Obama's healthcare reform

President Obama realizes the nation is not sure about his proposed $1 trillion overhaul of the medical system. He believes that this is the only way for economic recovery to be possible. He believes that our economy could worsen if the overhaul is not completed soon, and that many Americans would continue to be hurt financially. Obama urges Congress to vote in early August to solve this problem as soon as possible because he believes that by controlling cost, the deficit of America and its citizens can be controlled. Read the full article at the New York Times here.

Governors look at new Obama healthcare plan with concern

In an in-depth look at the current state of Medicaid reform from Obama in the New York Times today, they divulge that many policy makers are concerned about the new Medicaid plan that will cover any non-elderly person who is living at 133% or below the poverty level. This translates to an income of $29,300 for a family of four. The Republicans express disapproval, but are yet to come up with an alternate plan. State governors also meet and have expressed concern as to how they'll cover these new plans with dwindeling budgets and no aid from the government. Read the whole story on opposition to the Obama plan here.

Intel and General Electric Plan to Add More Connectivity Options to Intel Health Guide

According to this article in eWeek Intel and General Electric will invest roughly $250 million over the course of the next five years to develop and improve IT technologies in the Intel Health Guide to better aid linking patients to their physicians and caregivers.

The improved system will allow patients to directly connect with their physicians via high-speed broadband and residential phone services. Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of the Intel Digital Health Group mentions, "We believe that deploying technology in the home can help pave the way for a more personalized, cost-effective health care system and we will continue to innovate and develop products that achieve this."

It will be interesting to see how new technology and improvements to the IT infrastructure will pan out over the next couple of years.

To network with health plan and pharma professionals involved in medication and treatment compliance initiatives, join our LinkedIn group.

Increasing funds to Medicaid

Forbes looks at the steps Obama is taking towards ensuring more Americans have health insurance. He would like to stop Medicaid privatization, and has already started off his term by increasing the number of children insured by Medicaid. On Tuesday, the House Democrats introduced a bill that would give Medicaid $438 billion over the next decade. Read the full article on Obamacare here.

Non-compliance, requests for generics on the rise, says survey

Matthew Arnold of Medical Marketing & Media reports that, physicians say patient compliance is getting worse, and they're hearing more requests for generic or OTC alternatives to prescribed medications as the economic malaise takes its toll, according to a Pri-Med survey.

The Pri-Med survey used 473 respondents with 70% said they are hearing patients increasingly request generic or OTC alternatives, and 68% said they've noticed an increase in non-compliant behaviors with regards to medication usage among patients. More than half said they're seeing changes in patient payment, such as increased delinquencies or requests for payment plans, and 88% are seeing changes to patients' appointment behaviors, including increased cancellations and refusals of tests or screening procedures.

Physicans say that they are devoting more time to phone consultations and low-cost alternatives to help serve their patients needs.


To network with health plan and pharma professionals involved in medication and treatment compliance initiatives, join our LinkedIn group.

Key changes needed for Medicare reform

According to a new article at Reuters, they believe the first steps in reforming healthcare have begun. Pharma Research and Manufacturers of America have agreed to cost savings measures as well as hospitals accepting Medicare cuts. The article then goes on to look at two other things that would be critical to Medicare reform: linking doctors pays to improving patients health and boosing the payments for primary care. Read the full article here.

Access to CMS Rebate Operations and Policy teams at MDRP Summit

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Join over 400 of your industry colleagues to have frank discussions with the CMS Rebate operations team to clarify current data frustrations, policy updates and requirement updates at IIR’s MDRP Summit, so Bring Questions on Current CMS Rebate Data, Operations and Technical/Systems Updates to discuss with:

• Tamara Bruce, Technical Director, CMS Medicaid Drug Rebate Team
• Diane Dunstan, Lead RO DRP and Medicaid Drug Rebate Analyst, Denver Regional Office, CMS
• Samone Angel, Senior Analyst, Medicaid Drug Rebate Team, CMS
• Dusty Kerhart, Senior Analyst, Drug Rebate Operations, CMS
• Dona Coffman, Technical Director, Division of Information Analysis and Technical Assistance, CMS

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Bring questions about current CMS policy initiatives to discuss with Kim Howell, Senior Drug Policy Analyst, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Health-care stocks surge as broad market falls

The Wall Street Journal reports that Tuesday's healthcare stocks surged thanks to comments from Cheif of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel said the administration is open to negotiating a means for stiffer competition among private insurers. "The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. An early report in the Washington Post said hospitals will contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward insuring the nearly 50 million Americans who do not have coverage.

Will we see a continued surge in healthcare stocks? We'd like to hear your predictions.

Grants available for children not yet enrolled in Medicaid

According to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, $40 million will be released to help families who have not yet been able to enroll in Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program. This is part of the program focusing on the millions of uninsured children.

Secretary Sebelius stated:
“We know there are millions of children who are eligible for coverage but don’t utilize their state health care programs. These grants will help community organizations, tribal organizations, as well as states and local governments reach out to children and families to ensure more children get the health care they need and deserve.”

Read more here.

Medicare changes with overhaul

According to a recent article at MSNBC, between 2010 and 2030, Medicare patients will rise from 46 million to 78 million. In this time period, Medicare will continue to be underfunded. In order for Medicare to come out even right now, the tax on Medicare will have to go up 134% or Medicare spending will have to go down 53%. Read the article here for an in-depth look at how spending will have to change in order for Medicare to sustain itself.