News in brief - Aug. 14, 2006

Medtronic settles kickback allegations - Uninsured rates higher for Hispanics, blacks - Federal government offers state grants to improve Medicaid

Medtronic settles kickback allegations

Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. in July agreed to pay the government $40 million to settle allegations that the company's spinal division paid physicians to induce them to use its products.

The U.S. Dept. of Justice accused Medtronic of using "sham" consulting and royalty agreements and travel arrangements to compensate doctors between 1998 and 2003. The company denies any wrongdoing. No doctors were penalized under the settlement.

The agreement resolves a 2002 whistle-blower lawsuit filed under the federal False Claims Act. Also under the settlement, the government is seeking dismissal of a second whistle-blower lawsuit filed against Medtronic in 2004. Once the cases are dismissed, Medtronic will begin a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Uninsured rates higher for Hispanics, blacks

More than 60% of Hispanic adults younger than 65 in the United States were uninsured at some point during 2005, according to a new study from the Commonwealth Fund. The New York-based research group also found that roughly 33% of working-age black Americans had no coverage for at least part of the year. In comparison, 20% of white adults younger than 65 lacked insurance in 2005, according to the fund, which based its results on a national survey.

Even when minorities have coverage, they miss out on needed care more often than do whites, the study found. A significantly lower percentage of Hispanics, for example, received blood pressure exams in 2005 than did white adults.

"Expanding insurance coverage among African-Americans and Hispanics, alone, will not ensure equal access and equal care," the fund authors state.

Federal government offers state grants to improve Medicaid

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently invited states to apply for $150 million in grants over the next two years to help increase quality in their Medicaid programs and make them run more efficiently.

The transformation grants, which were authorized under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, can be used in a multitude of ways. Options include implementing Medicaid pay-for-performance programs, providing health information technology support to reduce error rates, crafting incentives for the use of more generic drugs, and promoting more patient adherence to disease-prevention guidelines.