health care

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Reform Ties Hospital Payments to Patient Satisfaction

But the customer isn't always right, hospitals complain

(Newser) - In a shift that is causing a lot of grumbling among health care professionals, payments to hospitals treating Medicare patients are being tied to patient happiness for the first time, the Wall Street Journal reports. The program, part of a larger pay-for-performance system built into ObamaCare, will help determine how...

Romney: People Don't Die at Home Because They Lack Insurance

The White House and liberal critics beg to differ

(Newser) - A comment from Mitt Romney on health insurance is making waves, especially among critics on the left. Speaking to the Columbus Dispatch editorial board (in all-important Ohio), Romney sought to convey the notion that sick people wouldn't be left high and dry with the repeal of ObamaCare. His quote:...

Next-Gen Diagnostic Tool: Your Breath

High-tech tests can detect growing number of illnesses

(Newser) - Doctors since ancient times have been able to detect ailments from the smell of a patient's breath, and the practice is now getting a boost from 21st-century technology, the Wall Street Journal finds. Researchers are identifying thousands of compounds that leave traces in exhaled breath and developing tools that...

Less-Regulated Pharmacies Take Heat in Meningitis Crisis

'Compounding pharmacies' make drugs with weaker oversight

(Newser) - The death toll in an ongoing meningitis outbreak has hit five, with 35 sick in six states, the AP reports. What's more, hundreds or thousands could be at risk across 23 states after receiving potentially tainted steroid injections, and health providers are rushing to warn them of the danger....

4 Dead as Meningitis Outbreak Spreads

30 sick in 5 states; disease traced to Massachusetts pharmacy

(Newser) - A meningitis outbreak linked to epidural steroid injections has now spread to five states; four victims have died, while 30 others are sick, and experts expect the numbers to continue climbing. Scientists have tied the illness to a steroid tainted with the Aspergillus fungus. All victims so far had received...

Medicare Drug Premiums Set to Soar


 Medicare 
 Drug Premiums 
 Set to Soar 
NEW REPORT
Sep 25, 2012 7:35 AM CDT

Medicare Drug Premiums Set to Soar

Seven of 10 top plans will jump by double digits: analysts

(Newser) - Seniors covered by top Medicare prescription drug plans may want to start looking elsewhere for coverage: Seven of the top 10 plans will see double-digit premium hikes next year, according to a private firm's analysis. The Obama administration was technically right to say the average premium for basic drug...

Electronic Medical Records May Be Raising Costs

Critics says it's simple for doctors, hospitals to overcharge Medicare now

(Newser) - Electronic medical records are supposed to make things better, right? The idea is to make billing and care more efficient, which should reduce costs, too. Except, the New York Times reports that Medicare has been shelling out substantially more money to hospitals in recent years, thanks in part to the...

Drop in Circumcisions Could Raise Health Care Costs
As Circumcision Rates Fall, Health Care Costs Jump
STUDY SAYS
Aug 21, 2012 3:49 AM CDT

As Circumcision Rates Fall, Health Care Costs Jump

Medicaid shouldn't drop procedure, researchers say

(Newser) - American health care costs could be snipped significantly if the fall in circumcision rates was reversed, a new study claims. Around 55% of baby boys in the US are circumcised (down from 79% three decades ago), and 18 states have reduced funding for the procedure. If levels fall to Europe'...

Hospitals Should Be More Like ... Cheesecake Factory
Hospitals Should Be More Like ... Cheesecake Factory
in case you missed it
Aug 11, 2012 6:53 AM CDT

Hospitals Should Be More Like ... Cheesecake Factory

Atul Gawande argues for standardized health care

(Newser) - Medicine is plagued with inconsistency—different doctors have different preferred procedures; outcomes and costs are not predictable—and in an extensive New Yorker piece, Atul Gawande offers up a proposed solution: "Create Cheesecake Factories for health care." The doctor and author is serious—so serious that he spent...

Romney a Fan of ... Israel's Socialized Health Care

Mitt praises health care system at fundraiser

(Newser) - Mitt Romney simply cannot wait to repeal ObamaCare, but he is a fan of Israel's health care system … which has been socialized since its founding in 1948, BuzzFeed points out. During his visit to the country, Romney today praised Israel for spending so little on health care: "...

Romney Booed in NAACP Speech

Crowd jeers when he talks about repealing ObamaCare

(Newser) - Mitt Romney spoke to the NAACP national convention today, and most of the headlines are centering on the boos he got when he started talking about ObamaCare and the president himself. He endured three rounds of jeering in all, which amounted to the "most hostile reception of his campaign...

House on ObamaCare Vote: Now We're Repealing a Tax

GOP gleefully bandying about 'T' word in 31st vote

(Newser) - House Republicans will vote to repeal the health care reform law today, and if that sounds familiar, it's because they've done it 30 times already . But this time House leaders are gleefully bandying about the "T" word in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling that...

Obama, Romney, and the Truth About Health Care

AP runs down a few of their biggest distortions

(Newser) - We're getting a lot of conflicting information about how the health law will shape our future—and unsurprisingly, neither the current inhabitant of the Oval Office nor the man who would replace him is giving us the full picture. The AP parses President Obama and Mitt Romney's biggest...

GlaxoSmithKline Settles Fraud Case for Record $3B

It's the largest penalty ever paid by a health care company in US

(Newser) - GlaxoSmithKline is about to set a new record: It's paying $3 billion in what government officials say is the largest health care fraud settlement in US history, the AP reports. The company will plead guilty to charges related to three drugs, the Justice Department says: Prosecutors say GSK promoted...

Canadians Don't Threaten to Move to US

Hilariously, Americans vowed to head north over health care ruling

(Newser) - A lot of people were upset over yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in favor of health care reform, and BuzzFeed noticed that more than a few were protesting in a pretty hilarious fashion: by threatening to move to Canada. "I'm moving to Canada, the United States is entirely...

Some States on ObamaCare Deadlines: Who Cares?

Several skeptical of expanding Medicaid, too

(Newser) - The Supreme Court's ObamaCare decision is putting many states in a tight place: They've got to set up exchanges, the law's health insurance markets, by Jan. 1, 2014. But by Jan. 1, 2013, they have to show those exchanges will be ready on time—or the feds...

Health Insurance Ads Go Cuddly

Firms shift marketing toward individual consumers

(Newser) - Health insurers are targeting a new audience: you. If the health care law's individual mandate remains intact, the companies could be looking at 120 million new potential customers by 2020, an analyst tells the New York Times . Regardless of the Supreme Court decision on the law, insurers believe the...

Top Insurer: Law or Not, We'll Keep ObamaCare

UnitedHealthcare to maintain preventive services, other Obama rules

(Newser) - Elements of President Obama's health care law will survive regardless of the Supreme Court's decision. The nation's biggest health insurer, UnitedHealthcare—which covers some 9 million people—plans to maintain several sections of the law's "Patient's Bill of Rights": It will continue to offer...

Two-Thirds Want to Dump ObamaCare


 Two-Thirds 
 Want to Dump 
 ObamaCare 
NEW POLL
Jun 7, 2012 11:10 AM CDT

Two-Thirds Want to Dump ObamaCare

Just 24% want justices to keep ObamaCare intact

(Newser) - With a Supreme Court ruling due by the end of June, two-thirds of Americans want at least a piece of ObamaCare overturned, a New York Times/CBS News poll finds. The results mark little change since before Supreme Court arguments in March. About 41% say the whole law should be dropped;...

Retiring? Better Have $240K for Health Care

Fidelity releases annual estimate

(Newser) - Retiring this year? You and you significant other will need $240,000 for health care expenses, according to Fidelity Investments' latest annual projection. That's up 4% from last year's $230,000 estimate, which is a typical—and actually fairly modest—increase, BusinessWeek reports. Since 2002's $160,000...

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