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State roundup: N.C.'s mental health housing issues

Temporary lapses in insurance coverage and increasingly common plans with high deductibles and copayments have contributed to medical debt, leaving some people struggling to pay bills for hospitals, doctors, and ambulance companies. Rising health costs and the recession also probably played a role. Although the law has failed to cut medical debt, some analysts say it may have prevented an increase in Massachusetts.

11 Sep 2012

Study: More young adults gain coverage after health law

The share of young adults without health insurance fell by one-sixth in 2011 from the previous year, the largest annual decline for any age group since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began collecting the data in 1997, according to a new report released on Monday.

11 Sep 2012

Big profits for Minn. HMOs despite Medicaid money give-back

Minnesota HMOs recorded another year of healthy operating profits in 2011 despite agreeing to cap income on state Medicaid underwriting programs, a new analysis of state plans shows. Four HMOs returned $103 million in 2011 to the state after agreeing to limit their income on Medicaid underwriting business to 1 percent of their premiums.

11 Sep 2012

Mont. ballot initiative banning individual mandate could be powerful message

In the meantime, programs in Missouri and Minnesota are being held up as examples of how provisions of the health law could unfold across the nation.

11 Sep 2012

Despite need for primary care doctors, many medical students veer toward specialties

Most students going into medicine imagine that they will have daily contact with their patients; but the reality is that only a minority will end up as primary care physicians, causing what some experts say could be a critical shortage in the United States, where there are long waits in both doctors' offices and emergency rooms.

11 Sep 2012

Democrats, Republicans can agree on U.S. accomplishments in global health, development

"With back-to-back Republican and Democratic National Conventions, it's natural to focus on our differences," but "I am heartened to see the bipartisan support that exists for U.S. leadership in the world -- particularly for our global development efforts," Dan Glickman, former secretary of agriculture and chair of the Board of the Center for U.S. Global Leadership, writes in a Politico opinion piece.

11 Sep 2012

Blog features interview with former UNAIDS Executive Director about lessons learned fighting AIDS

PSI's "Global Health Impact" blog features a video interview by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in which "former UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot discusses with CSIS Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Health Policy Center J. Stephen Morrison the lessons he has learned in his years fighting AIDS."

11 Sep 2012

Speakers at panel discussion explore policy implications of findings on HIV transmission among MSM

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Thursday hosted a panel discussion focusing on the policy implications of findings published by the Lancet in a special series on HIV/AIDS and men who have sex with men (MSM), the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

11 Sep 2012

Pergamum initiates LL-37 Phase I/II trial in hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers

Pergamum AB announced today that dosing has begun in a randomized Phase I/II trial of LL-37 for the treatment of patients with hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers.

11 Sep 2012

As candidates attempt to woo swing voters, Medicare, health law become fodder on campaign trail

In addition, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports how wary voters are struggling to sort out what the candidates' different positions on Medicare would mean for them.

11 Sep 2012

Low-income children of immigrants have poor health, see doctors and dentists less often

Health is an important part of development, with links to how children do cognitively and academically, and it's a strong predictor of adult health and productivity. A new study of low-income families in the United States has found that children's health and access to health care services differ according to the immigrant status of their parents.

11 Sep 2012

Most Asian countries fail to include rotavirus vaccine in national immunization programs citing cost as barrier

"Most countries in Asia have yet to make the rotavirus vaccine part of their national immunization program (NIP), despite a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to do so," IRIN reports.

11 Sep 2012

AHRQ-funded project reduces rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections in ICUs by 40%

A unique nationwide patient safety project funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reduced the rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units by 40 percent, according to the agency's preliminary findings of the largest national effort to combat CLABSIs to date.

11 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: Home health workers need better pay; Is there a better solution than Medicaid to cover seniors' long-term care?

[F]or the stay-at-home elderly to have so-called "independent living" they must be highly dependent on the home care aides who look after medication schedules, cook meals, assist with bathing and generally keep them happy and healthy. And yet these workers are anything but well cared for. The vast majority are dreadfully overworked and woefully underpaid. The average hourly wage of a home care worker in the United States is less than $10.

11 Sep 2012

MRI workers experience transient neurocognitive effects

Individuals working in the vicinity of magnetic resonance imaging machines may experience transient neurocognitive effects when moving their heads, research demonstrates.

10 Sep 2012

Chicago teachers worried over health benefit costs strike

Concerned over negotiating the cost of their health benefits with their school district, Chicago teachers walk off the job for the first time in 25 years.

10 Sep 2012

Anti-abortion Democrats not feeling the warmth of convention's limelight

At the Democratic National Convention last week, support for reproductive health - including the right to an abortion - was in the prime-time spotlight. But the convention's aggressive appeal to women left one group out in the cold: Democrats who oppose abortion.

10 Sep 2012

Physician empathy has positive impact on patient outcomes

Patients of doctors who are more empathic have better outcomes and fewer complications, concludes a large, empirical study by a team of Thomas Jefferson University and Italian researchers who evaluated relationships between physician empathy and clinical outcomes among 20,961 diabetic patients and 242 physicians in Italy.

10 Sep 2012

VP ideological divide sparks health care sparring match

The vice presidential candidates prepare to meet each other in a debate -- each with very different ideas on moving forward on health care. In the meantime, GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan defends his stance on automatic cuts to lower the deficit -- which differ from his running mate's stance.

10 Sep 2012

Wall Street Journal examines drug-resistant TB

The Wall Street Journal examines global efforts to stop the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) strains, stating, "Global health officials view the emergence of incurable cases of tuberculosis in India as a worrisome evolution in a trend they have been concerned and intensely frustrated about for years -- the rise of drug resistant forms of tuberculosis around the world."

10 Sep 2012

Health Care News and Research

State roundup: N.C.'s mental health housing issues

Study: More young adults gain coverage after health law

Big profits for Minn. HMOs despite Medicaid money give-back

Mont. ballot initiative banning individual mandate could be powerful message

Despite need for primary care doctors, many medical students veer toward specialties

Democrats, Republicans can agree on U.S. accomplishments in global health, development

Blog features interview with former UNAIDS Executive Director about lessons learned fighting AIDS

Speakers at panel discussion explore policy implications of findings on HIV transmission among MSM

Pergamum initiates LL-37 Phase I/II trial in hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers

As candidates attempt to woo swing voters, Medicare, health law become fodder on campaign trail

Low-income children of immigrants have poor health, see doctors and dentists less often

Most Asian countries fail to include rotavirus vaccine in national immunization programs citing cost as barrier

AHRQ-funded project reduces rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections in ICUs by 40%

Viewpoints: Home health workers need better pay; Is there a better solution than Medicaid to cover seniors' long-term care?

MRI workers experience transient neurocognitive effects

Chicago teachers worried over health benefit costs strike

Anti-abortion Democrats not feeling the warmth of convention's limelight

Physician empathy has positive impact on patient outcomes

VP ideological divide sparks health care sparring match

Wall Street Journal examines drug-resistant TB

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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