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New research about brain and related disorders to be unveiled at Neuroscience 2012

New research about the brain and related disorders will be unveiled at Neuroscience 2012 in New Orleans, Oct. 13-17. Findings will include how the brain weighs complex decisions; progress being made in treating Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury; and novel understanding of how life experiences, diet, and sleep influence brain health and wellness.

31 Aug 2012

Roundup: Calif. Gov. Brown's pension plan silent on current workers' health care; Psychologists want power to prescribe drugs

Gov. Jerry Brown announced a new plan Tuesday to rein in public pension costs that would raise the retirement age, cap benefits for the highest-paid employees and eliminate "spiking" -- but lacks key parts of the bolder system overhaul he proposed months ago and would even increase some payouts. ... The plan also does not address skyrocketing health care costs for retirees, another main element of the governor's first scenario. Hundreds of thousands of government workers have been promised medical coverage for life.

30 Aug 2012

Roundup: Ga. AIDS Drug Assistance waiting list at zero; Mass. signs up for health law's disabled adults program

The state has eliminated a waiting list for a program that provides lifesaving medications to thousands of low-income, uninsured Georgians with HIV/AIDS more than two years after the list was first started. Established in July 2010, the wait list for Georgia's AIDS Drug Assistance Program rapidly ballooned to more than 1,600 -- at one time becoming the largest in the country. A spike in the need for the program was largely fueled by the economic downturn as people lost their jobs and health insurance.

28 Aug 2012

Indiana bid for Medicaid waiver extension denied; Managed care contracts make news

In Indiana, officials are denied an extension on a Bush-era Medicaid waiver just as New Mexico seeks to revise its Medicaid overhaul plan.

21 Aug 2012

Parsing Medicare policy and politics

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's promise to restore the Medicare cuts made by President Obama's health care law would move the insolvency date of the program closer, reports The Associated Press. Other news outlets examine the Medicare policy specifics that Rep. Paul Ryan, the likely GOP vice presidential pick, has advanced in his House budget proposals.

17 Aug 2012

Achieving AIDS-free generation worth more than Olympic gold

In this post in Huffington Post's "Healthy Living" blog, John-Manuel Andriote, a journalist and author living with HIV, asks, "For all of us living with HIV infection -- Oct. 27 will mark seven years since my own diagnosis -- the question we face daily, hopefully more consciously and deliberately than most, is how shall we live, knowing as we do that we will most assuredly die one day?"

16 Aug 2012

Rice University researcher to see how delays in gene transcription affect cellular processes

A Rice University researcher and his colleagues have received a National Institutes of Health grant to see how delays in gene transcription - life's most basic messaging system - affect cellular processes.

16 Aug 2012

Mayo Clinic's Individualizing Medicine Conference to be held from Oct. 1-3

Mayo Clinic's Individualizing Medicine Conference, scheduled for Oct. 1-3, will draw experts from around the world to discuss the use of genomics in patient care. Physicians and researchers in this rapidly growing field are building a new type of medicine based on the genomic and molecular interactions that make each patient unique.

14 Aug 2012

Some Mass. health premiums to rise; Blue Shield of Calif. CEO pay down slightly

The increase in Massachusetts' small business and individual health care insurance premiums is down from increases of 5.5 percent on average last year.

14 Aug 2012

GAO finds states need more HHS guidance on new Medicaid rules

The study of six states finds they want more help as they look to expand their programs under new rules in the health law.

7 Aug 2012

In rare compromise, Hill leaders agree on temporary spending deal to keep government running through next March

The tentative deal would prevent a government shutdown before Election Day. Modern Healthcare reports, though, that the agreement does not include any changes or fixes to the physician payment formula-;which will require a 27% cut in payments to Medicare physicians next year.

2 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 1, 2012

WBUR's Martha Bebinger, working in partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, reports: "The Massachusetts Legislature Tuesday passed the next phase of its ongoing attempt to reform the health care system: sweeping cost control legislation. Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, hailed the lawmakers' work saying, 'This is more than a good bill, a great bill.'"

1 Aug 2012

Neuroscience 2012 annual meeting to take place from Oct. 13-17

Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, is the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Learn how the brain works and new developments on a range of topics: aging, language, brain injury, parenting, and mental illness, among others. More than 16,000 new discoveries will be presented, with 30,000 attendees from around the world.

21 Jul 2012

House GOP advances Labor-HHS appropriations bill that blocks health law funding

The proposed spending bill includes language preventing the use of federal dollars to "implement, administer or further" the Affordable Care Act. A number of other programs and agencies -- including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality -- are targeted for termination.

19 Jul 2012

Study confirms safety and feasibility of optical coherence tomography in carotid arteries

Our ability to see inside the arteries of vascular disease patients in stunning high resolution before and during stenting procedures can offer a wealth of valuable information. A new study of optical coherence tomography (OCT) confirms the safety and feasibility of this imaging technique in the carotid arteries.

19 Jul 2012

Study: Medicare payment adjustments could take toll on safety net hospitals

A change in Medicare hospital payments, which is based on quality and scheduled to kick in this October, could add to the financial problems faced by facilities that treat largely the poor and uninsured.

18 Jul 2012

Axial length may affect macular disease evaluation

Korean researchers report that thinner macular retinal thickness, lower macular volume, and greater foveal thickness are associated with longer axial length in young individuals with myopic eyes.

13 Jul 2012

Roundup: Tough to get on Calif.'s new adult day care

Community-Based Adult Services began March 1 as part of a legal settlement between the state and advocates that sued over Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate Adult Day Health Care entirely.

11 Jul 2012

Ampio announces results from Optina trial on DME

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative proprietary drugs for inflammation, eye disease, kidney disease, CNS disease, metabolic disease and male sexual dysfunction and conducting clinical trials on its three lead drugs (Ampion, Optina & Zertane), announced the significant results from their further analysis of its Optina trial on DME.

9 Jul 2012

FDA approves at-home HIV test, available in Oct.

The FDA has approved an at-home HIV test that gives results in under 40 minutes. The tests should be available in stores in October.

6 Jul 2012