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U.S. government overpaid private insurance companies administering Medicare Advantage plans by as much as $3.1 billion in 2010, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). About a quarter of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid about $114 billion to the plans in 2010. |
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Medicare and its contractors don't adequately track which physicians are
opting out of Medicare, making it nearly impossible to determine who is
cutting ties with the program and why, according to a memo from the
Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General
(OIG).
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Added sugars are as much a threat to public health as alcohol and
tobacco, and should be regulated in a similar fashion, some researchers
suggest. That includes levying taxes on sugary foods and even enforcing
age limits for buying sodas" researchers suggest.
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TCA District 5 asks the question: "Have you ever wanted to get more
involved and give back to your colleagues and the Chiropractic
Profession? Now is your chance! We are looking for hardworking and
passionate DCs to join the TCA District 5 Leadership!"
"This is
your chance to be a part of the BIGGEST development of Chiropractic in
Texas! Help us make history and preserve our practices for future
generations. 2012 is about improving and redefining how Texans
understand Chiropractic.
TCA District 5 will have an official vote on February 21st, 2012 at the Quarterly Meeting.
Find more information about TCA District 5's elections in this article.
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Did you know that the man in charge of the entire U.S. Olympic training facility and program is a Doctor of Chiropractic?
He is, and Dr Bill Moreau is coming to the TCA District 5 meeting on February 21, 2012.
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ACA member Dr. Steven Shoshany, will make his second appearance on The Dr. Oz Show on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
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Three months of rehabilitation with manual mobilization can attenuate thoracic kyphosis in elderly patients with osteoporosis.
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Any alcohol consumption during pregnancy -- especially during the second
half of the first trimester -- puts the newborn at risk for fetal
alcohol syndrome (FAS), results of a study showed.
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Virtual reality exercise games, like the Wii Fit, may help older adults fight cognitive decline, researchers found.
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One of the nation's largest insurers, WellPoint, has announced it will
begin paying primary care doctors more money for participating in a care
coordination program. WellPoint announced it would make a 'major
investment in primary care by increasing revenue opportunities for
participating primary care physicians' who participate in a
care-delivery model that incorporates medical home principles.
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Six former FDA scientists are suing the agency, saying it unlawfully
monitored personal email accounts from their work computers after the
scientists complained to Congress about allegedly unsafe medical devices
gaining approval.
According to the Washington Post, scientists and doctors within the
Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) first made internal
complaints starting in 2007 that the agency had approved or was close to
approving at least a dozen radiological devices that had not been shown
to work and may have posed risks to patients.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said, "It's hard to see how managers
apparently thought it was a good use of time to shadow agency scientists
and monitor their email accounts for legally protected communications
with Congress."
He added that the FDA "appears to have persisted in a
long campaign to punish a group of employees for talking to Congress ...
I've seen this kind of behavior from the FDA before, and it's troubling
to think there might be a pattern.'"
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This study suggests that the addition of an adjunct therapeutic mirthful
laughter Rx (a potential modulator of positive mood state) to standard
diabetes care may lower stress and inflammatory response and increase
“good” cholesterol levels.
The authors conclude that mirthful laughter
may thus lower the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with
diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.
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If the Supreme Court rules that the Affordable Care Act's individual
mandate is unconstitutional, the entire law doesn't need to be thrown
out, lawyers for the Obama administration argued in a brief filed with
the high court.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently ruled that
providers not successfully/satisfactorily participating in PQRS by the
2013 reporting period (Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2013), will have their Medicare
reimbursement decreased by 1.5 percent beginning in 2015, and 2 percent
in 2016.
Therefore, the 2012 reporting period is the last opportunity
providers have to voluntarily participate in PQRS and learn how to
report successfully/satisfactorily while incentives are still offered
and their Medicare reimbursement is not subject to penalties.
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The federal government on Friday refused to let Texas ease a requirement
that health insurers devote at least 80 percent of premium revenue to
medical care.
Officials of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Texas
insurance regulators did not convincingly back up their claim that
immediate enforcement of the medical-spending minimums would disrupt the
state's "individual market."
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Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has demanded that 33 states and the
District of Columbia explain what they plan to do about physicians who
hand out huge numbers of painkiller and psychiatric drug prescriptions
paid for by Medicaid.
Each of the letters said, "I have concerns about the oversight and
enforcement of Medicaid abuse in your state. ... the numbers
themselves are quite shocking. One ... doctor, for
example, had written 18,890 scrips for quetiapine (Seroquel) in 2009 --
'nearly 73 prescriptions per weekday or nine prescriptions per hour .... [another] physician who had
written 2,522 scrips for oxycodone (OxyContin) in 2009, and another with
more than 2,800 prescriptions for alprazolam (Xanax)."
Some of Grassley's letters highlighted a single Wyoming
doctor who wrote prescriptions for aripiprazole (Abilify) that cost the
state nearly $300,000.
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The Surgeon General's Division of the Civilian Medical Reserve Corps
(MRC) is looking for doctors of chiropractic who want to make a
meaningful contribution to America's health structure and their
community.
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The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), issued a public notice Monday in the
Federal Register that details the requirements for qualified health
professionals who may apply for funds available under the student loan
repayment program of IHS.
DCs are now
eligible to apply through this program.
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Parker University held the Starlight Soirée, the premier chiropractic
research event, on Friday, January 20, during Parker Seminars Las Vegas.
The event raised nearly $33,000 for chiropractic research.
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Parker Seminars awarded some of the most influential leaders in the
profession during 2012 Parker Seminars Las Vegas. Erchonia Medical, a
leader in low level laser health care applications, was honored with the
coveted Philanthropy Award.
The Parker Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Terry Yochum
for enhancing the profession with his substantial contributions. Dr.
Yochum, director of Rocky Mountain Chiropractic Radiological Center in
Denver, Colorado, and adjunct professor of radiology at Southern
California University of Health Sciences, is well-known for his work in
radiology.
The World Congress of Women Chiropractors (WCWC) named Dr. Janette
Kurban as the Woman Chiropractor of the Year for her exemplary service
to the profession. A 2009, Parker graduate, Dr. Kurban is actively
involved in the profession and is a leader in chiropractic. She
maintains a practice in Arlington, Texas. In 2008, Dr. Kurban made
history as the first Parker graduate appointed to serve on the Board of
Chiropractic Examiners (TBCE).
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More than 5,300 Parker Seminar attendees flocked to the fresh and
exciting line-up of courses designed to improve chiropractors,
chiropractic assistants, and chiropractic students.
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The Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners has proposed amendments to rule 77.2 Publicity. The proposed new rule includes "In any form of public
communication, if a licensee or facility makes a claim based on one or
more research studies, the licensee or facility shall clearly identify
the relevant research study or studies and make copies of such research
studies available to the board or the public upon request."
"In any form of public
communication, a licensee or facility shall not advertise any service as
"free" unless the public communication clearly and specifically states ....
"The effective date of this subsection is June 1, 2012."
"This section and §77.5 of
this title apply to all advertising, communications, or telemarketing
done by or on behalf of a licensee or facility, including activities
conducted by employees, students being mentored by the licensee, or
other agents."
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The Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners has adopted as a final rule rule 75.1 Grossly Unprofessional Conduct. The new rule states ....
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Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation
(TDI-DWC) solicited and received input from workers’ compensation system
participants. All comments were carefully considered and discussed. The
Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation Rod Bordelon approved the revised
CY (Calendar Year) 2012 Annual Audit Plan (Annual Plan) on January 11,
2012.
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Regarding the practice of chiropractic, there are some who are telling
us that "...what is in the statute is extremely limiting."
If
that is the perspective you wish to look at it then the results of the
various court judgments are the results you would expect.
I see the term "condition" in a broader sense.
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At this point in the history of mankind, we have been conditioned to
abhor symptoms of any kind. Headaches, sneezing, coughing, colds,
allergies, pain, infections, hypertension, etc., are no longer tolerated
as a part of the process of living. Rather than look into the
mechanisms that may be causing these symptoms, we are reaching for the
medicine that will suppress them. In so doing, we may feel better, but
we now have no motive to look at causes and correct for the issues that
may be impairing our health, thus increasing our "need" for more
medications over time.
Without the
"gold standard" double blind, placebo controlled study there can be no FDA approval of a new drug. So let's look at this approval process more closely.
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In years gone by, many children were afflicted with polio, measles,
mumps, Rubella, influenza, small pox, diphtheria, whooping cough and
others. Of course, the majority of these children recovered without
incident (other than polio, which caused permanent nerve damage most of
the time), but there were some children who had serious sequelae and
even some who died from these diseases. Modern science discovered a way
to confer immunity on these children so that they would never become
afflicted with these diseases, and for the most part, it has been
successful. The question is, at what price?"
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