Private Medicare Advantage plans, already targeted for cuts by the Obama administration, are under more pressure in Congress. The latest critique comes from Glenn Hackbarth, chairman of MedPac, a commission created by Congress to advise lawmakers on Medicare. In testimony for the health subcommittee of the House Ways & Means Committee, Hackbarth said the private plans offer patients enhanced benefits, but those benefits aren't being paid for by the efficiencies of the private market. Instead, they come at a "high cost," Hackbarth said.
The Wisconsin Medical Society has filed an appeal to overturn a court decision upholding the state's 2007 withdrawal of $200 million from the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund.
The withdrawal from the fund, created by the state Legislature to help mitigate the costs to healthcare providers of insurance coverage for malpractice lawsuits, was used to help fill a budget gap for the 2007-2009 biennium. The Medical Society sued to stop the action in October 2007.
Large managed-care groups like Kaiser Permanente and Group Health Cooperative are increasingly using electronic medical-record systems to help get patients to take better care of themselves. The trend, known as information therapy, involves delivering reliable health information directly to patients to help them manage their conditions and make treatment choices. Health plans also are offering online self-management programs and virtual coaching sessions for a wide range of health issues.
The White House, seeking to engender political support for a healthcare overhaul later this year, brought its traveling health policy forum to Vermont on Tuesday. Governor Jim Douglas of Vermont, a Republican, and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, a Democrat, co-hosted a forum with about 400 people on the frontlines of healthcare about how to make sweeping changes to the existing system. The doctors, patients, business people, and government officials repeatedly emphasized similar themes: the need to prevent and manage chronic disease better, attract more primary care doctors, simplify bureaucracy, and find a way to get everyone access to treatment at an affordable price.
Terminally ill cancer patients who drew comfort from religion were far more likely to seek aggressive, life-prolonging care in the week before they died than were less religious patients and far more likely to want doctors to do everything possible to keep them alive, a study has found. The devout patients were three times as likely as less religious ones to be put on a mechanical ventilator to maintain breathing during the last week of life, and they were less likely to do any advance care planning, the analysis found.
The International Conference on Information Technology—New Generations is an annual event focusing on state of the art technologies pertaining to digital information and communications. The conference features keynote speakers, the best student award, poster award, service award and a technical open panel, and workshops/exhibits from industry, government and academia.