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Roundup: Texas begins new Women's Health Program; Federal spending uncertainty bedevils states; 'Medi-scare' mailings

Texas is funding the Women's Health Program on its own because the federal government pulled funding after the state blocked Planned Parenthood from participating. The Texas version still serves low-income women who would qualify for Medicaid if they became pregnant. It will cover about 110,000 women between 18 and 44 years old with free well-woman exams, basic health care and certain family planning services.

7 Jan 2013

New York Times profiles work of abortion hotline in Chile

The New York Times profiles the Safe Abortion Hot Line in Chile, where abortion has been entirely illegal since 1989.

7 Jan 2013

States confront myriad of health law implementation issues

States face fallout from decisions on whether to implement key parts of the health law, including exchanges in California and Washington -- where dental insurance will be mandated in plans offered in the marketplaces -- and Florida, which missed out on co-ops and faces a decision on expanding Medicaid in 2013.

7 Jan 2013

HHS gives 7 states the go-ahead to create health exchanges

So far, the Obama administration has approved the health exchange blueprints submitted by 17 states and the District of Columbia. And, the most recent set includes both red states, including Utah, and blue states.

7 Jan 2013

Colorado will expand Medicaid, claims cost savings are in progress, according to Gov. Hickenlooper

The state plans to expand its Medicaid program as much as the federal health law envisions, without spending any extra money to make it happen.

7 Jan 2013

New study compares costs and outcomes associated with prostate cancer treatments

The most comprehensive retrospective study ever conducted comparing how the major types of prostate cancer treatments stack up to each other in terms of saving lives and cost effectiveness is reported this week by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

7 Jan 2013

Health care and the shakeout from the fiscal cliff

News outlets parse the particulars of how the fiscal deal will impact the health care system, and how the health industry is bracing for the next rounds in the budget battles.

7 Jan 2013

Reflecting on FDA approval of new TB drug

Noting "the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it has approved a new treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) that can be used as an alternative when other drugs fail," Kim Lufkin, communications officer at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog, "There is a pressing and urgent need for even more new TB drugs, which makes this new FDA approval so significant."

7 Jan 2013

California Nurses Association, National Union Of Healthcare Workers join forces

The move could change the scope of labor battles statewide and renew a rivalry between the nurses organization and the Service Employees International Union, according to media reports.

7 Jan 2013

Researchers discover new pathway to reduce paradoxical pain

For individuals with agonizing pain, it is a cruel blow when the gold-standard medication actually causes more pain. Adults and children whose pain gets worse when treated with morphine may be closer to a solution, based on research published in the January 6 on-line edition of Nature Neuroscience.

7 Jan 2013

Research roundup: Gearing children's hospitals for future patients; Inappropriate care decreases, but not 'enough'; What patients think about testing

Researchers in this study examined the use of children's hospitals by relatively healthy children and those "with chronic conditions of varying medical complexity" from 2004 to 2009.

6 Jan 2013

Training can improve inpatient record documentation

The accuracy and completeness of inpatient medical records can be significantly improved with clinical interventions designed to develop quality record keeping, research shows.

4 Jan 2013

UCSD's TREDS program to promote driving safety in older adults

For the sixth consecutive year, the Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS) program at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has been awarded a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to promote driving safety in older adults.

4 Jan 2013

A closer look at latest 'doc fix'

As part of the fiscal deal, a scheduled cut in Medicare physician payment rates was postponed -- but its 10-year price tag is being borne by other health care players, especially hospitals.

4 Jan 2013

January issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The January issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial examining universal health coverage and the right to health, a public health news roundup, a research article examining research priorities for adolescent sexual and reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries, and a systematic review examining the integration of antiretroviral therapy into antenatal care and maternal and child health settings, among others.

4 Jan 2013

Consumers' perceptions of medical prices can be faulty

Despite advocates' push for more transparency in medical pricing, consumers may draw the wrong message when they know what a health service or good costs.

4 Jan 2013

NEJM begins series of review articles on global health

The January 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine "includes the first article in a series of review articles on global health," Harvey Fineberg of the Institute of Medicine and David Hunter of the Harvard School of Public Health write in an NEJM editorial.

4 Jan 2013

Sen. Kirk's stroke offers him new Medicaid perspective

Sen. Mark Kirk's stroke has awakened him to what people on Medicaid experience in their rehabilitation efforts, he said.

4 Jan 2013

New issue of Global Health Governance available online

A new issue of Global Health Governance is available online and features articles focused on human security and health.

4 Jan 2013

Some health law funding becomes 'fiscal cliff' casualty

The agreement approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama would kill new funding for health insurance co-operatives. The fiscal deal also officially repealed the health law's CLASS Act, but establishes a new bipartisan commission to develop a plan for long-term care services for elderly and disabled people.

4 Jan 2013