Medicare premiums raised

At Bloomberg, they report that different companies that provide Medicare, have increased their health care premiums by as much as 13%, which is five times more than the premium was raised last year. These increases directly affect the elderly, as they're the ones who are billed for the increase. This is on the cusp of Obama trying to pass a new bill that would increase funding for Medicare. For more information, read this article.

Bayer to Pay $97.5 Million to Settle Kickback Claim

From Bloomberg.com:

A unit of Bayer AG agreed to pay $97.5 million to settle accusations that it paid kickbacks to diabetic-equipment suppliers, the U.S. Justice Department said.Bayer Healthcare LLC was accused of giving $2.5 million to Liberty Medical Supply Inc. to persuade Liberty to provide its patients with Bayer diabetic-testing equipment such as testing strips and glucose monitors, the Justice Department said in a statement.Bayer also was accused of paying $375,000 in kickbacks to 10 other diabetic suppliers and causing them to submit false claims to Medicare, the government said. From 1998 through 2007 the suppliers filed false claims on the sales to get Medicare reimbursements, the statement said.“Paying health care suppliers to place a particular brand of device with Medicare beneficiaries violates the law and will not be tolerated,” said Gregory G. Katsas, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division.Bayer spokeswoman Susan Yarin said the payment puts the matter behind the unit, based in Tarrytown, New York.

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