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Washington, D.C. - The Bush administration has proposed additional curbs on certain sales practices by insurers likely to confuse and deceive seniors enrolling in Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans. Insurers applauded the marketing policy, partly in hopes of heading off legislation that would give states a larger role in policing Medicare marketing activities.

Employers are more than just concerned about the rising costs of prescription drugs-they're ready to stem the tide, according to industry experts.

How is it that well-informed people can look at the same data and come up with dramatically different conclusions and action implications? It turns on whether the analysis is done by biostatisticians looking at utilization data in an academically rigorous way, or by actuaries and benefits consultants looking at overall financial trends in a pre-post manner.

The use of technology to automate simple tasks has been widely adopted. E-mails broadcast information in a fraction of the time it would take a manual process. More complex tasks, however, require a human driver, and those tasks are in higher demand today.

The convergence of rising healthcare costs, increased cost sharing and demand by consumers for more participation in healthcare decisions is producing a variety of innovative health insurance solutions.

The intensive care unit (ICU) is, in many ways, the most significant section of a hospital, because it is where life-threatening issues occur almost daily. The ICU is the one area where most hospitals don't employ specialists-board-certified intensivists with expertise and training in critical care medicine.

The U.S. healthcare system continues to struggle with costs. As costs have climbed, data needs among employers are changing swiftly. Some employers are asking their health plan providers for deeper, more telling employee health information, only to find that they aren't able to obtain it because of HIPAA and similar laws.

Geisinger Health System and Geisinger Health Plan have attracted attention from key industry players ever since introducing a bundled-pricing program called ProvenCare in 2006. Richard Gilfillan, MD, president and CEO of Geisinger Health Plan, played a critical role in the launch of the new payment structure.

When companies interact with governmental bodies, issues related to the Public Information Act frequently arise. It is imperative for those companies to understand the Public Information Act as well as the internal procedures that may be developed to handle open records issues.

I had the honor of joining 40 executive delegates for a week to observe the Irish healthcare system. While spending in the Irish healthcare system is just 7.2% of GDP, the public hospitals are filled to the gills.

Commonwealth Fund State Performance Ranking (2007): 2

Adding zoledronic acid to anastrozole or tamoxifen therapy decreased recurrence by 35% and increased disease free survival by 36% in premenopausal breast cancer patients, according to results of the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group Trial 12 (ABCSG-12). The multicenter, Phase III trial is the first large trial to demonstrate the significant antitumor benefit of zoledronic acid, said Michael Gnant, MD, Medical University of Vienna. "Adjuvant treatment with zoledronic acid should be considered in order to improve the standard of care in premenopausal breast cancer patients," he said.

Modafinil appears to reduce the severity of chemotherapy-induced severe fatigue, reported Gary R. Morrow, PhD, MS.

Vaginal brachytherapy is as effective as external beam radiation therapy in preventing the recurrence of higher-risk endometrial cancer but with fewer side effects and results in superior quality of life, according to a Phase 3 study presented by Remi A. Nout, MD.

Adherence to a four-point Individualized Sleep Promotion Plan (ISPP) intervention consisting of stimulus control, sleep restriction, relaxation therapy, and sleep-hygiene practices significantly lowered fatigue and increased sleep quality for patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. Fatigue and sleep disturbances are the most frequently reported symptoms during adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. One-third of breast cancer patients report persistent fatigue and abnormal sleep/wake cycles, said Ann M Berger, PhD, RN, professor, College of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.

Routine cardiac monitoring is suggested for patients receiving sunitinib, as cardiotoxicity, particularly left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, is common, said Melinda Telli, MD.

Everolimus, an experimental oral agent that targets the mTOR protein, may represent an effective second-line option for patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma whose disease has progressed despite treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Phase 3 trial results show that adding bevacizumab to docetaxel as first-line therapy for newly diagnosed HER2-negative, locally recurrent, or metastatic breast cancer resulted in significantly less disease progression. "This shows that the antiangiogenic approach to treating breast cancer is effective, regardless of which taxane drug it is combined with," said lead author David Miles, MD, professor, Mount Vernon Cancer Center, Middlesex, UK. Previous studies have shown that the combination of bevacizumab to paclitaxel doubled progression-free survival among patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Cancer is an independent predictor of increased vulnerability, functional limitations, geriatric syndromes, frailty, and fair or poor health status among older Medicare beneficiaries. "Up until now, a lot of this has been more opinion rather than numbers," said Gary R. Morrow, MD, professor of radiation oncology, University of Rochester Cancer Center. "This gives us a method to let us know if we have changed anything.

National News-Small businesses are less likely to offer employee health benefits, especially if they’re the new kid on the block, according to a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Analysis finds that among firms with nine employees or fewer, those in business for 20 years or more are more likely to offer benefits.

Cleveland-Cleveland Clinic has its own electronic personal health record system for patient viewing, and now it plans to pilot information-exchange capabilities with GoogleHealth, an online PHR platform.

Oakland, Calif.-Nearly 9 million Kaiser Permanente members in nine states are now on the books with the plan’s HealthConnect electronic medical record system, which completed a four-year rollout recently. Installation cost $4 billion, including $1 billion for maintenance.

National News-Wal-Mart will offer generic medications for $10 for a 90-day supply, which previously cost $4 for a 30-day supply, offering more over-the-counter medications at $4. About 350 generics are covered. At the same time, Target’s prescription drug program now includes an expanded assortment of $4 prescription drugs, 90-day supply of these medications for $10 and OTC medications for $4 or less.

Washington, D.C.-There’s a lot of talk in Washington about the importance of enacting legislation to establish a pathway for FDA to approve “similar” or “follow-on” versions of biotech drugs. Biopharmaceutical companies have been pushing for compromise legislation this year, that is aligned with health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, and public and private payers, who envision big savings.

Istradefylline, a highly selective adenosine A2A receptor antagonist, is a new agent being investigated for the adjunctive treatment of the motor signs and symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson disease.

Treatment options for osteoporosis include calcium, vitamin D, estrogen plus progesterone, calcitonin, and bisphosphonates.

Generic drugs approved by FDA (through May 2008) including amifostine for injection, clobetasol foam, granisetron oral solution, calcium acetate capsules, and irinotecan injection.

Recent FDA action (through May 2008) related to ceftobiprole, sugammadex, romiplostim, Gardasil, and amrubicin.

NME: Bendamustine (Treanda), an alkylating agent, was approved on March 20, 2008, for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Experts urged a “return to statins” after hearing the final results of the Ezetimibe and Simvastatin in Hypercholesterolemia Enhances Atherosclerosis Regression (ENHANCE) trial, which demonstrated no slowing of carotid atherosclerosis progression with the addition of ezetimibe to simvastatin therapy.