NASI Study Finds Slow Economy and Medical Spending Affect National Trends. In New Jersey, workers' compensation payments increased to $1,471 million in 2002, a rise of 7.9 percent from the 2001 level of $1,363 million, according to a new report released by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Workers' compensation pays for medical care and cash benefits for workers who are injured on the job or become ill due to job-related causes.

 A 42 year old male from in Seattle, Washington pleaded guilty today in federal court in Seattle to wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information for economic gain. This is the first criminal conviction in the United States under the health information privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which became effective in April, 2003. Those provisions made it illegal to wrongfully disclose personally identifiable health information.

CMS ANNOUNCES IMPLEMENTATION OF BENEFICIARY ACCESS SYSTEM. The Beneficiary Automated Status and Inquiry System (BASIS) is available to participants of the Voluntary Data Sharing Agreement (VDSA) program. The BASIS allows you to make on-line Medicare entitlement queries to CMS’ Enrollment Data Base (EDB) to determine if an individual is a Medicare beneficiary and if so, obtain available entitlement information. The BASIS serves as a useful tool when you have a need to know specific information during the interval between quarterly file exchanges. 

 The occurrence of severe lung disease in workers who make flavorings or use them to produce microwave popcorn has revealed an unrecognized occupational health risk. Flavorings are often complex mixtures of many chemicals [Conning 2000]. The safety of these chemicals is usually established for humans consuming small amounts in food [Pollitt 2000], not for food industry workers inhaling them

CMS issued a memorandum on prohibiting costs to be chargeable against Medicare set-aside arrangement funds.The purpose of this All Regional Administrators memorandum is to replace the policy that was outlined in the answers to questions in the All Associate Regional Administrators (ARA) memorandum concerning Workers’ Compensation Commutation of Future Benefits (issued on July 23, 2001, attached) and in the answer to question seven from the April 21, 2003 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).