a special session of the Legislature. The framework is
largely the same as the plan he outlined in January but never submitted as
a bill, although it contains a number of concessions intended to appease labor
unions, physicians and some small businesses, all of which have persistently
opposed his vision.
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More
More
states sue HHS over SCHIP income rules
[AHAnews.com] New York, Illinois, Maryland and Washington on Oct. 4 filed
a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, challenging
new rules on states expanding income eligibility for the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program. Recent legislation to reauthorize SCHIP would have
rolled back the new rules, which limit the ability of states to cover children
above 250% of the federal poverty level, but was vetoed by President Bush.
Read
More
Data
Collection
How Data on Cancer Are Collected and Used [neworktimes.com] Every
state has a law requiring it to have a cancer surveillance program and collect
specific information about every patient whose cancer was diagnosed by a doctor
in that state. Although most patients are not aware of the programs, doctors
and hospitals are. They provide the patient data, which include the name,
address, age and race of every patient, as well as information on the type
of tumor and its spread. The federal government helps pay for the registries
and coordinates the aggregation of state data but does not have the legal
authority to collect the data itself.
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More
News for Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Medicaid
Medicaid spending jumps sharply [USAtoday.com] Medicaid spending
has started to soar again, a sharp reversal from last year when costs unexpectedly
fell for the first time since the program began in 1965. The state-federal
health care program for the poor experienced a 10.7% jump in costs during
the first six months of the year, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Bureau
of Economic Analysis data. That's the biggest increase since 2001 and puts
Medicaid on pace to spend a record $330 billion in 2007.
Read
More
Medicare
Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans [newyorktimes.com]Tens
of thousands of Medicare recipients have been victims of deceptive sales tactics
and had claims improperly denied by private insurers that run the system’s
huge new drug benefit program and offer other private insurance options encouraged
by the Bush administration, a review of scores of federal audits has found.
Read
More
Children’s
Health
Bush calls for compromise on children's healthcare [LATImes.com]
President Bush indicated Saturday that he would be willing to accept a larger
increase for a children's health insurance program than the one he has proposed,
but defended his veto of the expansion of coverage approved by Congress. Bush's
long-promised veto Wednesday set off an ideological battle about who holds
responsibility for extending healthcare benefits to uninsured children: the
government or the private sector.
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More
Governor,
Bush aide clash over health plan [Northjersey.com] top Bush administration
official went on a national television news show Sunday morning to attack
New Jersey's version of a controversial health insurance program. Governor
Corzine defended the state's plan, which has the nation's highest income limits
and covers adults in a program originally intended for children.
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More
Palliative
Care
Care of Dying Is Outlined by W.H.O.
[neworktimes.com] Saying that “everyone has the right to be treated,
and die, with dignity,” the World Health Organization yesterday issued
its first guide to planning end-of-life care. The 51-page document was aimed
not at individual doctors, but at national health ministers, said one of its
authors, Dr. Cecilia Sepúlveda, palliative care expert with the health
organization.
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More
News for Friday, October 5, 2007
The
Uninsured
AHRQ: One-third of The “Continuously Uninsured” Are Middle Income
America [medicalnewstoday.com] More than 17 million Americans under
age 65 - almost a third of whom are middle income, could be considered continuously
uninsured. This means that they have not had health insurance to help cover
their medical bills for at least four years, according to the latest News
and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Middle income
Americans are defined as living in families earning between 200 percent and
400 percent of the federal poverty thresholds, which vary according to family
size and composition. In 2004, the base year for these data, poverty level
income for a family of four averaged $19,307.
Read More
Member
News
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations Awards UMDNJ $1.5 Million Grant
[umdnj.org] The grant will be for Tuberculosis study. During the next two
years, a researcher from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New
Jersey Medical School, Public Health Research Institute Center will study
how to combat the potentially harmful response of a patient's immune system
to antibiotics which renders the drug ineffective in killing the tuberculosis
bacteria.
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More
Hospital
News
Barnert Hospital will close its maternity ward and five other clinics to save
money to remain open until November [northjersey.com] By Oct. 12
the Paterson institution will shutter its urology, podiatry, wound care and
weight-reduction surgery departments, along with obstetrics, according to
documents filed by hospital attorneys Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Newark. St. Joseph's, Paterson's only other hospital, is "willing and
able" to take patients from the affected departments, said Nancy Collins,
a St. Joe's spokeswoman. Administrators selected the departments to close
because they are not defined by law as "acute" or emergency care,
Clark said. The hospital will continue to provide gynecological and family
planning services.
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More
News for Thursday, October 4, 2007
Hospital
News
Impact of hospitals losing some Medicare funds will be felt immediately
[njherald.com] Now that higher reimbursement rates have expired; several area
hospitals are expected to lose several million dollars collectively over the
next few months in federal Medicare payments. With the expiration of the higher
rates on Sunday, seven of the 80 full-service hospitals in New Jersey are
set to lose $15 million in additional revenue by the end of the year. A group
of hospital representatives and federal legislators, including U.S. Rep. Scott
Garrett, R-Wantage, have been calling for a two-year extension of the higher
rates. A new legislative bill is in the works to make those higher rates retroactive
to today, meaning that hospitals would not see any financial losses.
Read More
New
Jersey Healthcare
New Poll from the Rutgers Center For State Health Policy [nj.com] More than
half of New Jersey voters say they would be willing to raise taxes to ensure
that everyone has health insurance they can't lose, a new poll showed today.
In a survey of 1,104 adults, the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy found
that 57.1 percent would support some tax increase, while 47.9 percent said
they would accept an increase larger than $500 annually. A smaller group -
38.7 percent - said they opposed any tax increase.
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More
New
Jersey parents fear loss of coverage [bergenrecord.com] The Bush
veto endangers care for the 124,000 children and 80,000 parents who use New
Jersey's children's health insurance program, known as NJ FamilyCare, according
to a press release issued Wednesday by Gov. Jon S. Corzine's office. Those
families have incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but below a benchmark
of about $72,000 for a family of four. "If this program is not reauthorized,
those children and their families might lose their coverage or alternatively
New Jersey taxpayers will be forced to pick up the tab," Corzine said
in the press release.
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More
Patient
Care
Systems to Transfer Patients To Best-Equipped Hospitals Fall Short in Most
States [wsj.com]
Trauma from injuries including accidents, falls and violence is the leading
cause of death for Americans under the age of 44, claiming more than 140,000
lives and permanently disabling 80,000 people annually. But only one in four
lives in an area served by a coordinated system to transfer patients to designated
trauma centers from less-equipped hospitals, according to the American College
of Surgeons, which sets standards for trauma care. And only eight state trauma
systems met nationally recommended preparedness levels in a study by the federal
government after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. While some progress
has been made, many states remain woefully unprepared, trauma experts say.
Read
More
Quality
RWJ Foundation Pledges Millions to Improve Quality [healthdatamanagement.com]
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has pledged $15.9 million in grants to
develop and test a national approach to use I.T. to provide health care quality
and cost data to the public. The Princeton, N.J.-based foundation, the largest
philanthropy devoted exclusively to health care issues, has long funded programs
that demonstrate the benefits of health care information technology.
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More
News for Wednesday, October 3, 2007
SCHIP
Vetoed Today
President Bush vetoed the $35 billion expansion of the current State Children's
Health Insurance Program [foxnews.com] arguing the new program offers
government-run health care to too many Americans who don't need it. Democrats
are confident they have a winning issue, and are working hard to find enough
votes in the House to override the veto. The Senate already has enough votes
to override.
Read More
Universal
Healthcare
Gov. Rendell making another run at providing universal healthcare in Pennsylvania
[nytimes.com] The goal is to cover the state's 767,000 residents with no health
insurance, 70 percent of whom are employed. The latest effort to win passage
of the "Cover All Pennsylvanians" legislation begins today with
a rally at the Capitol sponsored by labor groups and advocates for the uninsured.
A poll also will be released that advocates say shows strong voter support
for health-care reform. The "Cover All Pennsylvanians" legislation
is the centerpiece of Rendell's sweeping health-care package. Six other health-related
bills that were part of that package have already been passed by the legislature.
Read
More
Medicare
Doctors, Physician Groups, Hospitals Increasingly Push for Medicare Reimbursement
Cuts To Be Blocked [kaisernetwork.org] With a Medicare reimbursement
cut of 10% scheduled for physicians in January 2008, health care providers
and their "well-armed lobbyists are pressing Democratic leaders to make
the first changes to Medicare policy since they took control of Congress,"
CQ Weekly reports. The cut could have a wide impact because it is likely to
affect reimbursement rates from insurers, who typically use government programs'
payment levels as guidelines. The American Medical Association has said Medicare
reimbursement cuts could threaten quality of care, also noting that a survey
this year of almost 9,000 doctors showed that 60% of respondents would limit
the number of new Medicare patients they would take if the cut goes into effect.
Read
More
2008
IRS Guidelines
Hospitals Strive to better Report Community Benefit Initiatives Better
[aamc.org] Beginning with the 2008 tax year, a proposed revision in an Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) federal tax reporting form will require all tax-exempt
hospitals to document their community benefit programs. Changes to IRS Form
990 will provide the federal government with a better understanding of how
teaching hospitals benefit their communities through educational services,
re-search, charity care, and other public endeavors. Non-profit hospitals,
including teaching hospitals, receive tax exemptions at both the federal and
state levels. The changes to the IRS Form 990 come at a time of increased
government interest in community benefit documentation. Recently, several
institutions faced local and federal scrutiny over whether they are proffering
enough community service activities to merit tax-exempt status.
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More
Quality
National Quality Forum meeting highlights progress, details how far there
is to go to improve care delivery
[modernhealthcare.com] Many high-level quality officials, government and insurance
representatives, and healthcare practitioners gathered in Washington for the
membership meeting and policy conference. Many of them spoke eloquently on
the need for better standards, improved performance measurements and financial
incentives that award high performers. These initiatives are hardly new, and
they are generally accepted by the healthcare community to be worthy, if still
unattainable goals.
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More
News for Tuesday, October 2, 2007
SCHIP
Corzine’s Announcement of the New Jersey Lawsuit against the Bush Administration
Rules [state.nj.us] Office of the Governor, released October 1, 2007.
Read
Corzine Statement
Other
States Now Plan To File Lawsuit Against Bush Administration Challenging New
SCHIP Eligibility Rules [nytimes.com] Gov. Eliot Spitzer said yesterday
that New York, joined by six other states, would file suit against the Bush
administration, challenging stricter eligibility rules for the government
health insurance program that covers poor children. Separately, Gov. Jon S.
Corzine announced yesterday that New Jersey filed a similar suit against the
administration.
Read
More
Medicare
Medicare Part B Premiums To Increase by only 3.1% in 2008 to $96.40 Per Month
[usatoday.com] Elderly and disabled people will see their Medicare
premiums rise 3.1 percent next year to $96.40 a month — the lowest increase
in six years. The good news is temporary, though. The formula used to calculate
the premium assumes that physicians will take a 10 percent cut in their reimbursement
rates next year, an unlikely occurrence. If, as expected, Congress acts to
offset some of that pay cut or to eliminate it, premiums in future years would
go up to reflect the additional expense. Another factor in the lower-than-usual
premium increase was the fixing of an accounting error that otherwise would
have added $2.50 to beneficiaries' monthly premiums in 2008.
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More
Patient
Care
The AHA recently called for changes in the patient assessment tool being tested
by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [ahanews.com]
Under this demonstration, general acute hospitals would be required to use
the new Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) to assess all Medicare
beneficiaries during discharge, rather than their current assessment instruments.
Post-acute providers also would use the new tool to assess patients during
admission and discharge. In comments on the proposal, the AHA applauded the
agency’s efforts to base post-acute payment on patient characteristics
rather than care setting. But the association said the CARE assessment tool
would unnecessarily burden hospital staff and patients.
Read
More
A
nationwide HRSA pilot program seeks to show that more directly involving pharmacists
with patients can improve care and lower the cost of treating patients with
chronic illnesses [usatoday.com] patients with diabetes who participated
in the program during the past two years reduced their blood sugar levels
by 3.7 percentage points and decreased their blood pressure to near normal
levels. Patients with diabetes who participated in the program at the El Rio
Community Health Center in Tucson, Ariz., had lower blood sugar levels than
patients who received standard care after 6 months. Such results "could
help lead to more such efforts, as both government health programs and private
insurers look for ways to control some of the most costly diseases,"
and "reduce hospitalization and other medical costs for insurers,"
according to USA Today. Jimmy Mitchell, director of the Office of Pharmacy
Affairs at the Health Resources and Services Administration, called the program
the "future of the practice of pharmacy".
Read
More
News for Monday, October 1, 2007
Hospital
News
Deadly delays
feared when NJ hospital shuts down [northjersey.com] Pascack Valley
Hospital's closing will force residents in the area to travel farther to get
to a hospital – miles and minutes that can mean the difference between
life and death in an emergency, say worried officials in surrounding towns.
"In time of an emergency, seconds count," said Louis Lamatina, mayor
of Emerson. "It will have a devastating impact on our town. When you
have an emergency, that's when the absence of a local hospital will be most
felt. That's when you need the comfort of a hospital right there."
Read
More
SCHIP
N.J. insurance program becomes D.C. scapegoat [northjersey.com]
New Jersey's policy of offering subsidized health insurance to children in
families earning as much as $72,275 was repeatedly singled out this week by
critics of a congressional effort to renew the program. Even the White House
has pointed to New Jersey's generous benefits in explaining President Bush's
opposition to raising cigarette taxes to fund a $35 billion, five-year extension
of the program.
Read
More
Medicare
Cost of Medicare drug plans going up [usatoday.com] Many seniors and the disabled
enrolled in the Medicare drug program are likely to pay more next year, with
the average premium for all stand-alone drug plans rising 8.7% to $40 a month,
according to data released last week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services. "Plans that are popular are raising prices because they understand
that seniors are not interested in switching," says Dan Mendelson, president
of Avalere Health, a private research firm that analyzed the Medicare data.
Read
More
News for Friday, September 28, 2007
Federal
New Law Ensures Access to Medical Treatments and Information
[HHS.gov] Following the President’s signature of the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) Amendments Act, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt praised the bill as an important
step forward in ensuring the safety of drugs and medical devices. “Facilitating
safe and timely access to effective medicines is a critical mission of the
federal government,” Secretary Leavitt said. “These laws will
greatly benefit the public health of our nation, and keep us on a path to
ensuring Americans have access to the best medications and devices available
to lead longer and healthier lives.”
Read
More
Proposed PSO Rule
AHA, others urge HHS to publish PSO rule [ahanews.org] The
AHA, American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American
College of Surgeons, American Dental Association and The Joint Commission
today urged Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to promptly publish
a proposed rule for Patient Safety Organizations.
Read
More
Report Assails
F.D.A. Oversight of Clinical Trials [Newyorktimes.com] The Food and
Drug Administration does very little to ensure the safety of the millions
of people who participate in clinical trials, a federal investigator has found.
In a report due to be released Friday, the inspector general of the Department
of Health and Human Services, Daniel R. Levinson, said federal health officials
did not know how many clinical trials were being conducted, audited fewer
than 1 percent of the testing sites and, on the rare occasions when inspectors
did appear, generally showed up long after the tests had been completed.
Read
More
News for Thursday, September 27, 2007
State
News
New
Jersey Doctors sue to halt fee cuts for treating crash injuries
[northjersey.com] Thousands of doctors are suing to stop the state from changing
-- in some cases lowering by half -- the fees they get for treating auto accident
victims. The state Department of Banking and Insurance wants to cap the fees
on 92 personal-injury treatment procedures physicians use -- and on an additional
1,000 procedures. This proposal would amend the current New Jersey law, which
requires that the fees be capped according to "reasonable and prevailing
fees of 75 percent of the practitioners in the region." The suit, brought
by the Medical Society of New Jersey and several medical specialty organizations
for physicians, asks a state appeals court to hold off on implementing the
new fee schedule.
Read
More
SCHIP
New
Jersey pols split 10-3 in favor of the program [thnt.com] Ten New Jersey congressmen
voted for a $35 billion expansion of a children’s health insurance program
the House has approved. The remaining three voted against the legislation
to renew and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program late
last night. Gov. Jon Corzine had written to the Garden State delegation, urging
them to vote yes on SCHIP, which helps NJ FamilyCare insure some 122,000 low-
and middle-income children and nearly 90,000 low-income adults. The final
vote in the House was 265-159, which indicates insufficient support to overturn
President Bush’s threatened veto.
Read
More
Medicare
Senate
Committee Has Begun To Draft Bill To Prevent Reduction in Medicare Physician
Payments [Kaisernetwork.org] The Senate Finance Committee has begun
to draft a bill that would eliminate a 10% reduction in Medicare reimbursements
to physicians scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2008, according to Democratic
committee aide Shawn Bishop, CQ Today reports. The legislation would finance
the elimination of the reduction through a decrease in reimbursements to Medicare
Advantage plans. He said that the committee has not made a decision about
the amount of the decrease, adding, "This is not a slash and burn exercise
here on Medicare Advantage."
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Children’s
Health
U.S.
Faces Shortage of Pediatric Subspecialists [courierpostonline.com]
Despite an increase in the number of specialty pediatricians over the past
decade, there is a nationwide shortage of pediatric subspecialists, particularly
in rural areas, the Houston Chronicle reports. According to the American Board
of Pediatrics, about 1,200 freshman fellows were enrolled in pediatric subspecialties
in 2006 -- about twice the number enrolled in 1997 -- but the number of available
pediatric subspecialists is not enough to meet the growing demand for their
services.
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