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Foreign Policy blog reports on reaction to GHI office closing

Foreign Policy's "The Cable" reports on reaction to an announcement by the Obama administration on July 3 that the Global Health Initiative (GHI) office will close and that the office's work is being "elevated" to the State Department's new Office of Global Health Diplomacy.

12 Jul 2012

GOP lawmaker unveils draft bill on contraceptive coverage rule

The measure focuses on the potential tax implications of the Health and Human Services rule that contraceptives be counted -- without cost-sharing -- among the preventive health services that most employer-sponsored health plans offer.

12 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Trouble keeping health costs down; Ignagni says law needs some revisions; Coverage is like clean water

Now that the Supreme Court has provided legal certainty on the recent healthcare reform law, the nation must turn its attention to affordability. While the law expands coverage to millions of Americans, a goal health plans have long supported, major provisions of the law need to be changed to avoid significant cost increases for consumers and employers.

12 Jul 2012

Secure protocol allows linking of patient records without revealing personal information

Monitoring the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in Canada requires that data from multiple registries and other data sources be combined. Linking registries can be problematic, however, since they are often managed by unrelated organizations. Privacy legislation may also restrict the sharing of data for such linkages.

12 Jul 2012

Physicians need to know how chemical intolerance affects people: Study

Chemical intolerance contributes to the illnesses of 1 in 5 patients but the condition seldom figures in their diagnosis, according to clinical research directed by a UT Medicine San Antonio physician.

11 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 11, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about the scheduled House vote on repealing the health law as well as how stakeholders -- whether it be certain governors or wall street investors -- are responding to the Supreme Court's decision on the Medicaid expansion.

11 Jul 2012

Blog posts respond to GHI office closure

In a joint message released by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby, CDC Director Thomas Frieden, and Global Health Initiative (GHI) Executive Director Lois Quam last Tuesday, the Obama administration announced the closure of the GHI office, writing that the office's work is being "elevated" to the State Department's new Office of Global Health Diplomacy.

11 Jul 2012

AFP examines rise in TB cases in Madagascar

Agence France-Presse examines a rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases in Madagascar, writing, "Last year alone, 26,700 people contracted TB, according to the health ministry, a jump of more than 16 percent compared with 2009, when a military coup precipitated an economic crisis as donors suspended aid to one of the world's poorest countries."

11 Jul 2012

Guardian columnist examines family planning in Nepal

In a Guardian opinion piece, part of the series "The politics of family planning," columnist Zoe Williams examines family planning Nepal. Noting her trip to the country with Save the Children, Williams discusses a number of barriers to family planning for Nepalese women -- including the practice of child marriage, stigma surrounding menstruation, and cultural beliefs about contraception -- and writes, "In Nepal, opportunities for women are not all they should be, and child pregnancy is a big issue."

11 Jul 2012

Politics swirl around approaching House repeal vote

As the House proceeds toward its scheduled Wednesday vote to repeal the health law, Republicans hope to draw more Democratic votes this time around -- even though they have not offered any clear alternatives. Although the measure will die in the Senate, the White House issued a veto threat.

11 Jul 2012

Feds OK Oregon Medicaid CCOs, ready $1.9B in funding

The federal government has granted Oregon a waiver to run Medicaid coordinated-care organizations and will provide enhanced Medicaid money -- $1.9 billion over five years -- for the program.

11 Jul 2012

WHO working on consolidated HIV treatment guidelines

The WHO "says comprehensive HIV treatment strategies are needed in developing countries to overcome stigma and discrimination," because "often those in need of HIV treatment and prevention are unable to receive the services because of their social status," VOA News reports.

11 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

Thousands of seasonal firefighters lack health insurance

They work the front lines of the nation's most explosive wildfires, navigating treacherous terrain, dense walls of smoke and tall curtains of flame. Yet thousands of the nation's seasonal firefighters have no health insurance for themselves or their families.

11 Jul 2012

Loyola receives Tellabs Foundation grant to help address needs of tiny patients in NICU

A recent $250,000 grant from the Tellabs Foundation of Naperville, Ill., will help address the needs of tiny patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital at Loyola University Medical Center.

11 Jul 2012

States continue stand-off with health law -- or push forward

State leaders continue their grapple with how -- and if at all -- to implement the health care law, even after the Supreme Court upheld it.

11 Jul 2012

Officials announce 89 more ACOs caring for 1.2 million on Medicare

The addition brings to 154 the total number of ACOs giving care to 2.4 million beneficiaries of Medicare. CMS says the program could save $940 million over four years.

11 Jul 2012

HIV infection risk reduced by same drugs that treat HIV

People at high risk of HIV infection can reduce their risk of acquiring the disease by taking antiretroviral drugs, according to Cochrane researchers. In an update of a systematic review first published in 2009, the researchers found that uninfected people in relationships with HIV-infected partners, men who have sex with men and those in other high risk groups are at a lower risk of becoming infected with the virus if they regularly take drugs that are normally prescribed to treat people with HIV.

11 Jul 2012

The next legal blockbuster: Health benefits and same-sex partners

Lawsuits focus questions on whether same-sex spouses should be eligible for health insurance and other benefits.

11 Jul 2012

Global Fund general manager appeals for donations, calling fund a 'good deal'

Gabriel Jaramillo, general manager of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, "took a new approach to appealing for donations last week, arguing to finance ministers from participating nations that the fund is a great investment," the New York Times reports.

11 Jul 2012