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New Study Shows Similar Benefits, No Additional Risks For Seniors Who Have Gastric Bypass
Morbidly obese seniors, age 65 and over, who had laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery lost nearly 76 percent of their excess weight after two years and had low complication rates and short hospital stays comparable to younger surgical patients, according to a new study presented today at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

ANA Supports The Independence At Home Act
The American Nurses Association (ANA) applauds the efforts of lawmakers to bring primary care services offered through registered nurses to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes by reintroducing the "Independence at Home Act of 2009" (H.R. 2560/S. 1131). ANA supports this legislation because it provides patients with care options that enhance individual independence and can lead to a better quality of life. This legislation also smartly recognizes the integral role nurses and nurse practitioners play in the delivery of primary care and helps bring the focus of our health care system back where it belongs- on the patient and the community.
News of the day
Debate Over Taxing Health Benefits Picks Up
"As the debate on how to fix health care picks up pace, so does discussion about one of the most lucrative ways to pay for it:" taxing employer-provided health benefits, CNN reports. The "tax-free arrangement" in which an employer"s contribution to employee health benefit "is treated as tax-free to the employee in terms of income tax and payroll tax," was "born during the days of wage control in 1943." According to Paul Fronstin, director of the health research program at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, employers were not allowed to "attract workers on the basis of better pay," so instead they offered the benefits "as a way to compete for the best talent." Over the past 66 years, employees have come to expect it. But "tax and health experts say it"s inequitable. High-income workers and those with the most expensive health insurance plans enjoy the biggest break as a result of the tax exclusion."
Cardiovascular

Insurers Struggle In Downturn As Senators Consider Adding New Tax

"Earnings from the nation"s big health insurers show signs of a new uptick in medical costs related to the recession: As unemployment rises, people who have lost their jobs or are fearful of losing them are rushing to see doctors to get medical tests before their benefits expire," the Wall Street Journal reports. WellPoint, the nation"s largest insurer by volume, reported a 7.6 percent dip in profits and the loss of 338,000 members in the second quarter, further illuminating the trend. Other insurers have experienced similar patterns in which policyholders are seeking more - and more expensive - health services. The trend is emerging as Congress seeks to pay for a major overhaul of the health system, which would include "wringing" more system-wide savings from insurers and other health industries. The development illuminates "the difficulty of such a quest," the Journal reports (Fuhrmans and Johnson, 7/30). One plan to achieve the goal is to levy a tax on insurers" high-priced plans. "The insurers" tax idea has emerged in the Senate Finance Committee, where chairman Max Baucus said it is gaining momentum to become part of the healthcare plan being developed behind closed doors," Reuters reports. "Imposing a tax on insurance plans with premiums above $25,000 a year could raise about $90 billion over 10 years" (Frank, 7/29). "Some people have very generous health insurance plans," Len Burman, of the Urban Institute"s Tax Policy Center, told National Public Radio. "[T]hey encourage them to spend more on medical care than they would if they had less generous plans. So part of the idea is that if you limited the tax benefits for the very generous health insurance plans, people would spend less and that would actually help lower health costs overall" (Shapiro, 7/30). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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