Insurer marketing favors MA over stand-alone plans
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study revealed that insurers preferred to advertise Medicare Advantage to stand-alone drug plans. According to the study, insurers placed three times more ads to promote Medicare Advantage plans as they did stand-alone plans. The study said the ads for Medicare Advantage plans, which provide all Medicare benefits and often additional benefits, are estimated to cost more than twice as much as stand-alone drug plan ads. Date: 09/15/08
N.Y. hospital to pay $74M for fraud claims
Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, NY, will pay the United States government more than $74 million to settle claims that the hospital defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and the military's health insurance program, TRICARE. In announcing the $74,032,565 settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice said the hospital will also pay the State of New York $14,883,883, for damages to the state's Medicaid Program. In total, the hospital will pay $88,916,448. Date: 09/16/08
HHS offers aid to uninsured victims of Hurricane Ike
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services will provide $2 million in individual assistance for victims of Hurricane Ike from affected counties in Texas, through a new Emergency Prescription Assistance Program administrated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the program is an efficient way for pharmacies to process claims for prescription medications and certain durable medical equipment items for individuals who do not have any form of health insurance coverage. Date: 09/16/08
UCSF to start $1.6 billion hospitals project
The University of California is set to move forward with a new $1.6 billion hospital complex in San Francisco that is being touted as the greenest medical center ever built in California. The university's governing Board of Regents is expected to give final approval for the six-story, 289-bed complex of hospitals next to UCSF's new Mission Bay biomedical campus. Six years in planning and expected to open in 2013 or 2014, the hospital complex will be among the most advanced in California.