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Health insurance issues: State regulators wary of health law, Medicare Advantage star system

News outlets report on changes to the individual health insurance market and Medicare Advantage plans under the new health law.

16 Jun 2010

New combination appears to be effective against cancer stem cells in pancreatic cancer

The new cancer medication sorafenib looks promising. Sorafenib is used for advanced liver and kidney cancer and also appears to be effective against cancer stem cells in pancreatic cancer. The team led by Professor Dr. Ingrid Herr, Head of the Department of Molecular Oncosurgery, a group of the Department of Surgery at Heidelberg University Hospital, (Managing Director: Professor Dr. Markus W. B-chler) in cooperation with the German Cancer Research Center, tested the new substance in mice and pancreatic cancer cells.

16 Jun 2010

Medicare will hold off processing payment claims until June 18

Congress is debating a bill that would eliminate a cut in Medicare reimbursements to physicians and other providers that officially went into effect June 1. Several news outlets report how the delay in congressional action has created confusion for doctors and Medicare billing procedures.

16 Jun 2010

ARBs may be linked with increased risk of developing cancer: US scientists

A common class of blood pressure drugs called angiotensin-receptor blockers may be linked with a slightly increased risk of developing cancer, US scientists have found.

16 Jun 2010

Both sides try to score political points on health law

NPR: Both Democrats and Republicans are continuing efforts to use the health reform law to their advantage as the American public sorts outs its feelings on the subject. "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is trying to get Republicans on the record about repeal. And Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the head of the Democrats' House campaign committee, is happy to talk about his opponents' position.

16 Jun 2010

Inability of Mass. to curb health costs could be harbinger for national efforts

Last week, Massachusetts health reform "advocates celebrated a new report showing that, despite the devastating economic slump, the vast majority of Massachusetts residents had not dropped health insurance coverage." But also in the headlines were reports that "a state official called Massachusetts's decision to reject the vast majority of insurer rate hikes a 'train wreck' that would very likely lead to the insolvency of some companies.

16 Jun 2010

BIOCIUS Life Sciences, BlueSky Biotech collaborate to offer Sirtuin pre-validated assay solution

BIOCIUS Life Sciences Inc., developers of the RapidFire® high-throughput mass spectrometry system, and BlueSky Biotech, service provider of discovery biologicals, today announced their collaboration to offer the industry's only Sirtuin (SIRT, silent mating type information regulation homolog) enzyme preparations fully-validated in a label-free functional assay.

16 Jun 2010

Employer health costs slowing, but still face 9 percent increase in 2011

PriceWaterhouseCoopers is estimating that employer health costs will rise 9 percent in 2011, slightly less than they rose in 2010, Reuters reports. "The PriceWaterhouseCoopers team questioned 700 companies in 30 industries for the report. About 60 percent of Americans under the age of 65 get health insurance through an employer. Health benefits are often a major part of any employee compensation package. Most employers, 63 percent, offer a [managed-care] preferred provider organization or PPO, the survey found. And many have raised the deductible, with 43 percent having a deductible of $400 or more, compared to 25 percent in 2009."

16 Jun 2010

WellPoint to begin offering 'electronic' house calls

The Indianapolis Star: "Indianapolis-based health insurance giant WellPoint unveiled a new program to give its members access to doctors and other health-care providers via the Internet. The house call would be initiated by a patient logging in for a video chat from work to describe a sore throat, or a parent at home texting about a child with poison ivy.

16 Jun 2010

New research may help unravel cellular brain activity involved in human decisions

Crayfish make surprisingly complex, cost-benefit calculations, finds a University of Maryland study, opening the door to a new line of research that may help unravel the cellular brain activity involved in human decisions.

16 Jun 2010

Researchers examine rates of cancer in British white and British Indian population

British Indians have fewer cases of many different cancers including breast, prostate, colon and lung than the British white population, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer1 today (Wednesday).

16 Jun 2010

AMA: 20 percent of medical claims paid incorrectly, wastes billions

The American Medical Association said Monday that private insurers pay 20 percent of physician claims incorrectly in its third annual 'report card' on the insurance industry, The Associated Press reports.

16 Jun 2010

Elite medical schools rate poorly on social mission

A new study ranking the social mission of medical schools puts historically black colleges on top and some Northeast private schools at the bottom.

16 Jun 2010

Cheers, jeers for new federal rules on changes in health benefits

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Mary Agnes Carey report on the new "grandfather" rule: "Business groups gave mixed reviews Monday to new Obama administration rules limiting how much employers and insurers can change their health insurance plans - while remaining exempt from potentially costly new consumer protections.

16 Jun 2010

UIC receives $3M grant to evaluate comprehensive process for responding to patient harm events

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Patient Safety Excellence has received a $3 million grant to evaluate its comprehensive process for responding to patient harm events at nine other Chicago area hospitals.

16 Jun 2010

High vitamin B levels in blood reduce lung cancer risk: Study

Regular intake of Vitamin B complex can reduce the risk of getting lung cancer, researchers have found. The research paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association however emphasized that quitting smoking was the best method to reduce the risk of lung cancer. It is too early to say that vitamin supplements can actually prevent lung cancer say researchers. Lung cancer kills nearly 1.3 million people globally each year according to the World Health Organization and 10 to 15 percent of smokers develop lung cancer.

15 Jun 2010

Biogen Idec initiates enrollment in Phase II BG-12 combination trial for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Biogen Idec today announced enrollment of the first patient in a multicenter Phase II clinical trial designed to evaluate its investigational oral therapy BG-12 (dimethyl fumarate) in combination with commonly used first-line treatments in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

15 Jun 2010

CLC bio headed molecular diagnostics project receives $2M grant

CLC bio, Ion Torrent, and Aarhus University Hospital - Departments of Molecular Medicine and Clinical Genetics, have received a 2 million USD grant from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation.

15 Jun 2010

Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation to present 2010 Neuroscience Prize to Robert H. Wurtz

Robert H. Wurtz, PhD, a pioneer and leader in the field of neurophysiology, is the recipient of the 2010 Neuroscience Prize of The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. His discoveries of how the brain processes visual information and controls eye movements laid the groundwork for subsequent research into the neurophysiology of visual cognition. This research has led scientists to a deeper understanding of how the brain is organized to produce behavior.

15 Jun 2010

Sensory-tested flavors for coconut water formulations

WILD Flavors, Inc. continues to be innovative in product and flavoring offerings, and has expanded into the coconut water trend through the research and development of not only flavors that test well in coconut water applications, but in new marketable concepts that utilize coconut water. As consumers grow to love the health benefits of coconut water - so will their taste palettes, especially when paired with WILD's sensory-tested flavors for coconut water formulations.

15 Jun 2010

Research News and Research

Health insurance issues: State regulators wary of health law, Medicare Advantage star system

New combination appears to be effective against cancer stem cells in pancreatic cancer

Medicare will hold off processing payment claims until June 18

ARBs may be linked with increased risk of developing cancer: US scientists

Both sides try to score political points on health law

Inability of Mass. to curb health costs could be harbinger for national efforts

BIOCIUS Life Sciences, BlueSky Biotech collaborate to offer Sirtuin pre-validated assay solution

Employer health costs slowing, but still face 9 percent increase in 2011

WellPoint to begin offering 'electronic' house calls

New research may help unravel cellular brain activity involved in human decisions

Researchers examine rates of cancer in British white and British Indian population

AMA: 20 percent of medical claims paid incorrectly, wastes billions

Elite medical schools rate poorly on social mission

Cheers, jeers for new federal rules on changes in health benefits

UIC receives $3M grant to evaluate comprehensive process for responding to patient harm events

High vitamin B levels in blood reduce lung cancer risk: Study

Biogen Idec initiates enrollment in Phase II BG-12 combination trial for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

CLC bio headed molecular diagnostics project receives $2M grant

Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation to present 2010 Neuroscience Prize to Robert H. Wurtz

Sensory-tested flavors for coconut water formulations

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