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Senate backs repeal of health law's medical device tax

The repeal was offered as an amendment to the Senate Democrats' fiscal year 2014 budget plan. Although the vote was largely symbolic, it signals strong opposition to the tax.

25 Mar 2013

Overhaul foes set lobbying strategy as health law turns 3

Reuters reports that medical device makers, health insurers, retailers and restaurants are coordinating efforts to get Senate Democratic support for overturning major portions of the law.

25 Mar 2013

Research roundup: Number of nurses linked to NICU infections; Comparing Medicare budget plans

Neonatal intensive care units – which provide care for infants who are critically ill – are costly and require a significant amount of nursing services.

25 Mar 2013

Opposing views on health law's birthday; Krauthammer calls for compromise with Obama on entitlements, taxes

A year ago, the Affordable Care Act's outlook appeared uncertain, with the Supreme Court decision on the law's legality and a contentious election fight over its merits still on the horizon.

25 Mar 2013

UNC study shows brain activity associated with mental illness in young children

Research from the University of North Carolina has shown that children at risk of developing schizophrenia have brains that function differently than those not at risk.

25 Mar 2013

Health law still misunderstood, divisive at age 3

News outlets examine how the health law is impacting various Americans and changing the health care system.

25 Mar 2013

Primary care providers need training to recognize early symptoms of psychosis

Primary care providers could help people with warning signs of psychosis get critical early treatment and potentially reduce the current burden on emergency departments and inpatient units, finds a study in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

24 Mar 2013

Blog examines TB control efforts in India

In a guest post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, part of the blog's coverage leading up to World Tuberculosis Day, Madhukar Pai, an associate professor of epidemiology at McGill University, Montreal, and an associate director of the McGill International TB Centre, "looks at the need for an evolving approach to tuberculosis."

24 Mar 2013

Weill Cornell researcher suggests ways to improve patient safety, high-level care

In its 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine outlined six domains of quality in medical care: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency and equity.

24 Mar 2013

States encouraged to use Medicaid expansion money to buy private insurance for poor

The New York Times reports that the White House is encouraging skeptical state officials to expand Medicaid by using federal money to subsidize the purchase of private insurance for low-income people -- a model not envisioned by drafters of the law.

24 Mar 2013

House passes short-term spending bill, but bigger budget obstacles remain

The measure, which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature, will fund the government through September. Meanwhile, the Senate and House still have larger issues on the long-term budget, including conflicting views on funding levels for entitlements such as Medicaid.

24 Mar 2013

Highlights: Minn. Democrats propose cuts to health services; Cost of dental insurance for kids in Md. may rise

A selection of health policy stories from Minnesota, Maryland, Louisiana, Colorado, Nebraska and Florida.

24 Mar 2013

Health insurers urge brokers to brace for sharp increases in premium costs

The Wall Street Journal reports that health insurers are quietly issuing this warning to brokers. Meanwhile, an Ohio insurance company will drop its lawsuit regarding confusion over rules related to the health law's high risk insurance program.

24 Mar 2013

Research findings could lead to new therapeutic strategy for heart failure

New research from UC Davis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that blocking an enzyme that promotes inflammation can prevent the tissue damage following a heart attack that often leads to heart failure.

24 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 22, 2013

Today's headlines including stories marking the health law's third birthday and examining progress in regard to its implementation.

22 Mar 2013

Scotland takes action to tackle relationship between deprivation and CVD

Deprivation represents the "elephant in the room" with regard to cardiovascular disease, and health care professionals have an important role to play in tackling the problem, delegates heard at a special plenary session opening the EuroHeart Care Congress in Glasgow, Scotland, 22 March to 23 March 2013.

22 Mar 2013

Organizations highlight World TB Day

World TB Day is commemorated each year on March 24, recognizing the discovery of the tuberculosis bacilli by Robert Koch in 1882.

22 Mar 2013

Swaziland, South Africa announce initiative to improve diagnosis, treatment of TB/HIV co-infection

"Health ministers from Swaziland and South Africa have agreed to radically change the diagnosis and treatment of the co-epidemic of [tuberculosis (TB)]/HIV in their countries," VOA News reports.

22 Mar 2013

New testing technologies can help fight TB, but new treatments needed

"[F]or many low-income populations, [tuberculosis (TB)] is nothing less than a modern-day public health emergency," and "[t]o make things worse, many of these patients [a]re living with HIV," U.N. Under-Secretary General and UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy writes in a Huffington Post "Impact" blog opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

mHealth 'not yet living up to its potential' to transform health care systems

"mHealth can be defined as medical and public health practices supported by mobile technologies, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, tablets, personal digital assistants, and other wireless devices," Patricia Mechael, executive director of the mHealth Alliance, and Sarah Struble, a program associate at the mHealth Alliance, write in an Al Jazeera opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013