Most seniors now have drug coverage, U-M study shows
...Human Services, with roughly a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in stand-alone Part D coverage in 2006. But using data from the Health and Retirement Study, the researchers were able to go beyond the official statistics to show that rich and poor were equally likely to sign up for Part D and private co...Physician and congressional leaders convene on Capitol Hill
...anner that reflects the costs of providing care to beneficiaries and not be based upon an inaccurate and inequitable financial formula that fails to account for changes in practice patterns, coverage determinations, and new treatment options and technologies....A new direction: Integrating best-practices to improve food responses
...at proper quantities of food aid reach appropriate beneficiaries at appropriate times, says Maxwell. In addition to providing aid for those who need it, good targeting helps to prevent the unintended consequences of food aid displaced trade or production incentives, or labor market distortions by not providing f...Weill Cornell Medical College announces gifts totaling $400M
...atients and the people we serve will be the direct beneficiaries of these gifts, which will support and promote our educational programs, research, recruiting efforts and patient services. We are committed to producing the finest doctors, generating research to relieve human suffering, provide excellent patient c...UCLA Stroke Center receives American Stroke Association's Initial Achievement Award
...higher. In 1999, $3.4 billion was paid to Medicare beneficiaries discharged from short-stay hospitals for stroke. Americans are estimated to pay about $56.8 billion in 2005 for stroke-related medical costs and disability. ...ACP challenges Congress to make 'fundamental changes' in Medicare payment policies
...prehensive, coordinated, and longitudinal care for beneficiaries through a physician-directed, Patient-Centered Medical Home," noted ACP President David C. Dale, MD, FACP."It is a rare opportunity to realign payment incentives to: help physicians deliver the care that patients need and want; recognize the val...Opening of specialty cardiac hospitals associated with increase in rate of cardiac procedures
...ary intervention [PCI]), CABG, and PCI of Medicare beneficiaries from 1995 through 2003. Hospital referral regions (HRRs) were used to categorize health care markets into those where (1) cardiac hospitals opened (n = 13), (2) new cardiac programs opened at general hospitals (n = 142), and (3) no new programs opene...Do specialty heart hospitals drive up heart care use? Study suggests the answer is yes
...ically, the study, which was performed in Medicare beneficiaries 65 years or older, shows that the opening of a new specialty cardiac hospital is associated with a regional rise in heart procedures to open clogged arteries such as bypass surgery and angioplasties. The rise was twice as great as the rise that occu...American College of Physicians commends MedPAC support for physician-directed care coordination
...medical home" (PC-MH), a model that would provide beneficiaries with access to systems-based care coordinated by ...h may also result in increased access problems for beneficiaries in these high volume areas. Finally, providing different updates in the physician fee schedule bas...Health providers could save billions without compromising health care says drug study
...scheme means that taxpayers, insurers and Medicare beneficiaries could save $8.2 billion in 2007 alone if there were a move to shift statin prescribing to the lower cost generic statins." "The authors should be congratulated on their study, which serves as a beacon for the NHS and the wider medical community...Study finds major variation in Medicare Rx drug costs
...ys Davis. "It is extremely important that Medicare beneficiaries use the online cost calculator or get other assistance as they choose their plans," he adds, "because choosing a plan based on a familiar name may not lead to the lowest costs for a person's medicines." One bright spot in the study came when the aut...Blood transfusions raise heart patients' infection and death risk -- especially women
...udy is based on analysis of data from all Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older who had coronary artery bypass operations in Michigan in a single year. The researchers performed statistical analyses that took into account the patients' blood transfusion status, their co-existing diseases, age, race, sex, and ...Extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans totaled $5.2 billion over fee-for-service costs in 2005
...rvice costs for each of about 5.6 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, for a t...dvantage plans are the best use of dollars for the beneficiaries the program is designed to serve," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. "These payments cou...September/October Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
... health care access and utilization among Medicaid beneficiaries concludes this study of 2,783 adults in the Oregon Health Plan. Importantly, the impact was felt by these patients within the first 10 months of these changes being made. Medicaid program reductions resulted in 31 percent of enrolled adults losi...AAFP, ACP and AOA meet with Congress on Medicare reimbursements to physicians
...dicare physician payments would have upon Medicare beneficiaries and their access to health care. The physician...nd assure health care to our seniors." "Medicare beneficiaries rely upon their primary care physicians not only for quality health care, but also for access to oth...American College of Physicians expresses support for executive order on health care transparency
...vidual physicians can take to provide patients and beneficiaries with information on quality, the fees charged for ...and other government agencies. Make available to beneficiaries the prices that agencies pay for common procedures. Develop and identify practices that promote h...Majority of health care opinion leaders say Medicare Part D helps beneficiaries, changes are needed
...all of their covered costs--will, on balance, help beneficiaries who are most vulnerable to high drug costs. Resp...asset test does not arbitrarily exclude low-income beneficiaries from participating in the Part D subsidy; ensuring that every beneficiary has the coverage most appr...Mount Sinai School of Medicine receives prestigious AAMC Grant for Chronic Illness Care education
...ast one chronic disease and 85 percent of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic disease. The cost to the United States is staggering--75 percent of all health care spending goes to caring for those patients. "The number of chronically ill increases as the elderly population grows. It is essential that w...Medicare Advantage plans not always a good deal
...ew Commonwealth Fund report finds. The report says beneficiaries in poor health can spend up to $2,195 more in annu...n 44 areas across the nation. They found costs for beneficiaries in good health lower in all 88 MA plans and, for those in fair health, all but two MA plans had lowe...... costs. The study involved nearly 229,000 Medicare beneficiaries who received ICDs between January 1995 and September 2003. Nathan Goldstein, MD, assistant professor of geriatrics at Mt. Sinai Medical Center noted, "This study emphasizes the need for physicians to make culturally-sensitive decisions when counselin...