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Viewpoints: Dubious ad on Romney's role in cancer death; British health plan has problems of its own

He sits at a kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee, talking about what happened after Bain Capital closed down his steel plant in 2001. He lost his job; his family lost its health insurance. His wife felt lousy but didn't go to the doctor, to spare the family worry and expense. When she finally ended up in the hospital, the diagnosis was cancer. She had 22 days to live.

9 Aug 2012

Advocacy groups warn Trans-Pacific Partnership could affect access to low-cost medications, Bloomberg reports

Bloomberg Businessweek examines how ongoing trade negotiations related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership could affect access to quality low-cost medications, including antiretrovirals, in low- and middle-income countries. "Protecting the patents of drug makers ... as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership has drawn criticism from groups such as Doctors Without Borders and Public Citizen," and "the proposed accord has also spurred calls from U.S. lawmakers for greater transparency about the negotiations," the news service writes.

9 Aug 2012

MedPage Today, CollabRx sign license agreement for Oncology Next

Tegal Corporation today announced that its recently acquired CollabRx, Inc., subsidiary signed an exclusive license agreement to provide a version of its proprietary Therapy Finder tool to MedPage Today, Everyday Health, Inc.'s rapidly growing online site that serves 96% of all oncologists and 1.6 million monthly online unique users.

9 Aug 2012

VA agrees to move forward on CT screening for veterans at high risk for lung cancer

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has agreed to move forward on CT screening for veterans at high risk for lung cancer. This was communicated to Laurie Fenton Ambrose, LCA President & CEO in written correspondence by VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert A. Petzel.

9 Aug 2012

AbilTo, Aetna announce new program to help members with diabetes combat depression

The combination of depression and diabetes is common and potentially dangerous. People with depression can find it hard to make the lifestyle changes needed to manage diabetes. If not well managed, diabetes often leads to additional health issues, like heart, circulatory and kidney disease. Today, Aetna and AbilTo are announcing a new program to help members with diabetes combat depression and take control of their diabetes.

9 Aug 2012

Roundup: Seeking medical malpractice alternatives part of Mass. cost control law; Low-Income Health Program signs up 400k in Calif.

It may not seem like big news, but if you've followed the long-running, stubborn and mostly dug-in debate over reforming medical malpractice in the U.S., you know that when doctors and lawyers issue a joint news release, something is really going on. ... Formally, it's called "Disclosure, Apology and Offer" and it's a key provision of the new state health cost law. Massachusetts doctors and lawyers have agreed to work side by side on this less hostile (and potentially cost-saving) approach to dealing with medical errors and malpractice.

9 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 8, 2012

Today's headlines include a variety of stories that reflect how health policy issues are playing on the campaign trail.

8 Aug 2012

Drug companies developing novel treatments for MDR-TB

With incentives to find new antibiotics signed into U.S. law last month, "multiple players are vying for the lead in the [multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)] drug development niche," Nature Medicine reports.

8 Aug 2012

Improve investment in agriculture to meet growing demands

Extreme weather is forcing grain and meat prices to rise, and food production will have to increase about 60 percent over the next 40 years to meet a growing world population, but "there are solutions to these daunting problems," Catherine Bertini, former director of the U.N. World Food Programme and the 2003 World Food Prize laureate, and Dan Glickman, former secretary of agriculture, write in a Politico opinion piece.

8 Aug 2012

Roundup: Ky. judge to hear Christians-only health insurer case

A judge has scheduled a hearing for later this month in a longstanding dispute between Kentucky and a Christians-only health care plan. The case pits the Kentucky Department of Insurance against Medi-Share, a Florida-based cost-sharing ministry that helps to pay medical bills for churchgoers across the country.

8 Aug 2012

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

Malawi launches week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV

"Malawi on Monday launched a week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV in what health authorities called a crucial intervention in a country ravaged by AIDS," Agence France-Presse reports.

8 Aug 2012

Presidential candidates use tough ads to court single women voters

The competition for these votes has led President Obama's campaign ads to highlight GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's positions on issues such Planned Parenthood funding as well as other women's health and contraception issues.

8 Aug 2012

Medicaid official outlines state flexibility in health law's Medicaid expansion

Politico Pro reports that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official Cindy Mann outlined Monday how states could choose to expand their coverage under the health law and then later drop it if they choose. This is the first time states will be allowed to drop such new coverage. Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare reports on how employers might be impacted if states opt not to expand their Medicaid programs.

8 Aug 2012

New blog from USAID to feature U.S. Government's action on child survival

Noting more than one month has passed since the Child Survival Call to Action event in Washington, D.C., during which stakeholders came together in support of the UNICEF-led initiative "A Promise Renewed," USAID Senior Adviser Nicole Schiegg introduces a new tumblr blog from the agency that will feature U.S. action on child survival in a post on USAID's "Impact" blog.

8 Aug 2012

Melinda Gates dedicates Tällberg Foundation prize money to Rotary International

"The global effort to eradicate polio received a SEK 1 million [about $150,000] boost today as Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated the monetary award she accepted from the Tällberg Foundation to Rotary International -- a humanitarian service organization that has made a polio-free world its top priority," according to a Gates Foundation press release.

8 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Medicaid is key to health law success; OPM weighs changes to FEHB

The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that 30 million Americans still will be left without health insurance in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that largely upheld President Obama's healthcare plan. The part of the plan that was not upheld by the high court, however, contains the key to lowering that number.

8 Aug 2012

Study: ER overcrowding a problem for care at Calif. hospitals serving many minorities

A new study says California hospitals in areas with large minority populations are disproportionately affected by overcrowding at ERs -- often leading to ambulance diversion, delayed care and poorer health outcomes for patients.

8 Aug 2012

Mass. Governor signs health care cost-containment bill tying growth to state economy

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill Monday that lawmakers hope will rein in health care costs by tying health care cost growth to how fast the state economy grows. But, Moody's said the law could hurt the state's hospital credit ratings since the hospitals' revenue growth would be hampered.

8 Aug 2012

Kansas considers disbanding information exchange board; Minn. rebates lower than expected

The board responsible for overseeing the digital exchange of Kansans' health records is scheduled to face Wednesday its biggest decision since it was formed two years ago - whether to dissolve itself and turn its regulatory authority over to a state agency with the goal of saving money. The decision comes at the same time that health information exchange is beginning in Kansas.

8 Aug 2012

Health Care News and Research

Viewpoints: Dubious ad on Romney's role in cancer death; British health plan has problems of its own

Advocacy groups warn Trans-Pacific Partnership could affect access to low-cost medications, Bloomberg reports

MedPage Today, CollabRx sign license agreement for Oncology Next

VA agrees to move forward on CT screening for veterans at high risk for lung cancer

AbilTo, Aetna announce new program to help members with diabetes combat depression

Roundup: Seeking medical malpractice alternatives part of Mass. cost control law; Low-Income Health Program signs up 400k in Calif.

First Edition: August 8, 2012

Drug companies developing novel treatments for MDR-TB

Improve investment in agriculture to meet growing demands

Roundup: Ky. judge to hear Christians-only health insurer case

Medicaid and CHIP succeed in providing health insurance coverage for children

Malawi launches week-long campaign to test 250,000 people for HIV

Presidential candidates use tough ads to court single women voters

Medicaid official outlines state flexibility in health law's Medicaid expansion

New blog from USAID to feature U.S. Government's action on child survival

Melinda Gates dedicates Tällberg Foundation prize money to Rotary International

Viewpoints: Medicaid is key to health law success; OPM weighs changes to FEHB

Study: ER overcrowding a problem for care at Calif. hospitals serving many minorities

Mass. Governor signs health care cost-containment bill tying growth to state economy

Kansas considers disbanding information exchange board; Minn. rebates lower than expected

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