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Survey shows health care costs projected to increase at slower pace

Projected cost increases for all types of medical plans are anticipated to be down by between 0.2 and 0.6 percent through the first half of 2013, according to a survey by Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company.

17 Dec 2012

First Edition: December 17, 2012

Today's headlines include weekend updates regarding the fiscal cliff negotiations as well as news regarding states' decisions on health exchanges.

17 Dec 2012

Dyslipidaemia: an interview with Prof. Peter Kokkinos

Dyslipidemia is defined as abnormal levels of blood lipids (fats) and cholesterol. The most common dyslipidaemias are high blood cholesterol (Total Cholesterol) and triglyceride levels, high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (‘bad’ cholesterol) and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (‘good’ cholesterol).

17 Dec 2012

Regenstrief investigator recognized as American College of Medical Informatics fellow

Regenstrief Institute investigator Shaun Grannis M.D., M.S., associate professor of family medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, has been inducted as a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics. He joins a select elected group of individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of biomedical informatics.

17 Dec 2012

Appeals court: Calif. can cut Medicaid reimbursement rates

A federal appeals court panel ruled Thursday that Medi-Cal payments to providers may be reduced by 10 percent -- a move that HHS had previously approved.

15 Dec 2012

Conference addresses issues of innovation for neglected diseases

Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine this week are hosting a conference in New York, titled "Lives in the Balance: Delivering Medical Innovations for Neglected Patients and Populations," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

15 Dec 2012

Raising the Medicare eligibility age is difficult issue for Democrats

Though one leading Senate Democrat has signalled that the idea of raising Medicare's eligibility is off the negotiating table, it's not clear where this bargaining chit stands.

15 Dec 2012

U.S. government working to uphold, advance LGBT rights

In this White House blog post, Samantha Power, special assistant to the President and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights at the National Security Council, highlights progress made across the U.S. government in implementing "the first-ever Presidential Memorandum to advance the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons."

15 Dec 2012

Americans are concerned about impact of spending cuts to medical research, poll reveals

Nearly 60% of Americans are skeptical that Congress and the White House will reach an agreement that will avoid the fiscal cliff, according to a new national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America.

15 Dec 2012

Efforts to prevent, treat cervical cancer increasing in Africa

The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" examines efforts to prevent and treat cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, where "cervical cancer kills large numbers of women, many of whom are never diagnosed because local hospitals do not recognize the disease until it is too late."

15 Dec 2012

Two Democratic Senators to join Senate Foreign Relations Committee

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog "continues to look at changes in Washington's global health leadership in the wake of November's election," writing, "While Sen. Dick Durbin [D-Ill.], who played a pivotal role in PEPFAR's creation, leaves the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, two new Democratic members, as announced Wednesday, will join the committee which directs foreign aid."

15 Dec 2012

New issue of GHD-NET's Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin available online

The November 2012 issue of the Global Health Diplomacy Network's (GHD-NET) Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin is now available online.

15 Dec 2012

Accidental exposure to buprenorphine can make children extremely sick

Buprenorphine is a safe and effective drug for treating opioid addiction. But as the prescribed use of buprenorphine has dramatically increased in recent years, accidental exposure of children to the drug has risen sharply, placing them at risk for serious injury and in extremely rare cases even death, according to researchers at the Utah Poison Control Center (UPCC), U School of Medicine's Department of Family and Preventive Health, and the Utah Department of Health (UDOH).

15 Dec 2012

Partisan differences persist on taxes and Medicare, other entitlement programs

Meanwhile, news outlets report that some Senate Republicans are working on a back-up plan that would cancel certain tax increases scheduled to take effect next year for most Americans.

15 Dec 2012

Understanding challenges children face in urban Africa will allow for greater protection

In the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children, highlights a report released by the organization last week, titled "Voices from Urban Africa: The Impact of Urban Growth on Children."

15 Dec 2012

Genesee Health Plan joins Disparities and Cardiac Health Program initiative

MPRO, Michigan's Quality Improvement Organization, announced that Genesee Health Plan is joining its Disparities and Cardiac Health Program, a special project headed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

15 Dec 2012

PlusNews reviews AVAC priorities for 2013 HIV prevention agenda

"If the world scales-up HIV treatment and prevention in the next two years, a critical tipping point -- in which those on treatment outnumber those newly infected with the virus -- could be reached, according to the global HIV prevention advocacy organization AVAC," PlusNews reports.

15 Dec 2012

Reports: State budgets looking grim, Medicaid particularly problematic

Medicaid costs are continuing to rise as state revenues are not recovering fast enough from the recession.

15 Dec 2012

Though progress made, global burden of HIV/AIDS requires greater, 'better' response

"Optimism and momentum has been building around the real possibility that an AIDS-free generation is imminent. Yet, the most recent estimates of HIV prevalence and incidence and of AIDS-related mortality released by UNAIDS, together with data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 in the Lancet, make it clear that AIDS is not over," UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe; Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and Mark Dybul, incoming executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, write in a Lancet opinion piece.

15 Dec 2012

Examining developing country contributions to AIDS response

"World AIDS Day 2012 offered numerous personal stories in the global fight against HIV and AIDS, but perhaps the most intriguing story, however, was a policy one: How developing countries are making significant contributions to the fight against AIDS in their own countries,"

15 Dec 2012