Doctors who specialize in treating the elderly are calling on the nation's medical schools to require all students to demonstrate competence in treating senior citizens. With the first of the 78 million baby boomers nearing retirement age, the American Geriatrics Society is proposing that elder care be added to the list of six core areas that have long been the focus of medical school training. While many schools are integrating more geriatrics into courses, the training varies greatly and less than 1% of the faculty responsible for teaching future doctors are experts in geriatrics, according to a 2008 report from the Institute of Medicine.
Americans are worried about the fine print in the healthcare overhaul, according to an Associated Press poll. The poll found that 43% of Americans oppose the healthcare plans being discussed in Congress, while 41% are in support. An additional 15 percent remain neutral or undecided. The survey was conducted by Stanford University with the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Baltimore based insurer Bravo Health Inc., is organizing a clinic that Bravo representatives say will provide a less-expensive alternative for thousands of elderly, and often poor, patients in North Philadelphia. What makes the clinic unusual is that it is entirely funded and administered by an insurance company. Instead of working for medical practices or hospitals, every doctor, nurse, technician, and clerk at the two-story clinic will be a Bravo employee. And every one of the patients will have to have Bravo insurance, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Under the Connecitcut's "adverse event" reporting law, hospitals are required to inform the state Department of Public Health when patients suffer certain serious unintended harm. The legislation was intended to compel hospitals to improve care and help patients assess the quality of the state's medical facilities. But since that law was revised five years ago, thousands of incidents that injured or killed patients have been hidden from the public by hospitals and the state health department, the Hartford Courant reports.
In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling healthcare, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities—and that was often no accident, the New York Times reports. Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world's largest biotechnology companies. The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress, the Times reports.
Employers have spent plenty in recent years to keep employees healthy, hoping that will keep them on the job and less likely to use healthcare insurance. That can lead to lower healthcare costs which were estimated in one national survey to average more than $7,000 per employee per year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The return on investment in wellness is hard to measure, but companies say the programs can work. A study by insurer MetLife found 94% of companies with wellness programs said they reduced medical costs.
The Catholic Church has asked its U.S. parishioners to work toward ensuring that tough language restricting federal funding of abortion is included in healthcare overhaul legislation. A number of groups oppose abortion rights, but the church is one of the few to also support Democratic efforts to overhaul healthcare, giving the church a seat at the negotiating table, the Los Angeles Times reports. It used that influence this month as the House of Representatives prepared to vote on the healthcare legislation. Negotiators for the church worked with lawmakers to add an amendment to ensure that federal insurance subsidies do not wind up funding elective abortion.
Healthcare overhaul bills working their way through Congress could jeopardize laws in California and other states that require insurers to pay for treatments such as AIDS testing, second surgical opinions, and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients, the Los Angeles Times reports. The federal legislation could also make it virtually impossible for states to enforce other consumer protection laws, such as the right to appeal if an insurer denies coverage for a particular treatment.
In the last year, the drug industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9%, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation's drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. Drug makers say they have valid business reasons for the price increases, but critics say the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in coming years.
The government has paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient's condition. Excerpts of a new federal report show a dramatic increase in improper payments in the $440 billion Medicare program that government auditors have cited as a high risk for fraud and waste for 20 years. Much of the increase in the past year is attributed to a change in the Department of Health and Human Services' methodology that imposes stricter documentation requirements and includes more improper payments.
