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Drug costs and pricing issues touch hospitals, independent pharmacies

NPR reports on how one hospital made what is termed an "unusual decision" -- it chose to not stock a new drug because it was very costly.

29 Mar 2013

Different metrics should be used in different settings to measure ARV program success

Studies show "the profound impact of antiretroviral-therapy coverage at a population level" -- how wider coverage can increase life expectancy and reduce the risk of HIV infection.

29 Mar 2013

Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania can boost federal revenue, health care coverage

Expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania under the Affordable Care Act would boost federal revenue to the state by more than $2 billion annually and provide 340,000 residents with health insurance, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

29 Mar 2013

Adding muscle to plans' push for value-based health care

A survey from Catalyst for Payment Reform, a nonprofit lobbying group comprising highly profitable Fortune 500 giants, found that many of its members do not feel like they are getting the value for which they are paying.

29 Mar 2013

Leadership at all levels' required for successful health systems

Jonathan Quick, president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health (MSH), writes in the group's "Global Health Impact" blog about Rwanda's success at implementing a "health system [that] has emerged from devastation as a model for others."

29 Mar 2013

DOMA's impact on same-sex couples' access to federal health programs, health insurance

The federal Defense of Marriage Act, under review by the high court this week, allows states to ignore gay marriages or unions sanctioned outside their borders, and it excludes legally married gay couples from the same protections offered to heterosexual couples under federal health programs, like Medicare, Medicaid and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.

28 Mar 2013

Rebel coup, looting hampering humanitarian aid delivery in car

"A rebel-led weekend coup in the Central African Republic (CAR) took place against a backdrop of worsening humanitarian conditions in many parts of the country, with access to affected populations severely restricted," IRIN reports.

28 Mar 2013

New way to predict woman’s final menstrual period

A new UCLA-led study suggests a way to predict when a woman will have her final menstrual period. The findings, published in the April issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, could help women and physicians gauge the onset of menopause-related bone loss, which generally begins a year prior to the last period.

28 Mar 2013

USAID has played vital role in global efforts to end preventable child deaths

Noting USAID last week "released its first progress report examining how reforms enacted three years ago have strengthened the agency's relentless focus on results," Nicole Schiegg, a senior adviser at the agency, writes in the GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, "One of the strongest examples of leveraging innovation and partnership is USAID's contribution to ending preventable child deaths."

28 Mar 2013

Stress during pregnancy increases risk of stillbirth, say researchers

Pregnant women who experienced financial, emotional, or other personal stress in the year before their delivery had an increased chance of having a stillbirth, say researchers who conducted a National Institutes of Health network study.

28 Mar 2013

Stronger protections needed to prevent hepatitis in HIV patients

Stronger protections are needed to prevent people with HIV from also becoming infected with hepatitis, researchers argue in a new study led by Michigan State University.

28 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 28, 2013

Today's headlines include various stories about the health law's implementation at both the federal and state level.

28 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Calif. insurers ignore Commissioner on premiums; Rick Perry says 'broken' Medicaid can't handle expansion; Doctor says NRA let him down

While most of us face uncertainty with the rollout of healthcare reform, some insurance companies in California have been feeling their oats lately. Here's how they're responding to Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones' warnings that their latest rate increases are unreasonable: Stuff it, Dave.

28 Mar 2013

Britain launches plan to fight use of rape as weapon of war in DRC

On a trip to Goma, "in the violent south-eastern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC]," British Foreign Secretary William Hague launched the U.K.'s plan to help tackle rape as a weapon of war, "announcing £180 million [$272 million] in new funding for the DRC health system, some of which will go to training medical staff to give proper care for rape victims," The Guardian reports.

28 Mar 2013

Blog reports on Annual World Water Day Congressional Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

"On March 20, 2013, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases participated in the 4th Annual World Water Day Congressional Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.," the organization's "End the Neglect" blog reports.

28 Mar 2013

Blog examines funding for MDR-TB versus drug-susceptible TB

In the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy at CGD, and Kate McQueston, program coordinator at the center, examine spending on tuberculosis, including drugs to fight susceptible and multidrug-resistant strains of the bacteria.

28 Mar 2013

Bill Gates tours Ghana's health system, discusses polio eradication

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "is currently in Ghana to assess the country's health systems," Ventures Africa reports. Gates "touched down in Accra March 25, 2013, and says he is in Ghana to get firsthand information on why the country's immunization system is working so well," the news service notes (3/26).

28 Mar 2013