Tuesday, April 12, 2005

New data on Medicaid spending Data at StateHealthFacts.org, a site maintained by the Kaiser Family Foundation. See State Medicaid Spending, SFY2003 and Federal Medicaid Spending, FY2004. See also the source of the data, the 2003 State Expenditure Report (Adobe Acrobat format) by the National Association of State Budget Officers and Grants to States for Medicaid, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2006, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  
  

CQ HealthBeat Obtains HHS List of States Using Accounting Tactics To Boost Federal Medicaid Funding Item in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - "CQ HealthBeat has obtained a document that HHS 'is using in a federal crackdown on dubious Medicaid accounting tactics.' The document 'names 15 states as potentially using the techniques, 20 as having agreed to drop them and 12 more whose use of the controversial techniques is still unknown,' according to CQ HealthBeat ...  
  

HMOs in Unstable Condition: Members Bolt to Other Plans Los Angeles Times story - "HMOs, once the top choice for Americans who get healthcare as a job perk, are so last century. Tightly controlled health maintenance organizations have steadily lost ground over the last decade to preferred provider organizations, which offer greater choice of physicians and hospitals and direct access to specialists — though at a higher price. HMOs garnered only 25% of the employer-based health benefits market last year, down from a high of 31% in 1996, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation... During the same period, PPOs nearly doubled their market share to 55%." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].  
  

Once too slow, FDA approvals called too fast... April 10 Boston Globe story - "Over 15 years, the Food and Drug Administration has swung from taking too long to get medicine to dying AIDS patients to drawing fire for rushing drugs to market that wound up killing people. The agency's troubles were highlighted last week, when it asked Pfizer Inc. to suspend sales of Bextra because the painkiller can cause fatal heart and skin problems. Bextra was the latest casualty in a drug safety controversy that began last fall with Vioxx, an arthritis drug quickly approved by the FDA and then taken off the market..."  
  

Hospitals sue Oregon about patient care Statesman-Journal story - "Fallout from Oregon's budget crisis has hospitals suing the state for unpaid bills. Five Oregon hospitals say the state broke agreements to reimburse them for the care they provided to patients ordered into psychiatric care by a court. The hospitals have sued in Marion County Circuit Court for breach of contract. They are demanding a total of about $1.85 million, court papers show. The five related suits, including one filed by Salem Hospital, deal with so-called 'waitlisted patients' who are temporarily placed in private hospitals until space opens at the Oregon State Hospital. The hospitals allege that in late 2002, the Oregon Department of Human Services abruptly terminated contracts to pay for the care of waitlisted patients."  
  

DeLauro's proposal for better mental health services for military personnel and families Brief WTNH story - "The issue of the mental health of men and women serving over seas in the war on terror was front and center today. Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro says this is a topic that should be looked at as an emergency. DeLauro says providing for our servicemen and women both on the battlefield and when they return home is a moral obligation of government. She has drawn up legislation called the Military Mental Health Services Improvement Act. It would ensure that all soldiers would receive mental health screening before and after they return from service, that any health care they would need would be provided..."  
  

Senate Dems will support mental health parity bill (Iowa) Sioux City Journal story - "Lawmakers are near agreement on a plan requiring employers that offer health insurance to cover mental health conditions. The so-called mental health parity bill passed the Iowa House in February, but was stalled in the Senate because Democrats wanted the plan expanded to include coverage of substance abuse treatment and some Republicans objected to any plan. But on Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs said his party will support the House version of the bill..."