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Viewpoints: 'Tug of War' over Medicaid expansion; Bill Keller debunks 5 'Obamacare' myths

The new health care law's individual mandate - the provision pushing people to buy insurance, and upheld last month by the Supreme Court - has garnered huge attention. But about half the planned expansion of insurance coverage under the new law comes from another source entirely: growth of the Medicaid program. Yet Medicaid has never been especially popular, and when its expanded role becomes more widely understood, it is likely to become less popular still.

17 Jul 2012

American women fare worse in health coverage than those in 10 countries with universal care

A new Commonwealth Fund report shows that women in the United States are in much worse shape, health care-wise, than women in 10 nations that have universal health care. Even insured American women are more likely to go without needed health care because of the cost and difficulty paying medical bills. The report was published online July 13. According to the report, the Affordable Care Act has brought coverage to millions of women already and is expected to improve women's health care in coming years.

17 Jul 2012

Drug treatments, scientific advances fuel hope for HIV control as AIDS 2012 conference draws near

"A cure for AIDS remains a distant prospect but a host of drug treatments and other advances have fueled fresh hope that new HIV infections may someday be halted for good," Agence France-Presse reports.

17 Jul 2012

Health law implementation decisions draw state officials' attention, set scene for state-level policy action

Virginia's attorney general outlines his take on the fiscal dangers that the health law's Medicaid expansion will cause. Meanwhile, Michigan lawmakers will consider the creation of a state-based health exchange. Also, in Georgia, a year-long effort to revamp the state's Medicaid program is on hold as one leader says it would be "imprudent" to move forward while so many uncertainties are in play.

17 Jul 2012

MSU nursing researcher’s Wii-Fit program helps lung cancer patients reduce fatigue

With the support of a $379,741 grant from the National Cancer Institute and the Nintendo Wii game system, nursing researcher Amy Hoffman aims to help lung cancer patients reduce fatigue and get more exercise as they transition from the hospital to the home after surgery.

17 Jul 2012

Asian-American victims of domestic violence rarely seek help from police or health care providers

Asian-American victims of domestic violence rarely seek help from police or health care providers - "an alarming trend" among the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, says a Michigan State University researcher.

17 Jul 2012

Gates Foundation's efforts to improve access to contraceptives will improve health, lives of women, children

"Supporters of women's health ought to cheer the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's plan" to provide $1 billion over eight years to increasing women's access to contraceptives and family planning services because the "effort underscores the critical role of family planning in the international battle to reduce poverty and improve maternal health," a Seattle Times editorial states.

17 Jul 2012

Study looks at effectiveness of parity laws in reducing families' financial burdens

While the causes of autism continue to be debated and bandied about, real families who have children with autism spectrum disorders are left to struggle with expensive health care needs. These costs can be devastating - but they can also be markedly different if the family lives in Massachusetts or Maine.

17 Jul 2012

Pakistan polio immunization campaign might not reach 240,000 children because of militant leaders' bans on vaccine

A national polio vaccination campaign set to begin this week in Pakistan might not reach 240,000 children in the northwest because of a Taliban ban on the inoculations, Agence France-Presse reports. Local militant leaders "have banned polio vaccinations in the northwestern tribal region of Waziristan to protest against U.S. drone attacks" and "have condemned the immunization campaign, which is slated to begin on Monday, as a cover for espionage," the news agency writes.

17 Jul 2012

CDC launches Let's Stop HIV Together campaign

To combat two major obstacles to HIV prevention—stigma associated with the infection and complacency about the epidemic—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched Let's Stop HIV Together, a national communication campaign that gives voice to Americans living with HIV, and to their loved ones.

17 Jul 2012

Obesity leads to more doctor visits than smoking

Statistics show that today, almost one in four Canadians is obese. A deadly trend that has been on the rise for the last thirty years, obesity is associated with diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But is the obesity epidemic putting more pressure on an already strained Canadian health care system?

17 Jul 2012

Implementation news: Health clinics prepare for jump in demand; States face 'rough job' in building health exchanges

Across the health care delivery system, providers are preparing for the increased demand for services that the health law will create. Health clinics will likely play an important role.

17 Jul 2012

Gilead receives FDA approval for Truvada to reduce risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved once-daily oral Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), in combination with safer sex practices, to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in adults at high risk.

17 Jul 2012

Roundup: Some troubled N.Y. hospitals don't carry malpractice insurance; Lobbying may dilute Mass. health care cost bill

Several of the city's most troubled hospitals are partially or completely uninsured for malpractice, state records show, forgoing what is considered a standard safeguard across the country.

17 Jul 2012

Polio eradication: an interview with Dr. Kathleen O’Reilly

Polio is a disease caused by a virus and results in paralysis, usually in the legs, of those affected. The paralysis is irreversible. In some extreme cases the virus spreads to the nerve cells of the brain reducing breathing capacity and this rarer form can be fatal.

16 Jul 2012

New research raises concerns about gaps in national child abuse statistics

In the largest study to examine the impact of the recession on child abuse, researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's (CHOP) PolicyLab detected a significant increase in children admitted to the nation's largest children's hospitals due to serious physical abuse over the last decade.

16 Jul 2012

Johns Hopkins doctoral program graduate explores ways to control infectious diseases

Her passport is stamped with exotic locations: Myanmar, Tibet, South Africa, Vietnam, and Cambodia, as well as Baltimore, MD. But, when Carrie Tudor, PhD, MPH, RN, looks at it, she sees global battlefields in the fight against infectious disease. Her weapons: immunizations, programs to curb tuberculosis and HIV transmission, and a drive to carry on a rich tradition of public health nursing research.

16 Jul 2012

UnitedHealthcare to host educational seminars at Jersey City Medical Center

UnitedHealthcare will host a series of educational seminars at the Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, N.J., to help baby boomers and other Medicare beneficiaries learn more about the Medicare program so they can make confident health care coverage choices.

16 Jul 2012

Uninsured U.S. women more likely to struggle with medical bills and go without needed care

Twenty percent of U.S. women (18.7 million) ages 19-64 were uninsured in 2010, up from 15 percent (12.8 million) in 2000, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report on women's health care. An additional 16.7 million women were underinsured in 2010, compared with 10.3 million in 2003.

16 Jul 2012

Special issue of AIDS and Behavior looks at latest behavioral interventions research

HIV prevention must be better targeted, according to David Holtgrave from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US, and colleagues. Health care professionals need a more detailed analysis and understanding of the interplay between HIV risk behavior, access to treatment and treatment success among those living with HIV. The authors discuss their proposed framework in a study in a special issue of Springer's journal AIDS and Behavior.

16 Jul 2012

Health Care News and Research

Viewpoints: 'Tug of War' over Medicaid expansion; Bill Keller debunks 5 'Obamacare' myths

American women fare worse in health coverage than those in 10 countries with universal care

Drug treatments, scientific advances fuel hope for HIV control as AIDS 2012 conference draws near

Health law implementation decisions draw state officials' attention, set scene for state-level policy action

MSU nursing researcher’s Wii-Fit program helps lung cancer patients reduce fatigue

Asian-American victims of domestic violence rarely seek help from police or health care providers

Gates Foundation's efforts to improve access to contraceptives will improve health, lives of women, children

Study looks at effectiveness of parity laws in reducing families' financial burdens

Pakistan polio immunization campaign might not reach 240,000 children because of militant leaders' bans on vaccine

CDC launches Let's Stop HIV Together campaign

Obesity leads to more doctor visits than smoking

Implementation news: Health clinics prepare for jump in demand; States face 'rough job' in building health exchanges

Gilead receives FDA approval for Truvada to reduce risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection

Roundup: Some troubled N.Y. hospitals don't carry malpractice insurance; Lobbying may dilute Mass. health care cost bill

Polio eradication: an interview with Dr. Kathleen O’Reilly

New research raises concerns about gaps in national child abuse statistics

Johns Hopkins doctoral program graduate explores ways to control infectious diseases

UnitedHealthcare to host educational seminars at Jersey City Medical Center

Uninsured U.S. women more likely to struggle with medical bills and go without needed care

Special issue of AIDS and Behavior looks at latest behavioral interventions research

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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