Stroke patients who received magnesium sulfate administered by first responders did not show better outcomes than those treated with placebo in a randomized trial, researchers said.
It was a tale of two vaccines — one making politically charged headlines about kids not vaccinated against measles and the other reflecting the bleak reality of a harsh flu season. Federal health officials faced tough questions from lawmakers Tuesday about why they didn't take steps to produce a better flu vaccine as it became clear that this year's version wasn't going to offer much protection. "Shouldn't we be treating this problem with more urgency?" asked Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., who called the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee hearing amid concern that thousands may die of flu unnecessarily.
VHA Inc., a network of nonprofit hospitals based in Irving, will combine with a Chicago-based alliance of academic medical centers to become the largest member-owned health care supply chain company in the country. VHA's merger with UHC will serve about 5,200 hospitals, or 30 percent of all hospitals nationwide, including nearly all the academic medical centers and health systems, said Curt Nonomaque, president and CEO of the new company. VHA offers contracting services, analytics, consulting and purchasing services to hospitals, and UHC offers similar services to academic medical centers and affiliated hospitals.
On February 2, 2015, the Office of Management and Budget released President Obama's budget for fiscal year (FY) 2016, which includes provisions related to Medicare. The President's budget proposal would use federal savings and revenues to reduce the deficit, replace sequestration of Medicare and other federal programs for 2016 through 2025, and pay for new spending priorities. The President's FY2016 budget proposal would reduce net Medicare spending by $423 billion between 2016 and 2025, and is estimated to extend the solvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by approximately five years. This brief summarizes the Medicare provisions included in the President's FY2016 Budget.
These doctors are concerned you won't be able to afford the medicines they want to prescribe you. A national group of more than 140,000 physicians on Tuesday joined a coalition dedicated to reversing the growing trend of high-cost specialty drugs, which are being blamed for straining the finances of patients, insurance plans and public health coverage programs. The move by the American College of Physicians came a day after the Obama administration said it is asking Congress to give it power to negotiate with drugmakers over the prices of costly prescription medication provided to Medicare beneficiaries.
A recommendation tucked into Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget could help Jackson Health System avoid a $40 million budget cut. Scott wants to repeal the so-called "hospital tiering" law set to take effect later this year. Under the controversial policy, counties that use local dollars to attract federal matching funds for healthcare would have to share the money with counties that don't raise local funds. Hospitals like Jackson that serve a large number of poor and uninsured patients say the new funding formula would cost them millions.