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AARP, others call for action on overdue Sunshine Act | MassDevice.com On Call

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MassDevice On Call

MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A group of 19 healthcare advocacy groups this week submitted a letter asking the Obama Administration to issue the long-awaited guidelines on the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had promised to issue the Sunshine Act rules before the end of last year, but no rules have yet been unveiled.

Designed to eliminate fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, the Sunshine Act will govern and provide transparency for the relationships between industry and healthcare providers.

Home health care gets bipartisan bump

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Home Health Care

A bipartisan group of Representatives is driving a bill to empower physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified midwives to order home health care services for Medicare recipients.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and 26 others, is designed to allow more care providers to offer home services rather than send seniors and disabled patients to nursing homes.

The Reps. urged the need for timely access to home services that are less costly and more convenient for Medicare recipients with reduced mobility.

Can N.C. afford to apologize for the sterilizations?

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MassDevice On Call

MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A North Carolina proposal to compensate thousands of people who were sterilized during the state’s regrettable eugenics days gained momentum with the endorsement of state Republicans, but financial woes mean the money may not make it to the victims any time soon.

The eugenics movement gained popularity in the early 1900s, and called for the sterilization of individuals considered socially or intellectually unfit.

More than 30 U.S. states sanctioned eugenics, and most victims were sterilized by force or without proper consent.

GOP targets AARP over health care law

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AARP

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are getting ready to use the bully pulpit against the AARP and its support of the health care reform law, calling the senior citizens group on the carpet for a close look at its finances.

A pair of the House Ways and Means Committee’s sub-panels are slated to grill AARP executives April 1 about how the association will benefit from the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act via its endorsements of various insurance products.

Weight loss: Does religion make you fat?

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Does religion make you fat?

MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Regular attendance at religious activities at a young age can mean you’re twice as likely to become obese later in life, according to a study presented at an American Heart Assn. meeting.

The study by researchers at Northwestern University found that religiously observant young adults developed a higher risk of becoming obese than more secularly oriented people.