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The antitrust exemption for health insurers: Meaningful or not? Kaiser Health News Share     With comprehensive health care legislation foundering in Congress, the House is turning to a narrower piece of legislation that lawmakers hope has widespread, populist appeal: repealing the antitrust exemption for health and medical liability insurers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the bill is likely to be on the floor next week. More Governor Perdue Introduces Legislation, Constitutional Amendment to Create a Cabinet Form of Government Office of the Governor of Georgia Share
Governor Sonny Perdue announced Feb. 5 that Senator Bill Heath, the Governor's Floor Leader in the Senate, is introducing legislation and a Constitutional Amendment to create a cabinet form of government. Under the proposal the heads of the state's Agricultural, Insurance, Education, and Labor departments would be appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. More
Dems may add health provisions -- including COBRA subsidies and Medicare fixes -- to jobs bill Kaiser Health News Share
Lawmakers may include a number of Medicare "fixes" in the jobs bill, now that the health overhaul bill has stalled, The Hill reports. They would include restoring Medicare provisions that expired Jan. 1, or are set to expire later this year. "Nursing homes and rehabilitation therapy providers, along with patient groups, are pushing legislation to undo a hard-dollar cap on Medicare coverage of physical, speech and occupational therapy. Hospitals are seeking to restore special payments to large rural and small urban hospitals. Physicians also are pursuing the reinstatement of bonuses to rural doctors. More Study shows how Medicare rewards MDs for overuse Reuters Share
Medicare's move in 2005 to pay doctors to do bladder cancer surgery in their offices rather than in hospitals dramatically raised the number of procedures and overall health costs, U.S. researchers said on Feb. 8. More Put health costs on a diet The Boston Globe Share
Paying for health care on a fee-for-service basis is an engine for inflation. Last year, a state reform commission came up with a better proposal: pay doctors and hospitals a fixed annual amount for treating each patient's particular condition, with quality safeguards. But for such a "global" system to hold down costs, that annual amount has to go on a diet, with each year's increase ratcheted downward. Only in this way will patients and the doctors supervising their treatment have incentives to provide high-quality care in cost-efficient settings. More  Medicare reimbursement changes to affect cancer care TopNews Share
According to a recently released report, commissioned by the Community Oncology Alliance, reimbursement-related changes made to Medicare -- the U.S. federal health plan for the aged -- are probably detrimental to some crucial aspects of cancer care in the country. Calling for an immediate attention from Medicare, and underlining the need for health care reform in Congress, the report noted that a large number of centers that provide cancer care are running into losses, and some of them are on the verge of becoming insolvent. More Researchers identify genetic variant linked to faster biological aging Scientific American Share
There's no right answer when someone asks you: "How old do you think I am?" Faced with such a dilemma, most of us aim low—erring on the side of flattery rather than honesty. But the truth is, accurately guessing someone's age is a difficult task, perhaps best left to amusement park workers and street performers. Why is it that some people just look older (or younger) than they really are? Scientists may have found the answer. More CMS approves three national organizations to accredit suppliers of advanced imaging services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Share
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is designating three national accreditation organizations -- the American College of Radiology, the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, and The Joint Commission -- to accredit suppliers furnishing the technical component of advanced diagnostic imaging procedures. The accreditation requirement will apply only to the suppliers furnishing the imaging services, and not to the physician’s interpretation of the images. More
Is the U.S. swine flu epidemic over? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Share
If the U.S. swine flu epidemic isn't over, it certainly looks as if it's on its last legs. While federal health officials are not ready to declare the threat has passed and the outbreak has run its course, they did report that for the fourth week in a row, no states had widespread flu activity. U.S. cases have been declining since late October. More Using virus-free technique, stem cells transform into pluripotent TopNews Share
Using virus- free techniques, a way to transform the stem cells from human fat into stimulated pluripotent stem cells has been discovered by the Stanford University School of Medicine. They use sophisticated mathematical techniques to study the movements of stem cells. Mini circles, rings of DNA are used to inducepluripotent stem cells. There are also predictions about the kind of cells they will become. More |
 
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