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Dane County patient dumping case unloads costs on consumers

The Wisconsin Hospital Association expressed disappointment with the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision yesterday that allows Dane County and other counties to impose yet another hidden tax on health care consumers.

8 Dec 2004

Life expectancy at 65 is now 81.6 years for men and 84.5 for women

The nation’s medicine cabinets are more crowded than ever, with almost half of all people taking at least one prescription medicine and one in six taking three or more medications, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ annual check-up on Americans’ health.

4 Dec 2004

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance. Half of the estimated 460,000 women and men who need lifesaving antiretroviral drugs are not getting them, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.

29 Nov 2004

New initiatives to stop Americans smoking

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today a series of initiatives designed to help Americans quit smoking. The initiatives include the opening of a national quitline number (1-800-QUITNOW) that puts users in touch with programs that can help them give up tobacco.

10 Nov 2004

McGuinty Government introduces changes to eye care services

The McGuinty government is making changes to the way OHIP insures routine eye exams, Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced today.

1 Nov 2004

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children, as do uninsured or Medicaid-insured children, compared to children covered by private insurance, according to a study in the October 27 issue of JAMA.

28 Oct 2004

Researchers found that sedentary lifestyles can lead to higher medical costs

Lack of physical activity is costly not just to people’s health but to their wallets as well, a new study suggests.

25 Oct 2004

New Yorkers' use of mental health services rose only slightly after 9//11

New Yorkers' use of mental health services rose only slightly during the year after the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks compared with the year before the attacks, a recent study suggests. But the number of mental health visits among people already receiving treatment increased after the attacks.

22 Oct 2004

Study of patient's perspective medical errors may have health care professional rethinking what is important to their patients

The study, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, suggests that patients are more disturbed with lack of access to and relationships with their physicians than technical errors in diagnosis and treatment.

18 Oct 2004

Both Presidential candidates are ignoring the core issue of controlling health care cost growth

While both presidential candidates have served up proposals to ease voter angst about the affordability of health care, neither candidate tackles the core issue of controlling health care cost growth, according to an article by economist Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., in the Oct. 14 New England Journal of Medicine.

18 Oct 2004

Health care reform is likely to be a key topic in Wednesday night’s presidential candidate debate

Health care reform is likely to be a key topic in Wednesday night’s presidential candidate debate, which examines domestic issues and caps off the series of three meetings between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry.

12 Oct 2004

As physicians prioritize the time they spend with patients, they're putting less emphasis on counseling activities

Physicians are missing opportunities to counsel patients already at risk of developing heart disease about the health benefits of improved diet and exercise, according to research from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

12 Oct 2004

Representatives from Bush and Kerry campaigns to present health plans at University of Michigan

With health care on the short list of hot topics for this year's presidential election, many voters want to know exactly what the two leading candidates propose to do about Medicare, the uninsured, prescription drugs and rising health care costs if they're elected.

12 Oct 2004

Even health conscious Americans report low rates of endoscopic screening for colorectal cancer

The study found just over half (54 percent) of men and women reported having ever undergone endoscopy (sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy). The percentage that underwent either procedure in the past five years for screening rather than for disease diagnosis or follow up was just 24 percent.

30 Sep 2004

Australian Medical Association says Labor’s Medicare Gold policy looks good in theory

Australian Medical Association Vice President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that Labor’s Medicare Gold policy is a genuine attempt to provide the long-awaited and much-needed links between hospital care, community care and aged care to ensure that older Australians have access to the right type of care in the right environment when they most need it.

29 Sep 2004

New Jersey health program may be in jeopardy, according to a new study

A state program that guarantees access to health coverage for all New Jersey residents regardless of their age or health status may be in jeopardy, according to a new study by The Center for State Health Policy (CSHP) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

22 Sep 2004

Health insurance plans extend efforts to end tobacco use

Nearly three-quarters of all health insurance plans included in a new survey rely on evidence-based clinical guidelines to address tobacco use, and almost all plans, 98 percent, provide full coverage for at least one type of smoking cessation intervention.

16 Sep 2004

One-third to buy cheaper Canadian drugs, 100 million find insurance coverage cut or costlier

Faced with a double-barreled crisis of shrinking health care coverage and fast-rising medical costs, two out of three American adults (67 percent) now think health care coverage should be a “guarantee” as in Canada, Britain and other nations.

16 Sep 2004

Current methods of delivering health care to kids are woefully unable to cope with a pediatric disease pendulum

"There's a growing gap between where child health is moving and how we're attempting to deliver health care to kids," said pediatrician and health policy researcher Paul Wise, MD, MPH.

15 Sep 2004

Health Affairs study examines 25 years of children’s health coverage

In recent years, rising health insurance costs have likely played a key role in the decline of American children with private health coverage, according to a study by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published in the September/October edition of the journal Health Affairs.

14 Sep 2004

Health Insurance News and Research

Dane County patient dumping case unloads costs on consumers

Life expectancy at 65 is now 81.6 years for men and 84.5 for women

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance

New initiatives to stop Americans smoking

McGuinty Government introduces changes to eye care services

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children

Researchers found that sedentary lifestyles can lead to higher medical costs

New Yorkers' use of mental health services rose only slightly after 9//11

Study of patient's perspective medical errors may have health care professional rethinking what is important to their patients

Both Presidential candidates are ignoring the core issue of controlling health care cost growth

Health care reform is likely to be a key topic in Wednesday night’s presidential candidate debate

As physicians prioritize the time they spend with patients, they're putting less emphasis on counseling activities

Representatives from Bush and Kerry campaigns to present health plans at University of Michigan

Even health conscious Americans report low rates of endoscopic screening for colorectal cancer

Australian Medical Association says Labor’s Medicare Gold policy looks good in theory

New Jersey health program may be in jeopardy, according to a new study

Health insurance plans extend efforts to end tobacco use

One-third to buy cheaper Canadian drugs, 100 million find insurance coverage cut or costlier

Current methods of delivering health care to kids are woefully unable to cope with a pediatric disease pendulum

Health Affairs study examines 25 years of children’s health coverage

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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