Health Reform News for May 20, 2010
Posted by: emilyblahnik on: May 20, 2010
Health Care Reform News – May 20, 2010
TOP STORIES
Democrats Try to Calm Doctors’ Lobby on $88.5B Medicare Plan ; The Hill - May 20, 2010
House Democrats are seeking to assuage doctors worried about looming cuts to Medicare rates. The effort comes one day after the American Medical Association declared its opposition to a proposed five-year fix to the payment system, which it said only serves to kick the problem down the road. AMA supports repealing the Medicare payment formula.
Insurance
Study: Uninsured Don’t Go To the ER More Than Insured ; USA Today – May 20, 2010
Those with health insurance are just as likely to use the emergency room as people without insurance, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Transparency/Safety
FDA Urged to Make Public More Company Data; AP/Yahoo News – May 20, 2010
U.S. Food and Drug Administration should make more information public, including its reasons for refusing to approve a drug or device, an agency task force recommended on Wednesday.
State news
FL: Jackson Health System Consultant Fees Subject of Fierce Debate; The Miami Herald – May 20, 2010
Experts and politicians debate whether cash-strapped Jackson should spend $10 million for consultants.
MN: Twin Cities Nurses Reject Contract Offer, Setting the Stage for a Strike; The Minneapolis Star-Tribune – May 20, 2010
Minneapolis-St. Paul nurses voted overwhelmingly to authorize a one-day strike at 14 hospitals, raising the stakes for both sides in the struggle to reach a new contract.
Medicare/Medicaid
Disabled Face Hard Choices As States Slash Medicaid ; The Wall Street Journal - May 20, 2010
Home health care—funded largely by Medicaid—generally costs less money than institutionalizing developmentally disabled people. But the political reality is that it’s easier to cut back home services than to close a 24-hour facility, which can leave people with nowhere to go. Thus, some of the biggest cuts around the country are happening in the basic services that help the disabled cope at home.
Prescription drugs
Medco Report Finds Big Jump in Child Prescriptions; AP/ABC News – May 20, 2010
Prescription drug use among children grew several times faster than for adults last year, due in part to swine flu drugs and Type 2 diabetes medications, according to Medco Health Solutions Inc.
Employers
FACT CHECK: Tax-Cut Math Doesn’t Add Up For Some; AP/Google News – May 20, 2010
Tax credits to help small business pay for employee health coverage fall short of the “broad eligibility” White House officials promoted, The Associated Press reports.
Health Information Technology
MGMA Tells HHS New EMR Disclosure Requirements ‘Onerous’ ; HealthLeaders Media – May 20, 2010
The Medical Group Management Association told HHS this week that new HIPAA disclosure requirements for electronic medical records are burdensome, unnecessary, costly, and may discourage physicians from adopting the new technology.
Miscellaneous
Chip Pioneer, Genentech Vet Bring High-Tech Sensibility to Medicine ; The Wall Street Journal – May 20, 2010
The University of California-San Francisco is collaborating with the University of California, Berkeley to offer a two-year master’s degree in “translational medicine,” the discipline of transferring lab breakthroughs to the marketplace. A Q&A with
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