CHIP News and Research

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States streamline, add efficiency to Medicaid, survey finds

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 29 states have streamlined their programs, with most taking advantage of federal incentives to use new technology.

20 Jan 2012

Novel technique accurately maps gene-regulation proteins

A novel technique has been developed and demonstrated at Penn State University to map the proteins that read and regulate chromosomes -- the string-like structures inside cells that carry genes.

19 Jan 2012

Bioengineers receive $2 million NIH grant to develop new toxicology tests

Chemicals in pharmaceutical drugs can obviously save lives. But as more and stronger chemicals have been introduced, our basic knowledge of the broader health impact of all these chemicals has not kept up with the rapid pace of innovation. There is exceptionally little information on how chemicals in our drugs and also in the environment around us, including on the food we eat, impact some of the most important cells in our body: stem cells. Without basic knowledge and tests on the impact of chemicals on our stem cells, we may be unwittingly damaging essential regenerative functions in our body.

18 Jan 2012

IBM's non-contact, microfluidic, silicon probe minimizes patient discomfort

IBM scientists have developed a flexible, non-contact microfluidic probe made from silicon that can aid researchers and pathologists to investigate critical tissue samples accurately for drug discovery and disease diagnostics.

13 Jan 2012

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation names 18 new Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jan 2012

Life Technologies takes orders for new benchtop Ion Proton Sequencer

Life Technologies Corporation today announced it is taking orders for the new benchtop Ion Proton Sequencer that is designed to sequence the entire human genome in a day for $1,000.

10 Jan 2012

ACLJ urges U.S. Supreme Court to declare flawed health care law unconstitutional

On behalf of nearly 120 members of Congress and more than 100,000 Americans, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to conclude that a key provision of ObamaCare - the individual mandate - cannot be severed from the health care law and urged the high court to declare the entire law unconstitutional.

7 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 3, 2012

In today's headlines, reports that New York seniors are experiencing reduced prescription coverage and more California patients are being added to the health insurance rolls.

3 Jan 2012

Four-year effort to map genetic code of 1,000 African-Americans

A Johns Hopkins-led team of experts in genetics, immunology, epidemiology and allergic disease has embarked on a four-year effort to map the genetic code, or whole genome, of 1,000 people of African descent, including men and women from Baltimore.

30 Dec 2011

States awarded over $296M for ensuring more children have health coverage

More than $296 million was awarded to states for ensuring more children have health coverage, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

29 Dec 2011

Research roundup: Unraveling why elderly men are tested for prostate cancer; Difficulty paying medical bills

Medical Center Characteristics Associated With PSA Screenings In Elderly Veterans With Limited Life Expectancy -- Medical guidelines recommend against prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screenings for prostate cancer in men with limited life expectancy, but studies have shown that many elderly men still get the test.

23 Dec 2011

Researchers present results from 31 major studies of blood-related cancers at ASH 2011 meeting

Researchers from the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, one of the nation's top 50 best hospitals for cancer, presented results from 31 major studies of blood-related cancers - leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma -- during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, December 10-13, 2011 in San Diego.

23 Dec 2011

Health care issues leaving mark on presidential race

President Obama is busy touting his health law, while Mitt Romney argues that an individual mandate in Massachusetts is a "conservative" idea. In the meantime, the Associated Press examines Newt Gingrich's past support of the Children's Health Insurance Program.

23 Dec 2011

Researchers discover how spinning microparticles can direct neuron growth

Researchers at UC Irvine and The University of Texas at Arlington have discovered how spinning microparticles can direct the growth of nerve fiber, a discovery that could allow for directed growth of neuronal networks on a chip and improve methods for treating spinal or brain injuries.

21 Dec 2011

Research roundup: Insurance coverage in the Great Recession; PCIP vs. CHIP

The researchers how physicians examined claims of lower back back pain and note that part of the "rising economic cost of this epidemic is the burgeoning use of indiscriminate imaging," specifically MRIs. Researchers divided patients into two groups and "the treating physician in group 1 patients was blinded to the MRI results, while the physician for group 2 patients decided on treatment after reviewing the MRI findings."

17 Dec 2011

Canadian researchers develop portable device to monitor HIV in rural areas

A team of Canadian researchers has "created a portable device that uses a computer chip with software capable of analyzing blood tests outside the lab ... that could make it easier, faster and cheaper to track the progression of HIV in patients living in the developing world," Postmedia News/Vancouver Sun reports.

14 Dec 2011

Medicaid news: HHS grants Texas waiver for managed care, denies family planning request; Florida pilot program criticized

The federal government on Monday granted Texas a waiver that could mean billions more in Medicaid dollars to hospitals over the next few years in return for having them work together to provide better care for the poor. ... State lawmakers cut deeply into the Medicaid budget this year, in part by requiring all Texas Medicaid patients to be enrolled in private health maintenance organizations for their doctor care. In recent years, patients in most urban areas were covered by HMOs, while patients in many rural counties and the Rio Grande Valley had their doctor bills paid directly by Medicaid.

14 Dec 2011

Biochip can quickly predict blood poisoning

Is the patient suffering from blood poisoning? To answer this question, the doctor draws a blood sample and sends it to a central laboratory for testing. This takes up valuable time, which could cost the patient his life. In future, physicians will be able to analyze blood there and then and have the results within twenty minutes.

12 Dec 2011

Medicaid news: Ariz. appeals court upholds cuts; federal spending increases

In the Arizona decision, a three-judge panel allows an enrollment freeze to continue. Meanwhile, a new analysis finds federal spending on Medicaid nationwide increased 344 percent between 1990 and 2007.

8 Dec 2011

Researchers sequence entire transcriptome of mouse neural retina

The population of Eric Morrow's seminar "Neurogenetics and Disease" comprises mainly undergraduates who were skipping down the halls of their elementary schools when the first drafts of human genome sequences were published. When Morrow, assistant professor of biology, recently asked the class how to find the mutation behind a disease, a hand shot up in the back of the class to signal the answer: "Sequence the patient's genome."

8 Dec 2011