estimates

HCA said this morning that its third-quarter profit will probably not match Wall Street's estimates as damage from the Gulf Coast hurricanes takes its toll. The company projects earnings of between 61 cents to 63 cents per share, lower than the 66 cents per share analysts had expected. HCA said it will buy back up to 50 million of its shares. The stock was up slightly on the combined news.

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The potential for an avian flu pandemic remains a major national story. President Bush today meets with pharma company representatives to discuss ways to increase production. Unconfirmed reports suggest the administration is making plans to raise the nation's stockpile of Tamiflu from 12 million doses to 81 million doses. Critics say the move comes too late as other countries have already placed major orders with Roche, the antiviral's manufacturer. According to some estimates, the …

Is it possible that the pharmaceutical industry could be dealt a major setback in California come November? It's beginning to look like that once unthinkable prospect is now a distinct possibility. Support appears to be growing for Proposition 79, the consumer-group backed ballot initiative which would require drug companies to offer discounts to the poor and allow the state more control over drug pricing for MediCal. Californians seem to like the drug industry-backed proposal as well, …

An audit by New York State has found mismanagement and inept accounting practices at Westchester Medical Center but exonerated the facility of fraud charges. The new report details the spectacular virtual collapse of a hospital which was $7 million in the black in 2000 but over the next four years managed to find ways to lose a staggering $200 million. The audit determined that accounting estimates at the hospital were off by a shocking degree, usually by millions of dollars every month. …

With malpractice insurance becoming increasingly expensive and harder to come by, The Wall Street Journal looks at physician efforts to set up their own insurance companies and purchasing pools. The paper examines risk retention groups, captive insurers and group purchasing strategies, tactics growing increasingly popular among physicians. Conning Research and Consulting, a unit of Swiss Reinsurance, estimates that the market for so-called alternative insurance has grown to $18 …

A UCLA study out today found that the number of workers in California who have employer-based health insurance has fallen again, this time dropping about 2 percent to 54.5 percent. The study noted an even more serious decline in the total number of children with insurance coverage, which fell 4 percent to 52.1 percent. That puts California in jeopardy of becoming the first big state in which the majority of children do not have health insurance. Author Richard E. Brown estimates that …

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) announced this morning that the premium for participants in the new prescription drug benefit for Medicare will be significantly lower than expected. Officials said those signing up for the plan can expect to pay about $32.20 per month, about 15 percent less than earlier estimates. That will "make the benefit more attractive to more people," said CMS administrator Mark McClellan.

The decision is likely to be seen by critics as a …

Express Scripts said it will pay $1.3 billion for Florida specialty pharmacy company Priority Healthcare. The move is expected to strengthen St. Louis-based Express Scripts' position in a field it entered only a year ago with the acquisition of CuraScript. Analysts say the recent trend toward therapies delivered at homes and in doctors' offices make the specialty business an attractive buy. Some estimates suggest the specialty pharmacy sector could double in the next few years, with the …

The New York Times continues its sensational investigation of Medicaid fraud in New York. This morning, the newspaper looks at how regulatory oversight of the program has changed over the years, detailing how what was once one of the most tightly controlled government programs in the country became one of the most fraud-ridden in history. The paper reports that since the 1980s, the state has reduced the number of staff working on regulatory enforcement by more than half. …

Ten years ago it would not have been technologically possible. But today home dialysis systems are transforming the way many patients with kidney failure receive their care. Newer hemodialysis systems are about the size of a suitcase, much smaller than the older generation which took up the space of a refrigerator. That makes it possible for patients to receive dialysis at home. The FDA has approved new models from Aksys and NxStage Medical. In Southern California, Kaiser Permanente has …