WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about two multi-billion dollar insurance mergers on Tuesday, using a Senate hearing to take issue with the companies’ arguments that they face expanding competition from new rivals. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, said he was worried that consumers would be “locked…
Articles by Natasha Yetman
U.S. Says 17.6 Million Americans Have Gained Health Insurance
(Reuters)—The U.S. national healthcare reform law has extended health insurance coverage to 17.6 million Americans, according to a new government report on Tuesday, up from its previous estimate of 16.4 million. The number of uninsured has decreased because of changes in the law that allowed young people to stay on their parents’ health plans for…
How Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Payments Could Affect Primary Care
(Reuters Health)—Medicare’s new “chronic care management” (CCM) payment program could make it more financially feasible for physicians to deliver services between visits. Under the new program, Medicare could reimburse primary care practices about $40 month for such things as medication management and communication with other doctors for patients who have two or more chronic medical…
Adventist Health System to Pay $118 Million to Settle Fraud Claims
(Reuters)—Florida-based healthcare system Adventist Health System has agreed to pay $118.7 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that accused it of paying kickbacks to doctors in exchange for referrals, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced on Monday. The agreement comes in a lawsuit filed by three former employees of Adventist’s Park Ridge Health hospital in Hendersonville,…
Reforms Needed to Address Medical Diagnostic Errors
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Most Americans will fall victim to at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, and when this occurs, it often can be deadly, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the Institute of Medicine, which advises the U.S. government and policymakers. The report called for greater emphasis on improving diagnoses in the…
FDA’s ‘Breakthrough Drug’ Terminology Confuses the Public
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—What the Food and Drug Administration calls a ‘breakthrough’ drug is often not the same as what a layperson would call a breakthrough, a new study shows. The FDA uses the term more often, and for smaller advances, than people use it colloquially, and this may lead patients to have unwarranted confidence…
Chronic Care Management Payments Can Increase Primary Care Revenues
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Medicare’s new chronic care management (CCM) payments could boost revenues for primary care practices, but many could experience net losses due to opportunity costs of face-to-face visit time, according to results from a modeling study. “The loss of revenue when MD’s did all the work themselves was somewhat surprising,” Dr. Sanjay Basu,…
Methotrexate Halt Feasible in Some Etanercept RA Responders
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Certain rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients doing well on etanercept and methotrexate may be able to quit the latter agent if they have tolerability problems, according to an open-label Canadian study. In a Sept. 11 online paper in Rheumatology, Dr. Boulos Haraoui, of the University of Montreal, and colleagues noted that although combination…
Depression & Anxiety Linked to Poor Rheumatoid Arthritis Outcomes
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Rheumatoid arthritis patients with depression and anxiety symptoms may have worse outcomes and poorer response to prednisolone, a secondary analysis of the CARDERA trial has found. “The strength of association between depression/anxiety and disease activity outcomes and treatment response warrants routine screening,” the study’s lead author Faith Matcham at King’s College London…
Poverty May Increase Odds of Repeat Hospitalizations
(Reuters Health)—When patients are hospitalized more than once in the same month, it may have more to do with their income or education levels than the quality of care they received, a U.S. study suggests. Perhaps unsurprisingly, patients 85 and older are more likely to return to the hospital within 30 days of being sent…
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