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Roundup: Calif. and health reform; Conn. mental health parity; Insurance premium increases in Iowa, Fla.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield's proposed 11 percent health insurance premium increase is excessive, two experts have concluded. The company, which insures three-quarters of Iowans who buy their own policies, already raised premiums on those plans an average of 18 percent last spring. Wellmark sparked outcries when it announced in November that it wants to raise those rates again in order to keep up with rising prices and increased use of medical care (Leys, 1/7).

7 Jan 2011

Skilled Healthcare Group updates 2010 full year non-GAAP earnings estimates

Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. today announced it has updated its 2010 full year non-GAAP earnings estimates and expects consolidated revenue to be approximately $816 million to $819 million, Adjusted EBITDAR to be approximately $138.9 million to $140.7 million and Adjusted EBITDA to be approximately $119.7 million to $121.5 million. The Company expects adjusted earnings per diluted share for 2010 to be between $1.01 and $1.04.

6 Jan 2011

The Ensign Group procures $35 million seven-year term loan from RBS Asset Finance

The Ensign Group, the parent company of the Ensign group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, hospice care and assisted living companies, announced that a group of its real estate holding subsidiaries has procured a US$35 million seven-year term loan from RBS Asset Finance, Inc., an affiliate of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

6 Jan 2011

First web-based TBI screening tool for veterans

A team of researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has developed the first web-based screening tool for Traumatic Brain Injury. This instrument has recently been used by soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who participated in the Sixth Annual Road to Recovery Conference and Tribute in Orlando to determine if they sustained a TBI.

6 Jan 2011

NTU announces $150 million Lee Foundation gift for new medical school

Nanyang Technological University today announced a gift of $150 million by the Lee Foundation towards the new medical school with half of the sum going directly to needy students. Together with the enhanced Singapore Government matching, NTU will receive a gift amounting to $400 million.

5 Jan 2011

Levindale's Specialty Hospital inagurates high intensity unit

The Specialty Hospital at Levindale has opened Maryland's first high intensity unit inside a chronic hospital. This unit provides heart monitoring for patients who require specialized medical care and treatment for serious illnesses and/or injuries.

5 Jan 2011

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine are coordinating an international team of scientists working to identify genes or gene variants that may make a person more likely to have a particular type of stroke called an ischemic stroke.

30 Dec 2010

Kennedy Krieger inagurates new clinic for AHO treatment and research

Kennedy Krieger Institute announced the opening of a new clinic for the treatment and research of Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO), a rare genetic disorder affecting the bones, skin and hormone-producing tissues.

29 Dec 2010

Appalachian Regional Healthcare sues West Virginia DHHR, Bureau for Medical Services over Medicaid reimbursements

Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Inc., yesterday filed a lawsuit against the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and its Bureau for Medical Services for inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates that threaten the continued operation of the not-for-profit Beckley ARH Hospital (BARH). The suit was filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

29 Dec 2010

Novel method to analyze fatigue through speech

What can scientists learn from watching a group of people sitting around, chatting, playing movies, reading, and happily making new friends? Quite a lot, says University of Melbourne, Australia acoustician Adam Vogel, who carefully observed this sort of group in a fatigue management study he and his colleagues describe this month in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

22 Dec 2010

Breast feed for smarter kids

A news study published in the journal Pediatrics this Monday shows that babies who are breastfed for longer than six months may reap he benefits of having better brain function right into school. The benefit may be particularly so in boys.

21 Dec 2010

Omnibus bill defeated; Congress will vote on continuing resolution to fund government through March 4

Senate Republicans defeated the proposed omnibus package on Thursday and Senate appropriators over the weekend fashioned "a short-term continuing resolution [CR] to fund the federal government for fiscal 2011," National Journal reports (Sanchez, 12/18).

21 Dec 2010

Stem cell therapy gives sight to four year old

Izabelle Evans, only four years of age, was born blind but in a medical miracle has been given sight. After a stem cell treatment in China she can see. Her parents James Evans and Hollie McHugh are “over the moon” that their daughter can finally see them. As of now she can see only 3ft away. The treatment that cost the family £50,000.

16 Dec 2010

Ensign board declares quarterly cash dividend

The Ensign Group, Inc., the parent company of the Ensign™ group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services and assisted living companies, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.055 per share of Ensign common stock, payable on or before January 31, 2011 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2010.

16 Dec 2010

Researchers discover newborn's brain respond strongly to mother's voice

A mother's voice will preferentially activate the parts of the brain responsible for language learning, say researchers from the University of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre.

16 Dec 2010

SBUMC to rename and dedicate ALS clinic as Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence

For Chris Pendergast, every Christmas he has been alive to celebrate with his family for the past 17 years has been a gift unto itself. Indeed, in 1993 the then 44-year-old elementary school teacher from Miller Place on Long Island was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - ALS - the always fatal degenerative neuromuscular disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was told that he had, at best, three to five years to live.

15 Dec 2010

World's first remote 3D keyhole surgery to be performed at University of Surrey

Doctors will shortly be performing the world's first remote 3D keyhole surgery during a symposium at the University of Surrey. Keyhole surgery - where doctors operate on organs through a tiny incision - reduces the length of hospital stays and post-operative complications. This also means that patients experience less scarring and pain. 3D keyhole surgery is a state-of-the-art extension of standard keyhole surgery that uses 3D cameras like those used to make the film 'Avatar'. It puts the surgeon right inside the patient's body and significantly improves accuracy.

14 Dec 2010

Nuance announces availability of Dragon Medical Mobile Recorder on iTunes App Store

Nuance Communications, Inc. today announced the availability of Dragon Medical Mobile Recorder on the iTunes App Store, expanding its healthcare suite of speech solutions for smartphones and building upon the recent success of Dragon Medical Mobile Search. With Dragon Medical Mobile Recorder, Nuance is introducing a new level of clinical documentation flexibility by enabling mobile point-of-care dictation that is connected to speech-enabled transcription platforms, eScription and Dictaphone Enterprise Speech System, and the fully-outsourced Nuance Transcription Services offering.

13 Dec 2010

Elsevier enables text-to-speech option for all ePub book titles

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and solutions, announced today that it has enabled the text-to-speech option on all of its ePub book titles. The text-to-speech function enables an e-book to read aloud. This will facilitate access by readers who would otherwise face a range of access challenges through blindness, dyslexia, or motor difficulties.

10 Dec 2010

Weifang Shengtai holds unveiling ceremony for 'Joint University-Business Community Program' with HUT

Shengtai Pharmaceutical, Inc. announced today that Weifang Shengtai Pharmaceutical, the Company's subsidiary in Changle, Shandong, China ("the Shandong Subsidiary"), held an unveiling ceremony for the "Joint University-Business Community Program" between the Company's Shandong subsidiary and the Hubei University of Technology ("HUT") in Changle, Shandong, China on December 4, 2010.

9 Dec 2010