News
July 23, 2010
For Immediate Release
(July 22, 2010) Washington, DC — The National Health Council (NHC) released the following statement in support of today’s White House announcement of new federal regulations to strengthen patients’ rights to appeal health insurance denials.
The following statement is from Myrl Weinberg, President of the NHC:
“People with chronic conditions make up the largest segment of users of health care in this country. They require care and treatment that will allow them to live the healthiest, most productive lives possible. It is essential that they be able to obtain and retain coverage and care that meet their individual health care needs.
The steps taken today by the Obama Administration will provide patients with an understandable, predictable internal and external appeals process. It’s the right thing to do. It’s a fair solution for patients — particularly those living with chronic diseases and disabilities.
We are also pleased that $30 million has been allocated for strengthening state-based consumer assistance offices. This is a critical step to improving patient awareness of their rights.”
The regulations can be viewed here
Founded in 1920, the NHC is the only organization of its kind that brings together all segments of the health care community to provide a united voice for the more than 133 million people with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers. Made up of more than 100 national health-related organizations and businesses, its core membership includes approximately 50 of the nation’s leading patient advocacy groups, which control its governing policies. Other members include professional and membership associations, nonprofit organizations with an interest in health, and major pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies. To learn more, click here.
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July 19, 2010
FDA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: July 16, 2010
Media Inquiries: Elaine Gansz Bobo, 301-796-7567,
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
The FDA is warning the public that certain Advair Diskus inhalers stolen from a distribution warehouse in 2009 have been found in some pharmacies. The safety and effectiveness of the stolen inhalers cannot be assured and they should not be used.
Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) is an inhalerused to treat patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The products were reported stolen in August 2009 from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse near Richmond, Va. The inhalers found recently were the first from the stolen lots to be found in commerce. However, more stolen product may still be on the market and the FDA continues to aggressively investigate the matter.
Stolen medicine may be harmful because it may have been stored at the wrong temperature or humidity or other improper conditions, may degrade or lose potency, become contaminated, or may have been tampered with or handled improperly while outside of the legitimate supply chain.
The lot numbers, doses, and quantities of the stolen Advair Diskus inhalers are:
- Lot 9ZP2255 – NDC 0173-0696-00, Advair Diskus 250/50, 60 Dose, Exp: Sep 2010 (14,400 inhalers)
- Lot 9ZP3325 – NDC 0173-0697-00, Advair Diskus 500/50, 60 Dose, Exp: Sep 2010 (11,200 inhalers)
Patients who have products with these lot numbers should immediately stop using them, contact GlaxoSmithKline’s Customer Response Center at 888-825-5249, and follow-up with their physician or pharmacist to obtain a proper replacement.
Pharmacists and wholesalers who find Advair Diskus inhalers bearing these lot numbers should remove them from shelves and contact the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) at 800-551-3989. The agency also is asking for the public’s help in reporting any information regarding these inhalers, including suspicious or unsolicited offers for the Advair Diskus lots in question, to OCI or by visiting the OCI website.
The FDA invites pharmacists and wholesalers to visit the FDA’s Cargo Theft Web page to check their inventory for other stolen products. The FDA is committed to protecting American consumers from the threat of stolen, counterfeit, and diverted FDA-regulated products such as prescription or over-the-counter medicines, medical devices, or infant formula.
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Original Press Release can be accessed here.
July 13, 2010
The COPD Foundation is pleased to have our COPD Shuttle: Journey to the Center of the Lung featured in the NIH’s NHLBI’s Director’s Corner
The Director’s Corner falls in line with the Strategic Plan of the NHBLI, which is structured around three goals: 1) Form to Function, 2) Function to Causes, and 3) Causes to Cures. This approach, which helps the NHLBI make contributions through investigator-initiated research, also helps them create programs that enable and complement these activities, according to their website.
The Director’s Corner highlights major events in the health care world, and we’re honored to have been chosen for their page. It strengthens our partnership with NIH and also their commitment to addressing COPD in part thanks to our efforts.
For the full article, click here
July 12, 2010
COPD Education is an area of growing employment opportunities. And with a growing COPD population, it is important you are able to discuss issues with your patients. In this course, designed in conjunction with the American Association for Respiratory Care, you will learn more about diagnosis, assessment, treatment, oxygen therapy, medication, and disease management. Plus, you will learn how to teach your patients about COPD and how to motivate them to control it.
COPD Educator Course Learning Objectives:
1. Describe components of assessment for a patient with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
2. Describe in the types of pulmonary function testing including spirometry, lung volumes, diffusing capacity, and oximetry.
3. Explain and contrast the 3 general approaches to smoking cessation
4. Describe the required elements of a personalized medication care for COPD patients.
5. Recognize common causes for miscommunication and identify strategies to avoid them.
6. Given adequate information about a COPD patient, select the most appropriate oxygen delivery equipment to met their needs.
7. Explain how participation in a pulmonary rehabilitation program can improve a COPD patient’s quality of life.
8. Recognize the common barriers found in adult learning and discuss strategies to overcome them.
9. Explain the pathophysiology of COPD in terms a COPD patient can understand.
10. Recognize the signs and symptoms of malnutrition and describe its effect of on COPD patients. #Explain the purpose of the COPD Big Fat Reference Guide (BFRG).
Click here for more information: http://www.aarc.org/education/copd_course/
July 9, 2010
The COPD Foundation has released a new guide on how the changes to the way Medicare pays for home oxygen will impact patients.
What’s the Issue?
In 2008, Congress passed a law that changes the way Medicare will pay for many types of supplies that beneficiaries receive at home. The law phases in a program called ‘competitive bidding’ starting January 1, 2011 in 9 different geographic regions (see below). The supplies impacted by competitive bidding, called durable medical equipment (DME), include oxygen concentrators, walkers, wheel chairs, prosthetic limbs, hospital beds, and mail order diabetes products among many others.
A complete listing of items is available on http://www.medicare.gov, however as a COPDer you are probably most concerned with how the changes in Medicare reimbursement could affect the oxygen supplies you receive at home. The new competitive bidding program means companies that provide your oxygen equipment will have to submit bids to Medicare reflecting the lowest price they can provide for the supplies. Medicare will then choose approved companies (called contract suppliers) and set the price based on the bids that were submitted.
If you live in one of the first 9 regions where competitive bidding will be implemented, you will have to get your oxygen equipment from one of the contract suppliers approved by Medicare, with a few exceptions described in detail below.
Medicare claims that the new competitive bidding program, which will eventually expand to 91 regions in mid-2012, will help lower costs of the system by32 percent. Since patients pay up to 20 percent of the costs of durable medical equipment, if Medicare sets lower prices than the consumer also pays less.
You may ask, “What is the issue?” Changes always raise questions and require information and education. Some small and medium size companies may not get approved as contract suppliers, and the trade associations representing these companies claim that they will not be able to keep providing the same services at the lower rates. Even if access is guaranteed for all, there will certainly be a period of transition causing patients and their families confusion over how and where they will receive their oxygen services.
What’s the Background?
Medicare currently pays for durable medical equipment based on prices that are considered “market based” and use very relaxed criteria on who qualifies as an approved Medicare supplier. As a result, prices tend to vary widely by region. Fraud in this category of Medicare reimbursement has been a constant concern. To lower costs, reduce fraud and more stringently certify the companies that are providing vital services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed that Congress mandate the switch to a competitive bidding program.
What is scheduled to happen?
There are many efforts underway to ask Congress to repeal the piece of the law (called the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 or MIPPA) that mandated competitive bidding. As a result of advocacy efforts by patient groups and home health companies, Congress delayed the start of the program to allow for review of ‘who’ was qualified to provide beneficiary services. It is important for the community to be prepared for these changes while not giving up hope that advocacy may successfully reverse their impact. Visit the COPD Action Center and join us in taking action.
Click here for the COPD Action Center Alert
Click here for the full guide (PDF)
