Research News and Research

RSS

Administration rejects Anthem Blue Cross' defense of premium hike

WellPoint Inc., the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross of California, is defending its rate hike for customers with individual health insurance, but critics, including the Obama administration, are dubious.

15 Feb 2010

KFHP/H reports net income of $2.1 billion for 2009

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries (KFHP/H) reported today a combined total operating revenue of $10.6 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, compared to $10.0 billion in the same period in 2008. Operating income was $214 million, equal to two percent of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to $108 million in the same quarter of the prior year. Net non-operating income was $276 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to a net non-operating loss of $1.1 billion in the same quarter of 2008.

15 Feb 2010

Federal health care tax credits going unclaimed

"Federal healthcare benefits are going unclaimed by an estimated 17,000 Californians whose jobs were moved overseas or retirees whose pensions are being paid by the government after their former employers terminated their retirement plans," the Los Angeles Times reports."

15 Feb 2010

GOP looks to make its case at health summit while Democrats remain skeptical

Politico reports that the White House's Feb. 25 health care summit with Democrats and Republicans "gives the GOP a venue to accomplish something it hasn't been able to do since President Barack Obama took the oath of office: Sell voters on Republican solutions to big problems." But Republicans have so far failed to capitalize because of the lack of a visible figure to champion their causes.

14 Feb 2010

Both parties see benefit of selling insurance across state lines, but they disagree on how to do it

With efforts to pass a national health care bill at a stalemate in Washington, two newspaper explore some of the options. The New York Times reports: "As Republicans and Democrats claim to be searching for common ground in the health care debate, one idea that lawmakers on both sides seem to agree on is that health insurance should be sold across state lines.

14 Feb 2010

Researchers describe the structure of ToxT that controls virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae

In a new study, Dartmouth researchers describe the structure of a protein called ToxT that controls the virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera. Buried within ToxT, the researchers were surprised to find a fatty acid that appears to inhibit ToxT, which prevents the bacteria from causing cholera.

14 Feb 2010

Biden promises to listen to GOP's health care ideas, but some Republicans are not convinced

The health care reform legislation may have been eclipsed recently by the jobs bill and the war in Afghanistan for top billing on the Sunday morning news shows. But Democrats and Republicans still found time to push their positions on health policy Sunday.

14 Feb 2010

Anthem Blue Cross postpones California rate hike

The Los Angeles Times: - "Under pressure from state regulators, Anthem Blue Cross has agreed to postpone its controversial rate increases of up to 39% for individual health insurance policies set for March 1. In an unusual conference call, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said Anthem executives told him Saturday morning that its March rate hike would not take effect before May 1 for 800,000 individual policyholders in the state" (Lifsher, 2/13).

14 Feb 2010

Today's OpEds: Republicans and Medicare, small business health costs and changes to FEHBP

Republican leaders are now saying they will not participate in the meeting unless the president takes his health reform plan off the table to start over. I understand their concerns with a variety of issues in the current bills, but where you start is not nearly as important as where you finish. After all, fees continue to skyrocket and millions remain uninsured, costing our country in many ways. ... There is no time like the present for Washington to show America that it is interested in governing, not just in campaigning. The cameras will be rolling, and we will be watching (Christine Todd Whitman, 2/12).

14 Feb 2010

2 Seattle doctors accused of Medicare fraud; CNN offers advice for patients on checking out their doctors

Two Seattle-area doctors are accused of stealing millions from Medicare through fraudulent billing. "In separate grand jury indictments filed in U.S. District Court, federal authorities contend both men followed identical schemes in setting up shell companies designed to defraud the Medicare system."

14 Feb 2010

COBRA extension out of revised Senate jobs bill

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is rewriting a jobs bill after Democrats complained of too many concessions to Republicans," The Hill reports. Unlike the bill unveiled hours earlier by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Reid's measure "does not extend unemployment and COBRA benefits that many in both parties want." Some Democrats are concerned by the change.

14 Feb 2010

Transition through hemogenic endothelial intermediate necessary for hematopoietic stem cell formation

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the specific region in vertebrates where adult blood stem cells arise during embryonic development.

14 Feb 2010

Debiopharm receives AFSSAPS approval of CTA for Debio 0932 inhibitor, triggers milestone payment to Curis

Curis, Inc., announced today that its licensee Debiopharm S.A. has received approval from France's regulatory authority Agence Française de Securité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé (AFSSAPS) of a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) for small molecule heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor Debio 0932, formerly called CUDC-305. Under the terms of Curis’ and Debiopharm’s August 2009 license agreement, Curis will receive an $8 million milestone payment from Debiopharm for the achievement of this development objective.

12 Feb 2010

Critical Conditions wins Mom's Choice Awards for best health/safety book of 2010

Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive by author Martine Ehrenclou, MA, has been awarded its 14th book award by Mom's Choice Awards for best health/safety book of 2010. http://www.momschoiceawards.com/celebrate09.php

12 Feb 2010

Pacific Biomarkers announces second-quarter fiscal 2010 results

Pacific Biomarkers, Inc., a leading provider of specialized biomarker and contract research services, today announced its operating results for the second quarter and first half of FY2010.

12 Feb 2010

New book on hospitalist recruitment and retention

Recruitment and retention of physicians in all specialties is a national challenge, and it is expected to become even more difficult due to an impending physician shortage. As relative newcomers to the long line of medical specialists, hospitalists pose special challenges. What will convince a hospitalist to join one organization over another? What might prevent a hospitalist from considering a certain assignment?

12 Feb 2010

"Goin' Bald for Bucks" program: RPCI CEO to shave head and mustache in honor of cancer patients

Dr. Donald L. Trump, President and CEO of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), America's first cancer center, will have his head shaved by a Roswell Park cancer patient on March 3, 2010 to honor the Institute's 26,292 patients, and to encourage others to participate in the "Goin' Bald for Bucks" program.

12 Feb 2010

New research finds sensory cortex develops late in fragile X syndrome defect

Why do people with fragile X syndrome, a genetic defect that is the best-known cause of autism and inherited mental retardation, recoil from hugs and physical touch - even from their parents?

12 Feb 2010

EMBL-EBI hosts ChEMBLdb online database

ChEMBLdb, an online database of information on the properties of more than half a million drug and drug-like small molecules and their targets, has been launched.

12 Feb 2010

White rye flour bread leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels than wheat bread with rye bran

Wholegrain bread is good and good for you, as most people know. But it is not only the fiber-rich bran, the outer shell of the grain, that is healthful. On the contrary, research at the Lund University Faculty of Engineering shows that bread baked with white rye flour, which is flour made from the inner, white part of the rye kernel, leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels compared with wheat bread with rye bran. White rye flour thus leads to much better values than both regular wheat flour and rye bran. At the same time, much of the bread that is sold in stores today in most countries is in fact baked with wheat flour and bran from various grains.

12 Feb 2010

Research News and Research

Administration rejects Anthem Blue Cross' defense of premium hike

KFHP/H reports net income of $2.1 billion for 2009

Federal health care tax credits going unclaimed

GOP looks to make its case at health summit while Democrats remain skeptical

Both parties see benefit of selling insurance across state lines, but they disagree on how to do it

Researchers describe the structure of ToxT that controls virulent nature of Vibrio cholerae

Biden promises to listen to GOP's health care ideas, but some Republicans are not convinced

Anthem Blue Cross postpones California rate hike

Today's OpEds: Republicans and Medicare, small business health costs and changes to FEHBP

2 Seattle doctors accused of Medicare fraud; CNN offers advice for patients on checking out their doctors

COBRA extension out of revised Senate jobs bill

Transition through hemogenic endothelial intermediate necessary for hematopoietic stem cell formation

Debiopharm receives AFSSAPS approval of CTA for Debio 0932 inhibitor, triggers milestone payment to Curis

Critical Conditions wins Mom's Choice Awards for best health/safety book of 2010

Pacific Biomarkers announces second-quarter fiscal 2010 results

New book on hospitalist recruitment and retention

"Goin' Bald for Bucks" program: RPCI CEO to shave head and mustache in honor of cancer patients

New research finds sensory cortex develops late in fragile X syndrome defect

EMBL-EBI hosts ChEMBLdb online database

White rye flour bread leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels than wheat bread with rye bran

eBook: Advancing neurodegenerative research with iPSC-derived microglia models eBook

Latest eBooks

Editorial Focus eBook - Spatial and single-cell omics (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (3rd edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Microbiome (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition)

Improving healthcare sustainability through carbon data

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring