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With shrinking budgets, states cutting health services

As state revenues continue their downturn due to the recession, 16 states are trying to find ways to deal with increased health care costs, The New York Times reports: "The carnage in state budgets is getting worse, a report said Thursday, with places like Arizona being hurt by falling revenue on multiple fronts, like personal income and sales taxes. Other states are having mixed experiences, with some tax categories stable, or even rising, even as others fall off the map."

5 Jun 2009

A bionic broadband ear

MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals.

3 Jun 2009

Texas Senate passes CHIP expansion bill, avoiding legislative backlog, deadlines

The Texas Senate on Wednesday voted to approve a bill that would boost enrollment in the state's version of CHIP, the Houston Chronicle reports.

31 May 2009

New ultra-sensitive device detects viruses in minutes

Imagine being able to detect in just a few minutes whether someone is infected with a virus. This has now become a reality, thanks to a new ultra-sensitive detector that has been developed by Ostendum, a spin-off company of the University of Twente.

28 May 2009

California official details proposed health care cuts in Schwarzenegger's budget plan

California Department of Finance Chief Deputy Director Ana Matosantos on Tuesday discussed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) plans to address the state budget deficit in part by cutting Medi-Cal spending and eliminating Healthy Families, the Sacramento Bee reports.

27 May 2009

Scientists map sequence mutations of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus

In just two weeks from the time the first patient virus samples were made available, Singapore scientists report an evolutionary analysis of a critical protein produced by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain.

22 May 2009

Iowa Gov. signs bill that extends health insurance coverage to more children

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) on Tuesday signed into law a health care bill (SF 389) that among other provisions increases income eligibility for Hawk-I, the state's CHIP program, from 250% to 300% of the federal poverty level, the Des Moines Register reports.

22 May 2009

Department of Justice, HHS boosts number of investigators, prosecutors looking at Medicare, Medicaid fraud

HHS and the Department of Justice on Wednesday launched the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team to detect and prevent fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, the Washington Post reports (Johnson, Washington Post, 5/21).

22 May 2009

California Governor outlines cuts to address State's budget deficit problems

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) outlined two budget proposals to address the state's budget problems, and both plans would affect health care, the Los Angeles Times reports.

18 May 2009

Promising new targets for medications to treat cocaine addiction

Repeated use of addictive drugs such as cocaine causes long-lasting changes in parts of the brain involved in motivation and reward, among others, yet the precise mechanisms by which these changes are maintained are poorly understood.

13 May 2009

Non-wovens as scaffolds for artificial tissue

When someone's knee hurts with every step it's a sign that the cartilage has been so badly damaged that the bones rub together when walking.

13 May 2009

Obama to propose $17 billion in budget cuts

President Obama on Thursday will propose a detailed fiscal year 2010 budget that reduces or eliminates 121 programs to save an additional $17 billion, the New York Times reports (Calmes, New York Times, 5/7).

7 May 2009

WellCare agrees to pay $80 million to settle Florida Medicaid, CHIP fraud charges

WellCare Health Plans has agreed to pay $40 million in restitution and $40 million in civil penalties to avoid criminal charges in Florida over alleged fraudulent payment practices to the state's Medicaid and Healthy Kids programs, the Wall Street Journal reports (Fuhrmans, Wall Street Journal, 5/6).

6 May 2009

AHIP President, CEO says health insurance industry would accept stronger federal regulation, stop charging women higher premiums than men

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, America's Health Insurance Plans President and CEO Karen Ignagni said members would concede to greater government regulation, as the industry works to prevent the creation of a government health plan that could threaten their business, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports.

6 May 2009

New device allows for self-monitoring of blood lactate level

Performance athletes need to know their blood lactate level. It indicates how much lactic acid has collected in their blood as a result of physical exertion and enables conclusions to be drawn about their fitness. Professional athletes therefore regularly have to attend performance diagnosis sessions. As they pedal a cycle ergometer at various levels of exertion, a doctor takes blood samples from an earlobe. A special device then measures the concentration of lactate in the blood.

6 May 2009

Novel "lab on a tube" monitoring device

The need for improved monitoring of neurotrauma patients has resulted in the development of a prototype of a novel, multitasking "lab on a tube" at the University of Cincinnati (UC).

4 May 2009

USA Today examines Specter's voting history, impact of moving to Democratic party

Health reform advocates believe Sen. Arlen Specter's (Pa.) recent switch to the Democratic Party improves the chances of passing a health care overhaul this year, USA Today reports.

30 Apr 2009

New generation of nanotools for ultra-sensitive measurements at the atomic level

As researchers push towards detection of single molecules, single electron spins and the smallest amounts of mass and movement, Yale researchers have demonstrated silicon-based nanocantilevers, smaller than the wavelength of light, that operate on photonic principles eliminating the need for electric transducers and expensive laser setups.

26 Apr 2009

Nanostrings bring 'artificial noses' closer to reality

These days, chemical analysts are expected to track down even single molecules.

23 Apr 2009

Ohio forum addresses racial health disparities among children

More than 200 people met Thursday for a forum sponsored by Children's Defense Fund-Ohio to discuss ways to address racial health disparities among children in the state, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

6 Apr 2009