Senior Prescription Savings

TORONTO (CP) - Family doctors should ask young adult immigrants and refugees whether they have ever had chickenpox, test those who don't think they have and offer to vaccinate those who are susceptible to the disease, a new study suggests.

Who is eligible to be covered by Medicaid, how the federal-state program is financed, and trends in Medicaid spending are reviewed by Lynda Flowers in this AARP Public Policy Institute Fact Sheet which includes a list of mandatory versus optional Medicaid services. (4 pages)

Representatives for pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers have begun to fight a rule proposed by CMS that would revise the formula used to calculate Medicaid reimbursements for generic medications, the Wall Street Journal reports. The rule, mandated under the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, would save Medicaid an estimated $8.4 billion over five years. [click link for full article]

CMS on Friday in the Federal Register published the final version of a rule that transplant centers must follow to participate in Medicare, CQ HealthBeat reports. [click link for full article]

WASHINGTON (CP) - The recall of wet and dry pet foods contaminated with a chemical found in plastics and pesticides expanded Saturday to include a new brand even as investigators were puzzled why the substance would kill dogs and cats. Nestle Purina PetCare Co.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A greater sensitivity of cats to a chemical found in plastics and pesticides could explain why they've died in larger numbers than dogs after eating contaminated pet food, experts said Saturday.

CALGARY (CP) - Pharmacists in Alberta will soon have the precedent-setting power to prescribe medications, but grave concerns remain over their ability to make the right diagnoses.

OTTAWA (CP) - Health Canada advises that Permax, a drug used for treatment of Parkinsons disease, has been withdrawn from the U.S. market amid concerns about an association with a heart condition.

The Hill on Tuesday published a special section on health care reform that included opinion pieces from a number of lawmakers and HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. Summaries appear below.Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del. [click link for full article]

A new study in the latest issue of Health Services Research is the first to measure a relationship between waiting for healthcare and mortality rates - especially in the elderly. Waiting times throughout the US healthcare system have been increasing. The study found that while waiting less than thirty-one days does not have a detectable effect on mortality, waiting beyond that increases the mortality risk. [click link for full article]