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Medicaid and CHIP succeed in providing health insurance coverage for children

Significantly more children get health insurance coverage after increases in federal matching funds to states for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), according to new research from the University of Michigan.

8 Aug 2012

Health coverage for the poorest Americans could be in jeopardy in many states

Health coverage for the poorest Americans could be in jeopardy in many states as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last month on the Affordable Care Act, according to a new legal analysis.

7 Aug 2012

U.N. urges Philippines to pass reproductive health bill amid protests from Catholic Church

"The United Nations has urged the Philippines to pass a bill that will allow the government to provide free contraceptives," BBC News reports (8/5).

6 Aug 2012

Science, Lancet articles examine efforts to eradicate polio

In a series of "News Focus" articles in Science, the magazine examines the global effort to eradicate polio. One article examines the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) -- a partnership of the WHO, Rotary International, UNICEF, the CDC, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- and recent reports on the program by an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), "an oversight body" that provides feedback and guidance.

3 Aug 2012

Longer looks: Mississippi learns from Iran's health care system

Sabrina Seeling seemed too young to die. ... One night she stayed up all night translating a Latin text into English for a college paper. ... During the all-nighter, Ms. Seelig took Ephedra, a stimulant diet drug that had been banned by the Food and Drug Administration three years earlier, and had a few beers. ... When she felt sick, she called Poison Control for help, and spoke very clearly, a recording of the call shows.

3 Aug 2012

Most states expect higher costs after Medicaid expansion, even with feds picking up tab

A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that most state budget directors expect an increase in their costs if they expand Medicaid, even when the federal government picks up 100 percent of the expanded enrollment tab.

3 Aug 2012

IRIN examines conditional cash transfer program aimed at improving maternal health in the Philippines

"A nationwide conditional cash transfer program in the Philippines is slowly improving maternal health, but more is needed to reverse the climbing maternal mortality ratio, say women's groups," IRIN reports.

3 Aug 2012

U.N. SG Ban names 26 members to high-level advisory panel for development agenda

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday "announced the members of a High-level Panel to advise on the global development agenda beyond 2015, the target date for achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," the U.N. News Centre reports.

2 Aug 2012

Access to quality health care, political will essential for continued progress in reducing maternal mortality

In this Daily Beast opinion piece, Sarah Brown, an adjunct professor at the Institute for Global Health Innovations at Imperial College in London and global patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, and Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, head of obstetrics and gynecology and deputy head of clinical sciences at St. George's University of London, highlight the Global Health Policy Summit scheduled to take place in London on Wednesday.

2 Aug 2012

Deficit form of bipolar disorder supported

Results from a Japanese study support the existence of a bipolar disorder subtype characterized by pervasive negative symptoms.

1 Aug 2012

How the Republicans might reshape Medicaid if they win the White House and Congress

The Los Angeles Times reports on how the GOP is readying a push to scale back the health insurance program for the poor if it takes control of the White House and Congress next year. Meanwhile, the insurance industry is paying $1.1 billion in rebates to consumers under the health care law, and eying congressional efforts to overhaul the tax code next year as its best chance to roll back a new health insurance tax.

1 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Health law no threat to innovation; Failure to expand Medicaid would 'doom' thousands; Don't stigmatize mentally ill

For better or worse, the Democrats incorporated a good deal of mainstream Republican thinking about health care reform from the past decade, including mandated coverage and health insurance exchanges, into the Affordable Care Act. This leaves the GOP, embarrassingly, with little to say about what is wrong with the act.

31 Jul 2012

Research roundup: Slowdown in medical imaging; Hospitals' efforts mixed on reducing readmissions

Recent research showed a slowdown in the use of medical imaging for people enrolled in Medicare. This article follows up and finds that annual imaging growth slowed down from an average of 14 percent between 2000 and 2005 to 2.6 percent between 2006 and 2009. An analysis of commercial insurance claims shows a similar trend outside of Medicare. Based on

28 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: 'The best thing George W. Bush did as president;' Finding less harmful health cuts; Navigating the future of Medicaid

This is a moment for all Americans to be proud of the best thing George W. Bush did as president: launching an initiative to combat AIDS in Africa that has saved millions of lives. All week, more than 20,000 delegates from around the world have been attending the 19th International AIDS Conference here in Washington. They look like any other group of conventioneers, laden with satchels and garlanded with name tags. But some of these men and women would be dead if not for Bush's foresight and compassion.

28 Jul 2012

Roundup: Mass. lawmakers struggle to reach agreement on cost controls; $100M grant for Calif. stem cell research; N.C. to move mentally ill from elderly homes

The House and Senate are under the gun to reach an agreement on how to lower health care costs while improving care. A conference committee aims to have a bill out on Sunday. Their deadline is Monday evening. In the meantime, several major issues are still unresolved, including what to do about hospitals that use their market clout to demand high prices that are not based on higher quality. Attorney General Martha Coakley, the state's top insurers and several consumer groups argue that price is a critical issue.

28 Jul 2012

Minnesota expanding health coverage to 16,000 kids

Minnesota, after getting federal approval of a 2009 law, will expand health care coverage to more than 16,000 lower-income kids without a waiting period or premiums.

27 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: AIDS spread in U.S. South; Abortion opponents battle in Ariz.; GOP's costly effort to kill health law

More than 30 years into the AIDS epidemic, a combination of safe-sex education and a new generation of pharmaceuticals has left many Americans convinced that HIV/AIDS is a problem that has been, if not solved, at least addressed. But that's certainly not true in the American South, which accounts for nearly 50% of all new HIV infections in the United States.

27 Jul 2012

Rate of new HIV infections among young U.S. black MSM is high: Study

The rate of new HIV infections among black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, particularly younger men, is high and suggests the need for prevention programs specifically tailored to this population, according to initial findings from the HPTN 061 study.

27 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 26, 2012

Today's headlines include coverage of findings from a new study that indicate Medicaid may help people live longer.

26 Jul 2012

Census Bureau releases report on disability status in the U.S.

About 56.7 million people ─ 19 percent of the population ─ had a disability in 2010, according to a broad definition of disability, with more than half of them reporting the disability was severe, according to a comprehensive report on this population released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

26 Jul 2012

Poverty News and Research

Medicaid and CHIP succeed in providing health insurance coverage for children

Health coverage for the poorest Americans could be in jeopardy in many states

U.N. urges Philippines to pass reproductive health bill amid protests from Catholic Church

Science, Lancet articles examine efforts to eradicate polio

Longer looks: Mississippi learns from Iran's health care system

Most states expect higher costs after Medicaid expansion, even with feds picking up tab

IRIN examines conditional cash transfer program aimed at improving maternal health in the Philippines

U.N. SG Ban names 26 members to high-level advisory panel for development agenda

Access to quality health care, political will essential for continued progress in reducing maternal mortality

Deficit form of bipolar disorder supported

How the Republicans might reshape Medicaid if they win the White House and Congress

Viewpoints: Health law no threat to innovation; Failure to expand Medicaid would 'doom' thousands; Don't stigmatize mentally ill

Research roundup: Slowdown in medical imaging; Hospitals' efforts mixed on reducing readmissions

Viewpoints: 'The best thing George W. Bush did as president;' Finding less harmful health cuts; Navigating the future of Medicaid

Roundup: Mass. lawmakers struggle to reach agreement on cost controls; $100M grant for Calif. stem cell research; N.C. to move mentally ill from elderly homes

Minnesota expanding health coverage to 16,000 kids

Viewpoints: AIDS spread in U.S. South; Abortion opponents battle in Ariz.; GOP's costly effort to kill health law

Rate of new HIV infections among young U.S. black MSM is high: Study

First Edition: July 26, 2012

Census Bureau releases report on disability status in the U.S.

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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