Fed to Evaluate Arthritis Treatments
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality plans to spend $15 million this year to evaluate interventions and prescription drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries. AHRQ will consider interventions aimed at treating patients with ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, stroke, hypertension, arthritis and nontraumatic joint disorders, diabetes, dementia, peptic ulcer, and depression and mood disorders. “The additional medical evidence provided by this initiative will help doctors and patients make more informed decisions,” said Mark McClellan, M.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. AHRQ research will focus on the evidence of outcomes and comparative clinical effectiveness and appropriateness. The results of these studies will be made available to the Medicare, Medicaid, and state children's health insurance programs (SCHIPs), as well as to private health plans, prescription drug plans, health care providers, and the public.
New Leadership
Former Rep. James Greenwood (R.-Pa.) is now the new president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and is predicting continued growth in biotech drug products in 2005. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved 32 new therapeutic products that were either discovered, developed, or marketed by biotechnology and related companies, according to a BIO analysis. “More than 800 million patients have benefited from biotech medicines and vaccines already, and millions more will benefit in the future,” Mr. Greenwood said in a statement. “Literally hundreds of products are in the development queue.”
Spending for Power Wheelchairs
Federal safeguards did not go far enough to curb out-of-control spending growth for power wheelchairs under the Medicare program, the Government Accountability Office found. Medicare spending for the wheelchairs rose more than fourfold from 1999 through 2003, raising concerns that some of the payments may have been improper. Following the indictment of several power wheelchair suppliers in Texas who fraudulently billed Medicare, GAO was asked to examine earlier steps taken by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to respond to improper payments. CMS' contractors started informing the agency in 1997 about escalating spending for wheelchairs, and some started taking steps to respond to improper payments—yet the agency didn't assume an active role until 2003. Since then, CMS has worked to prevent fraudulent suppliers from entering the Medicare program, although it has not implemented a revised form to collect better information for power wheelchair claims reviews, according to teh GAO report.
Portable Health Plans
Patients can take their health insurance coverage with them when they change or lose a job, under the final regulations that implement the last piece of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). According to a statement by the Health and Human Services Department, it is important that American workers, who often change jobs several times in the course of their lives, be able to respond to the modern workplace without having to fear for their health insurance. The regulations allow greater portability and availability of group health coverage during a time of job transition, setting limits on preexisting condition exclusions that could be imposed, and requiring group health plans and insurance issuers to offer “special enrollment” to certain patients who lose eligibility for other group health coverage or health insurance, or to otherwise eligible new dependents. The regulation goes into effect for plan years starting on or after July 1.
Computer Entries Lead to Errors
Automation isn't necessarily a foolproof way to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors, a report from the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) found. Computer entry errors were the fourth leading cause of medication errors according to MEDMARX, USP's national medication error reporting system. These errors have steadily increased and represent about 12% of all MEDMARX records from 1999 through 2003. Performance deficits—where an otherwise qualified physician makes a mistake—were the most frequently reported cause of errors. Distractions were the leading contributing factor, accounting for almost 57% of errors associated with computer entry. The report provided an analysis of 235,159 medication errors voluntarily reported by 570 hospitals and health care facilities nationwide.
Reduced Benefits for Retirees
Businesses are asking retirees to pay more for their health coverage as they struggle to control rising costs, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported. In the last year, 79% of firms increased their retirees' contributions for premiums, and 85% expect to do so in the coming year. In addition, 8% of employers surveyed eliminated subsidized health benefits for future retirees in 2004. For 2005, 11% said they are likely to terminate coverage for future retirees. However, 58% of responding firms said they were likely to continue offering prescription drug benefits and accept the tax-free subsidy created by the new Medicare law. The survey included responses from 333 large private-sector firms that offer retiree health benefits.