medicare beneficiaries

(MedPage Today) -- Men who underwent prostate biopsy were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized within 30 days compared with men who did not undergo the procedure, a study of Medicare beneficiaries showed.

(Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) In a study of complication rates following prostate biopsy among Medicare beneficiaries, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a significant rise in serious complications requiring hospitalization.

The researchers found that this common outpatient procedure, used to diagnose prostate cancer, was associated with a 6.9 percent rate of hospitalization within 30 days of biopsy compared to a 2.9 percent hospitalization rate among a control group of men who did not have a prostate biopsy.

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Medicare average prescription drug premiums will not increase in 2012. The announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) comes as more people with Medicare are receiving discounts on prescription drug costs and no-cost preventive services.

New data indicates that 17 million people with Medicare have received free preventive services this year while 900,000 Medicare beneficiaries who hit the prescription drug donut hole have received a 50 percent discount on their prescription drugs.

(MedPage Today) -- Lower inhospital treatment costs associated with hospitalist care for Medicare beneficiaries were erased by higher rates of readmission and emergency department visits after discharge, researchers said, suggesting that current hospitalist models actually increase overall costs.

In the 1970s, it was managed care organizations.  In the 1990s, it was vertically integrated health care systems.  In the 2010s, the fashionable concept for improving health care, apparently beloved by left-wing policy wonks and right-wing health care executives is the "accountable care organization." (ACO).  Development of the ACO is funded by the recently passed US health care reform legislation.  The official definition of ACO from the US Center for Medicare and

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is encouraging all Medicare beneficiaries to take advantage of the annual Open Enrollment period to make sure they have the best coverage available to meet their health care needs in 2011.

This month marks the beginning of the annual enrollment time for the Medicare Part D program, when beneficiaries can try to pick the plan that provides the best coverage for their prescription drugs.

But even though switching plans may sometimes be a smart move, says Dan Mendelson, chief executiv...

CMS announced that the nation’s pharmaceutical manufacturers will provide 50 percent discounts on the cost of covered brand-name prescription drugs for beneficiaries in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, or donut hole, starting in 2011.

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Medicare beneficiaries in donut hole will see 50-percent discount on brand name drugs in 2011