"Health & Medical News"

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

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Congress is being asked to fund a $1.4-billion aid package to Mexico aimed at fighting international drug trafficking, the Dallas Morning News reported Feb. 8.

Officials from the Bush administration appeared before that House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Western Hemisphere subcommittee to call for funding the so-called Merida Initiative, which includes more direct aid to Mexico and Central America, some of it in the form of military equipment and training. “This is money well spent,” said Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

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Washington — President Bush’s fiscal 2009 health budget, with steep Medicare spending cuts as a main highlight, sets the stage for a tough fight with Congress in the months ahead.

The proposal, part of a wider $3.1 trillion plan, is just the first step in this year’s health care budget debate. Health care organizations and congressional Democrats have found a lot not to like. Bush proposes reducing Medicare and Medicaid spending anticipated under current law by $196 billion over five years, with hospitals as the main target. The plan would do nothing to prevent Medicare physician payment cuts.

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Washington — The Senate is poised to vote on new funding for the Indian Health Service that includes plans to combat a doctor shortage. But President Bush says he would veto it over cost and Medicaid documentation concerns.

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007 would authorize $35 billion from 2008 through 2017 for the IHS. The bill would establish doctor retention and recruitment bonuses of up to $25,000 and fund demonstration programs to recruit new physicians to the IHS. The agency’s physician vacancy rate is currently 13%. The measure also would:

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A plan to establish drug courts in all 22 circuit courts in Mississippi has run aground because of funding concerns, the Hattiesburg American reported Jan. 30.

The goal of the expansion of the state’s existing drug-court program was to save money by reducing incarceration and providing treatment to addicted offenders, but lawmakers haven’t come up with the money to support taking the program to scale. Mississippi established a statewide drug court in 2003, but it was not funded until 2004, when fines for certain crimes were directed to a special fund that has generated about $4 million a year.

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A $2-million state appropriation to pay for a controversial addiction treatment regimen is now being reexamined by Texas officials, the Dallas Morning News reported Jan. 20.

Texas Rep. Jerry Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, requested the funding for Prometa, a cocktail of drugs touted as a treatment for methamphetamine and other drug addiction but not backed by much research or Food and Drug Administration approval.

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Washington — The nation’s public health system is much better positioned to respond to emergencies than it was five years ago, say local administrators. But they fear recent federal funding cuts will undermine their gains.

Officials point to funding increases that arrived in the post-9/11 era as a big reason for the improvements. Events in the fall of 2001 served to highlight the role public health plays in defending the United States, but departments nationwide struggled to meet the challenge and resorted to such tactics as shifting personnel from disease control to contend with anthrax-tainted letters.

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Popularity: 7% [?]