There is still no cure for asthma, so for 22 million people in the U.S., this chronic disease continues to be a daily burden no matter where they live. But it's not just air pollution they should be worried about. Factors such as pollen, secondhand smoke – even high rates of poverty, a large uninsured population or a high number of ER visits – can be critical signs that certain cities and states are worse for families with asthma. It is especially true for people with severe asthma.
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The final implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be bad news for re-authorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a congressional staffer said. … Authorization for the program, which provides health coverage to families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford costly health insurance, expires at the end of September 2013.
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A new study appearing this week in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law catalogues community-based efforts to develop strategies and policies that - by targeting high risk housing - may hold the key to reducing lead hazards in children's homes.
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Cassava experts are reporting new outbreaks and the increased spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease or CBSD, warning that the rapidly proliferating plant virus could cause a 50 percent drop in production of a crop that provides a significant source of food and income for 300 million Africans.
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Pediatricians, economists, social scientists and policy experts will come together on Saturday, May 4, to address one of the greatest threats to child health - poverty.
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News outlets report that several Republican governors who came out in favor of the expansion are battling with conservative lawmakers as legislative sessions wind down.
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"The end of extreme poverty might very well be within reach," economics reporter Annie Lowrey writes in a New York Times Magazine opinion piece.
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A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is comprised of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.
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"Twenty of the world's most troubled countries have made progress in efforts that range from reducing poverty to improving the education of girls and cutting down on the deaths of women in childbirth, the World Bank said on Wednesday" in a new report, Reuters reports.
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Stateline reports that seven states could still go either way on pursuing this element of the health law. Kaiser Health News examines Arkansas' approach, viewed by many as a "deal-making compromise" for some states.
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News outlets also detail the latest expansion news from Oklahoma, Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine and Arizona.
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The Florida House of Representatives passed its own limited health care bill that relies on state money to expand coverage to the state's neediest residents. Also in the news, reports from Ohio, Montana, Texas, Nebraska and Arizona on the status of state decision-making regarding the expansion.
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The introduction of subsidized health insurance for poor people in Colombia resulted in decreased access to HIV tests in antenatal care, research shows.
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On Thursday, the international community recognized World Malaria Day, observed annually on April 25. This year's theme was "Invest in the future. Defeat malaria."
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California has more uninsured people than other states have people. With that in mind, think about this: By Oct. 1, the state has to have its health insurance exchange up and running, ready to offer an estimated five million people some kind of insurance.
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Twenty states and the District of Columbia have agreed to expand their Medicaid programs, to cover everyone under 133 percent of the federal poverty line. That leaves 30 states that haven't, although Avalere categorizes four states as leaning in that direction (Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and New York). Some of these states have especially large uninsured populations.
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Today's headlines include reports that some Democratic senators have concerns about the health law's roll out as well as other news about the measure's implementation.
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When even a key architect of Obamacare says the law's implementation will resemble a "train wreck," it is clear that its biggest remaining supporters need to finally level with the American people about what's in store -; starting with President Barack Obama.
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Florida lawmakers are closer to a deal that would OK a Medicaid expansion there -- the state would use federal funds to cover more vulnerable residents while providing childless adults and adult parents with state money to buy private insurance.
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News outlets also report on whether health exchanges will end insurance monopolies; on efforts to address possible "churning" between Medicaid and the new insurance marketplaces; and the money states spent to decide against running their own exchanges.
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