Health Care News and Research

RSS

More information needed about new strain of bird flu in China

In a Foreign Policy opinion piece, Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, recounts recent events in China, including the discovery of hundreds of dead pigs, ducks, and geese in rivers and the diagnosis of several human cases of a new strain of avian influenza, H7N9, and she writes, "[T]his could be how pandemics begin."

3 Apr 2013

Researchers study how to reduce health risks in infants

Some partnerships were meant to be, and it would be difficult to imagine a more perfect one than June Cho, PhD, RN, and Wally A. Carlo, MD. An assistant professor of nursing in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, Cho sought out Carlo when she first came to UAB in 2008.

3 Apr 2013

More concrete data would improve development investment results

Victoria Vrana, senior program officer on the Charitable Sector Support team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog that "comprehensive sources of hard data on the issues, the solutions, and the organizations working to meet the tough challenges of our time" would assist donors, "non-profits and [non-governmental organizations (NGOs)], media, policymakers, and most importantly, beneficiaries of services" to make decisions that would improve investment results.

3 Apr 2013

Media outlets examine reaction to India's Supreme Court ruling on Novartis patent case

"In a decisive victory for India's pharmaceutical industry, India's Supreme Court rejected Novartis' patent application for the cancer drug Glivec on Monday, ending a seven-year battle by the Swiss drug maker to get a patent in India on its powerful leukemia drug," Time reports (Mahr, 4/1).

3 Apr 2013

Global consortium aims to use surplus food to tackle hunger in developing world

"A consortium of donors, NGOs, supermarkets and agro-businesses are working on plans to [send] surplus food, currently wasted in industrialized countries, to the developing world to tackle hunger," Owen Barder, senior fellow and director for Europe at the Center for Global Development, writes in the center's "Global Development: Views from the Center" blog.

3 Apr 2013

Article examines efforts by Water.org to ensure universal access to water, sanitation for women

"Since 1990, Water.org has been working in partnership with women around the world, empowering them to take control of their own water and sanitation solutions," Water.org's Nicole Wickenhauser writes in a news update on the Women Deliver webpage.

3 Apr 2013

Vermont first in parade of states to publish premium costs

The state is the first to publish proposed 2014 individual health insurance rates under the federal health law.

3 Apr 2013

Viewpoints: Actuaries report validates critics' skepticism of law; Campaign to repeal medical devices tax is paying off

The non-partisan Society of Actuaries last week said that because of Obamacare, insurers could pay an average of 32% more for medical claims. Those costs will be passed onto those who buy insurance on the individual market in the form of dramatically higher premiums.

3 Apr 2013

Senate races: Health law divides candidates in Mass., Ga.

In the Massachusetts special election for former Sen. John Kerry's seat, only one candidate is campaigning as a supporter of the 2010 health law.

3 Apr 2013

Obama to announce initiative to map human brain

The New York Times reports that President Barack Obama will unveil a broad new research initiative Tuesday, starting with $100 million next year, to find ways to record and map human brain circuits.

3 Apr 2013

NIH awards funding to two recipients of Autism Centers of Excellence program

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $5.3 million in initial one-year funding to the latest two recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence program. With these awards, announced on World Autism Awareness Day, these and nine other ACE centers around the country are now being funded for up to five years.

3 Apr 2013

Roundup: Feds cut N.Y. Medicaid payments $1.2B; 93,000 fewer kids enroll in CHIP in Pa.; W. Va. lawmakers promise miners benefits

Federal authorities have dramatically lowered the amount that New York state can claim from the federal government for certain medical services, costing the state an estimated $1.2 billion.

3 Apr 2013

North Dakota abortion clinic pledges to fight new state law

North Dakota's only clinic that offers abortion services is vowing to challenge the state's adoption of new restrictions that its backers say imperil its ability to operate.

3 Apr 2013

Survey: Children, teens across U.S. have extremely limited access to mental health care services

Everyday, news reports detail the impact of the deficiencies in the nation's mental health care services. Even more startling, a survey from the University of Michigan reveals that many adults across the U.S. believe children and teens have extremely limited or no access to appropriate mental health care services.

3 Apr 2013

Legislation proposed to help vets wrongly denied benefits

Two Minnesota lawmakers are pushing a bill to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder who may have been discharged from the military after being diagnosed inaccurately.

3 Apr 2013

Indiana House committee approves alternative option for Medicaid expansion

The legislation would use the state's Healthy Indiana Plan to add coverage for 400,000 low-income residents.

3 Apr 2013

Image sharing aims to reduce need for repeat scans

Several state and regional health-information exchanges have begun sharing images electronically, and a number of companies sell image-sharing technology directly to hospitals and radiology clinics in a development that could slow health care spending.

3 Apr 2013

Free online sleep disorders guide for all professionals in primary care

The National Sleep Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a comprehensive free online sleep disorders resource for all professionals in primary care. The "Sleep Disorders" guide is the updated web version of Dr. Peter Hauri's book, The Sleep Disorders, first published in 1977.

3 Apr 2013

Feds boost rather than cut payments to Medicare Advantage plans

The insurance industry won a major lobbying victory Monday after the Obama administration backtracked on an earlier plan to cut Medicare Advantage payments to insurers by 2.2 percent in 2014 and instead decided to give them a 3.3 percent increase.

3 Apr 2013

Administration delays health law provision for small business insurance market

The Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, would have provided a variety of insurance options for small firms. When the law takes effect next year in states with federally run exchanges, these businesses will be able to offer workers a single plan instead.

3 Apr 2013