Medical News: ADA: Wal-Mart, Mail-Order Pharmacies Top Affordable Drug List - in Meeting Coverage, ADA from MedPage Today

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: June 09, 2009
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and
Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

NEW ORLEANS, June 9 -- Diabetes patients who shop for the best prices on prescription drugs at mail-order retailers and big-box discounters may save thousands of dollars a year, researchers found.
In an analysis of pricing data obtained from state attorneys general, Medco by Mail and Wal-Mart were the least expensive, while neighborhood and chain pharmacies generally charged the most, Clifton M. Jackness, M.D., and Ronald Tamler, M.D., Ph.D., both of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, N.Y., reported.
"Being an informed consumer is clearly beneficial," they said here at the American Diabetes Association meeting.
The total monthly out-of-pocket price for all 10 drugs most commonly prescribed to diabetes patients for any indication ranged from a low of $428.35 with Medco to a high of $641.90 with Rite Aid……

Medical News: ADA: Wal-Mart, Mail-Order Pharmacies Top Affordable Drug List - in Meeting Coverage, ADA from MedPage Today

NAHU Washington Update

Grassroots Efforts Needed to Preserve Account-Based Plans

Thanks to the great work of all of you and your faithful clients, we sent over 75,000 letters to Congress and the White House in May alone. As the weeks go on, please continue to not only participate in the calls to action, but keep encouraging members in your chapters to do so as well.
This week, we are calling on you to help protect and save consumer-driven health care products. Some members of Congress believe that changing the tax treatment of HSAs, FSAs and HRAs will help produce higher federal revenues that could be used to support comprehensive health care reform. Some even believe that there is no place for these plans in comprehensive health care reform.
There are three things you can do in defense of consumer-driven health care. The first step is to e-mail your representatives and senators urging them to oppose making any changes to the tax-preferred status of HSAs, FSAs and HRAs.
After you've sent your letter, direct your clients to one of the following links so they can e-mail their members of Congress with their support for these products. We have written three separate client letters this week. Each is specific to the plan type your clients may have so that they can reach out in support of the plans that they specifically offer to their employees:

Client letter in support of HSAs
Client letter in support of HRAs
Client letter in support of FSAs

Finally, we are compiling stories in defense of consumer-directed health care plans just as we did with Brokers Making a Difference. If you or any of your clients have success stories about HSAs, HRAs or FSAs, we want to hear about them. Submit your stories to CDHCstories@nahu.org. Also be sure to check out our HSA Alliance webpage and sign up for e-mail alerts so you can keep on top of developments regarding HSAs in Washington, DC.

NAHU Washington Update

Nursing Homes Rated - WSJ.com

By JANE ZHANG

The federal government is stepping up efforts to improve the quality of nursing-home care and now has an online tool consumers can use in evaluating facilities.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, will start running a pilot program this summer to see if cash incentives to nursing homes can improve the care they provide, especially in areas such as nurse staffing and preventable hospitalizations.

Separately, in December, the agency started ranking facilities based on government inspection results, staffing data and quality measures. This "Nursing Home Compare" system, which gives one to five stars to 16,000 nursing homes, is available at medicare.gov/NHCompare.

The agency also flags some of the most troubled nursing homes -- now about 135 -- on the Web site.....

Nursing Homes Rated - WSJ.com

AMNews: June 1, 2009. Senate panel finishes health reform hearings, foresees bill by mid-June ... American Medical News

One option being studied is limiting Medicare spending for physicians and hospitals based on adjusted national or regional averages.

By Doug Trapp, AMNews staff. Posted June 1, 2009.

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Washington -- The Senate Finance Committee, fresh from public and private roundtable discussions on health system reform, appears on schedule to debate comprehensive legislation by mid-June. The measure is expected to establish a health insurance exchange for people to obtain coverage but would not include a long-term Medicare payment fix for physicians.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D, Mont.) said on May 21 that he is confident the panel will reach a bipartisan agreement on reform legislation. But committee members disagree on how to pay for provisions in the bill and on the need for a national public health insurance plan to compete with private plans, according to Baucus and Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the highest-ranking Republican on the Finance panel.....

AMNews: June 1, 2009. Senate panel finishes health reform hearings, foresees bill by mid-June ... American Medical News

Workers’ vote: Yes - TribToday.com - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH

Lordstown UAW members OK pact; GM awaits national results
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

Girard resident Laray Thomas, 62, who stopped to get information, didn't like losing vision, dental and catastrophic health insurance as of July 1.

''You come to the age where you need it, and now you have to pay the full cost. It'll make it harder to live on a fixed income,'' said Thomas, who retired in 1998 after 30 years.

Scott Lee, outgoing vice president for Local 1714, said the weak economy forced the union to make concessions but added he doesn't like the way retirees are being hurt.

''They say these are legacy costs, but these are the people who built the company,'' said Lee, whose family history at Lordstown goes back to his grandfather. ''Hopefully, Washington will wake up to the middle class and stop or reduce imports'' of vehicles.

Workers’ vote: Yes - TribToday.com - News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Tribune Chronicle - Warren, OH

Medicare discounts offered | NewsOK.com

POINT OF VIEW Value-Based Care Centers

BY STEVEN LANDGARTEN, M.D.

Published: May 30, 2009

Evidence-based medicine and public reporting of results have been strongly encouraged by the federal government, which is the largest purchaser of medical care in the United States. In recent years, the government has moved from simply paying for care to providing financial incentives to encourage health care providers to collect and report data for a standard set of quality measures. Today, consumers can visit a government Web site (hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) to view a hospital’s performance in providing recommended care to patients.

A new demonstration project from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) takes this initiative one step further by providing financial incentives to qualifying Medicare patients who select a health care provider based on quality and price.

Medicare discounts offered | NewsOK.com

Annals of Medicine: The Cost Conundrum: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

What a Texas town can teach us about health care.

by Atul Gawande June 1, 2009

The explosive trend in American medical costs seems to have occurred here in an especially intense form. Our country’s health care is by far the most expensive in the world. In Washington, the aim of health-care reform is not just to extend medical coverage to everybody but also to bring costs under control. Spending on doctors, hospitals, drugs, and the like now consumes more than one of every six dollars we earn. The financial burden has damaged the global competitiveness of American businesses and bankrupted millions of families, even those with insurance. It’s also devouring our government. “The greatest threat to America’s fiscal health is not Social Security,” President Barack Obama said in a March speech at the White House. “It’s not the investments that we’ve made to rescue our economy during this crisis. By a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health care. It’s not even close.”

The question we’re now frantically grappling with is how this came to be, and what can be done about it. McAllen, Texas, the most expensive town in the most expensive country for health care in the world, seemed a good place to look for some answers.....

Annals of Medicine: The Cost Conundrum: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker