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Small businesses prepare for health reform changes

As business owners across the country consider the newly enacted health overhaul, "they're looking to Massachusetts for harbingers of things to come. Massachusetts' law, which mandates near-universal coverage and requires that businesses with 11 or more workers offer insurance, provided the blueprint for the health law signed by President Barack Obama.

1 Apr 2010

Small gifts to boost the spirits of cancer patients

"When a person receives a cancer diagnosis his or her life is completely transformed and all of the sudden they have so few choices," said Laura Morrell, social worker at Loyola University Health System's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. Thirty-five women and one man who attend the Divine Savior Parish in Downers Grove, Ill., are helping to bring choice back into cancer patients' lives.

27 Mar 2010

Extending funding for unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidy crucial, approval of legislation necessary

"I am deeply disappointed that the Senate was prevented from taking action on legislation to extend funding for unemployment insurance and the COBRA subsidy. There is no room for partisan roadblocks when Americans are depending on their government's action and the stakes are this high.

27 Mar 2010

U.S. DEA rules prevent nursing home patients in severe pain from receiving needed medication

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's rules and procedures are seriously delaying and in some cases preventing nursing home patients from getting the pain medication they need.

26 Mar 2010

Overhaul will affect other economic sectors, not just health care

Health-overhaul legislation signed into law this week will affect not only America's health care industry, but the broader economy, too, The Christian Science Monitor reports. The overhaul could help create jobs. "But the legislation also means tax hikes, mainly on the highest-income Americans. And provisions designed to curb healthcare costs probably aren't strong enough to put a big dent in medical inflation - or federal budget deficits" (Trumbull, 3/24).

26 Mar 2010

NRF expresses disappointment at the House’s passage of health care reform legislation

The National Retail Federation today expressed extreme disappointment at the House’s passage of sweeping health care reform legislation over the weekend, saying added labor costs under the bill will cost many retail workers their jobs.

23 Mar 2010

Former Presidents Bush, Clinton visit Haiti to highlight need for aid

Former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are visiting Haiti on Monday "to spotlight the dramatic need ahead of a critical March 31 U.N. donors conference in New York, where Haitian officials will ask for $11.5 billion in reconstruction help," the Associated Press/New York Times reports. "It is the first joint visit to the impoverished Caribbean nation for the two former leaders, who were tasked by President Barack Obama with leading the U.S. fundraising effort" after the January 12 earthquake according to the news service.

23 Mar 2010

SRI International researchers to disclose preliminary results of NTD detecting diagnostic at 239th ACS

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, will present preliminary results of a diagnostic to detect neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) at the 239th National Meeting & Exhibition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) being held on March 21-25 in San Francisco.

22 Mar 2010

Arizona eliminates CHIP; Schwarzenegger seeks to reform California prison health care system

The New York Times: "Arizona on Thursday became the first state to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed an austere budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage." The state's budget woes are a stark depiction of "how the fiscal crisis afflicting state governments is cutting deeply into health care.

20 Mar 2010

CBO numbers buoy Democrats eyeing Sunday health reform vote

Democrats unveiled a health overhaul reconciliation bill the Congressional Budget Office says will cost $940 billion but also cut the deficit by $138 billion over the next 10 years.

20 Mar 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet study performed a systematic review of HIV prevention and treatment services targeting injecting drug users (IDUs) globally based on the availability of "core interventions for IDUs: needle and syringe programmes (NSPs), opioid substitution therapy (OST) and other drug treatment, HIV testing and counselling, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and condom programmes." The authors conclude, "although the number of countries with core HIV prevention services is growing … worldwide, there are few countries in which the level of intervention coverage is sufficient to prevent HIV transmission" (Mathers et al., 3/20).

20 Mar 2010

Older adult specialists travel to Haiti to render care at make-shift nursing homes

Two months after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti, the needs of older adults in the region remain an urgent priority. Dr. Martin Gorbien, a geriatrician, and Lauren Kessler, a licensed clinical social worker, both from Rush University Medical Center, will be among the first older adult specialists to travel to Haiti to provide care at make-shift nursing homes.

19 Mar 2010

Report cites rise in uninsured middle-class Americans

A report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Barely Hanging On: Middle-Class and Uninsured, looks at the rise in the level of uninsured middle-class people in the last eight years.

19 Mar 2010

Novel health programs try to help uninsured

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with USA Today, writes about an approach known as "three share" which helps expand health coverage by spreading health insurance premium costs among the community, the employer and the worker.

17 Mar 2010

BioVigil's second generation hand hygiene monitoring system released

BioVigil LLC has released the second generation of the BioVigil hand hygiene monitoring system. The innovative system enables hospitals to more effectively combat Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) by dramatically increasing hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers.

16 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 16, 2010

In today's headlines, ongoing efforts by President Obama and Democratic leaders to press and persuade wavering votes in support of health reform take center stage.

16 Mar 2010

NCCN Guidelines and impact of escalating health care costs highlighted at NCCN Annual Conference

The escalating costs of cancer care combined with variations in concordance with evidence-based practice guidelines is putting the United States on a collision course for an impending collapse of its current health care system according to roundtable panelists at the NCCN 15th Annual Conference.

15 Mar 2010

MediCare International offers full suite of normal policy benefits for injuries suffered in war zone

As troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the full horror of war is often hidden from public view. Not only are soldiers killed whilst away on duty, but many suffer lost limbs or disfigurement when injured by bombs, explosives and other weapons. What will come as a surprise to most, though, is that according to the Los Angeles Times the number of US contractors living in Iraq, now exceeds the number of US combat troops.

10 Mar 2010

Women's community groups help reduce neonatal mortality rates

Women's community groups have had a dramatic effect on reducing neonatal mortality rates in some of the poorest areas on India, according to a study published today in the journal the Lancet. The groups provide a cost-effective intervention with added benefits such as reducing significantly maternal depression and improving decision-making amongst the women.

8 Mar 2010

Retractable Technologies v. OMI litigation: Court delivers final judgment and permanent injunction

Retractable Technologies, Inc., a leading maker of safety needle devices, announced that a final judgment and permanent injunction were entered March 4, 2010 in the litigation of Retractable Technologies, Inc. v. OMI (Occupational & Medical Innovations Limited, an Australian company).

6 Mar 2010

Worker News and Research

Small businesses prepare for health reform changes

Small gifts to boost the spirits of cancer patients

Extending funding for unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidy crucial, approval of legislation necessary

U.S. DEA rules prevent nursing home patients in severe pain from receiving needed medication

Overhaul will affect other economic sectors, not just health care

NRF expresses disappointment at the House’s passage of health care reform legislation

Former Presidents Bush, Clinton visit Haiti to highlight need for aid

SRI International researchers to disclose preliminary results of NTD detecting diagnostic at 239th ACS

Arizona eliminates CHIP; Schwarzenegger seeks to reform California prison health care system

CBO numbers buoy Democrats eyeing Sunday health reform vote

Recent releases in Global Health

Older adult specialists travel to Haiti to render care at make-shift nursing homes

Report cites rise in uninsured middle-class Americans

Novel health programs try to help uninsured

BioVigil's second generation hand hygiene monitoring system released

First Edition: March 16, 2010

NCCN Guidelines and impact of escalating health care costs highlighted at NCCN Annual Conference

MediCare International offers full suite of normal policy benefits for injuries suffered in war zone

Women's community groups help reduce neonatal mortality rates

Retractable Technologies v. OMI litigation: Court delivers final judgment and permanent injunction

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How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

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