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Intracacies of doctors' fees difficult to unravel

"For the most part, doctor fees are a mystery. If people see a doctor who is part of their insurance network, they are responsible only for deductibles and co-payments, and the price the health insurer pays is often a secret," The New York Times reports. "And if people see a doctor outside their network, they usually have no idea what the charge will be - even though they are responsible for most of it - until the bill comes."

19 Aug 2009

Mullti-million dollar ad campaigns supporting health overhaul launched

Various advertising campaigns take to the airwaves. Among their messages are the moral imperative of reform and the importance of cooperation.

19 Aug 2009

FDA approves Hiberix Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine

In response to a U.S. shortage of a vaccine to protect infants from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) has received accelerated approval from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for Hiberix((R)) [Haemophilus b Conjugate Vaccine (Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate)] as a booster dose in children 15 months through four years of age. Hib is an often severe and potentially deadly bacterial infection that can cause meningitis.

19 Aug 2009

Polls: Americans less confident about their future health care, skeptical about reform proposals

"A monthly survey of consumer sentiment on health care issues shows that Americans' confidence in insurance coverage, affordability and access dropped more than 5 points in July, after having risen slightly in June," The Associated Press/CBS News reports.

19 Aug 2009

News outlets continue to explain how end-of-life care counseling works

NPR talks with Dr. David Casarett, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who started the palliative care service at the VA hospital in Philadelphia, about "the rhetoric around the end-of-life issues addressed in some of the proposed health care legislation" (Block, 8/18).

19 Aug 2009

It may be August, but lawmakers aren't taking a break from health reform rhetoric

The New York Times: "An aide to the (Senate Finance) Committee said Monday that (the six senators trying to forge bipartisanship on a health care reform bill) would hold a teleconference call this week. Senators Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and the committee chairman, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican, have talked many times during the recess, the aide said. But the call will mark the entire group's first discussion since the recess began" (Seelye, 8/18).

19 Aug 2009

Facing roadblocks, The White House hones message on health care reform

White House officials say President Obama will shift the health care reform debate in September to include more talk of a moral imperative to provide health insurance to all, The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Aug 2009

Gibbs says The White House still "hopeful" on bipartisan support

"The Obama administration is still hopeful it can get bipartisan support for a health insurance overhaul, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday," Dow Jones Newswires reports. "In remarks to reporters at the White House, Gibbs disputed media reports the administration has cast aside such hopes and is preparing to push the controversial health-care bill through Congress on a party-line vote."

19 Aug 2009

House Democrats request insurers' financial records

"Dozens of the nation's largest insurance firms must decide whether to honor a request from House Democrats for detailed financial records, part of an investigation into executive compensation and other business practices in an industry that opposes President Barack Obama's health care proposals," The Associated Press reports.

19 Aug 2009

Hospitals rebounding from the economic recession

The development could spare patients the higher fees hospitals may otherwise have had to charge to keep their books balanced, the Dallas Morning News reports.

19 Aug 2009

70 percent of specialty doctors oppose health-care reform proposals

Chairman of the ASMD, Alfred O. Bonati, M.D., said that, "As a physician, the results of this poll are not surprising to me. Any doctor who has ever dealt with Medicare knows that government coverage severely limits our abilities to deliver care that best fits the needs of the patient and the patient's family. We know that government coverage does not allow for flexibility, creativity, or, sometimes, even compassion."

19 Aug 2009

Battle over proposal to disclose drug price deals

"Some Democratic lawmakers looking for ways to overhaul the nation's health-care system are targeting the companies that handle drug benefits for more than 210 million Americans, setting off a lobbying battle over how much pricing information the companies should disclose," The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Aug 2009

Baucus: Finance negotiators 'on track' toward bipartisan health bill

MSNBC's First Read reports that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a statement earlier today saying that his panel "is still working on a bipartisan bill." According to MSNBC, Baucus said: "Bipartisan progress continues.

19 Aug 2009

Cutting Medicare Advantage costs may be politically difficult

The Los Angeles Times reports: "President Obama, struggling to discredit bogus charges that his healthcare overhaul would create 'death panels,' soon could face another emotionally charged obstacle -- a plan to trim the federal subsidy for a program used by nearly a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries.

19 Aug 2009

New tool for scientists - light used to manipulate cell movement

One of the biggest challenges in scientists' quest to develop new and better treatments for cancer is gaining a better understanding of how and why cancer spreads. Recent breakthroughs have uncovered how different cellular proteins are turned 'on' or 'off' at the molecular level, but much remains to be understood about how protein signaling influences cell behavior.

19 Aug 2009

Newly discovered anti-aging gene linked to high blood pressure

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have shown the first link between a newly discovered anti-aging gene and high blood pressure. The results, which appear this month in the journal Hypertension, offer new clues on how we age and how we might live longer.

19 Aug 2009

Obama misleads on abortion funding in health reform

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after President Obama said that it's a "fabrication" and "distraction" to say abortion funding is included in the health care reform plans.

19 Aug 2009

H1N1 vaccine orders top 1 billion, WHO Says

"Northern hemisphere countries have so far ordered more than one billion doses of swine flu vaccine, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday, sparking warnings over shortages," Agence France-Presse reports. While some countries, including Greece, The Netherlands, Canada and Israel, have ordered enough vaccine to inoculate their citizens, "[o]thers, such as Germany, the United States, Britain and France, have put in orders that would cover between 30 and 78 percent of people," the news service writes.

19 Aug 2009

Health Research International publishes reports on opportunities presented by transcatheter and minimally invasive surgical valve technologies

Transcatheter heart valve technologies are positioned to become the next disruptive influence in cardiovascular medicine and drive a multi-billion dollar market. However, questions remain about the timing of adoption of these new technologies, the numbers and types of patients ultimately benefitting from them, the impact of reimbursement, and where transcatheter technologies pose the greatest threat to the current surgical caseload, especially in light of developments in minimally invasive heart valve surgery technologies.

19 Aug 2009

Researchers find connection between eye disease and arginase

Elevated levels of the enzyme arginase contribute to vascular eye damage and Medical College of Georgia researchers say therapies to normalize its levels could halt progression of potentially blinding diseases such as diabetic retinopathy.

19 Aug 2009