Medicare Part D news from FierceHealthcare

After years of allegations that management engaged in financial manipulations to feather their own nest, some might see this as a bit of karma. Having already missed its first quarter financial Read more...

A new report from the HHS Office of Inspector General has given pharmacies ammunition in their fight for better reimbursement under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. According to the report, Read more...

Misbehavior and administrative problems are surprisingly common within Medicare contractors, according to a new review of federal audits by The New York Times. In particular, plans are having Read more...

> Brace yourself: it looks like Medicare is about to change the way it pays hospitals. Blog > On another Medicare note, Read more...

A new study released by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee suggests that the healthcare industry is taking a leading role in funding the campaigns of this season's crop of presidential hopefuls. The CNA/NNOC analysis concludes that healthcare industry players contributed $3.7 million to current candidates during the first quarter of 2007. It also notes that the industry--which it defines as including drug and insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, …

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> A Pennsylvania health reform plan backed aggressively by Gov. Ed Rendell (D) may not pass this year. Article

> Following peers elsewhere, a Jacksonville, FL hospital has developed a bloodless medicine and surgery program aimed at patients who reject transfusions. …

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While it's all well and good to expand health coverage to more uninsured Americans, doing so would impose an untenable burden on the federal budget, according to a top government official. Government Accountability Office head David Walker says that existing federal government commitments such as Social Security and Medicare are already breaking the federal bank. While some have suggested that …

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> Federal analysts say that the government's new Medicare Part D drug program has slowed the rate of growth in the amount of money being spent on therapeutics as insurers negotiate lower prices for members. But the trajectory of spending on healthcare in the U.S. will continue to arc upwards, leading to 2016 when the federal government will cover the cost of 50 percent of all care provided. …

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The new Democrat-controlled House followed through on a campaign promise--and ignored a presidential veto threat--by passing legislation requiring the federal government to negotiate bulk drug purchases for Medicare Part D. The Friday vote then set the Washington spin machine into a pre-holiday frenzy, and the Capitol Hill press corps took full advantage of the rhetorical flourishes. "Those who insist that the sky will fall if drug companies negotiate lower prescription prices are arguing …

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Healthcare was on the minds of politicians this week. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed his …

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