New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention involving 4,958 hospitalizations from the H1N1 virus showed 53% of the cases were in people age 24 and younger. Another 39% were in people ages 25 to 64, and 7% in people age 65 and older. The hospitalizations were reported by 27 states from Aug. 30 through Oct. 10.
In an effort to reconcile a nearly $250-billion difference between the House and Senate approaches to overhauling healthcare, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is pushing a bill to halt scheduled reductions in Medicare payments to physicians. The measure would end the cuts and set Medicare payment rates at current levels. Doing so would allow Democrats to maintain the American Medical Association's support for an overhaul without having to absorb the cost of higher doctor payments in the final healthcare bill, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Merck & Co. paid doctors and nurses a total of $3.7 million this summer to give talks to colleagues about the drugmaker's products and other health topics, Merck disclosed. Amid growing criticism of industry influence over which treatments doctors choose for their patients, the company posted a database on its Web site listing speaking fees paid to 1,078 doctors, researchers, nurses and other health professionals. It covers July through September, and Merck plans to update it regularly.
Like providers across the country, Minnesota-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics announced that it is placing limits on visitors to labor and pediatric units at 10 hospitals in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Visitors will be screened for flu symptoms and required to have been fever-free for 24 hours. In addition, visitors must be over age 5 if they are siblings and over age 16 if they are not. Parents of patients may be asked to wear masks if they have flu symptoms.
The "medical home" model of care is emerging in Illinois and across the country. In its ideal form, a doctor oversees a team of nurses, physicians' assistants, and health coaches who ensure patients get needed care, support, and education. That frees the doctor to focus on compelling medical issues. Illinois' largest insurer is launching a pilot program featuring the medical home model, and last month Medicare announced a similar initiative. And health reform plans being debated by Congress contain changes designed to foster medical homes.
Holly Benson, secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, is resigning effective Oct. 28. An interim leader of the state's chief health policy and planning entity has not yet been named. The agency oversees the state's $16 billion Medicaid program, the licensure of the state's 36,000 healthcare facilities, and the sharing of healthcare data through the Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis. In a resignation letter to Gov. Charlie Crist on Oct. 14, Benson said the new direction she is heading in requires her departure from the agency. She did not specifically indicate her future plans. Benson was appointed by Crist to lead the health policy agency in February 2008. Prior to that, she served as secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.