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Health insurance mandate haunts Romney

The parallels between the federal health law and the Massachusetts health overhaul that GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney signed into law when governor continue to cause some Republicans to doubt him as a their primary pick.

11 Oct 2011

Effects of U.S. cuts to foreign aid would be 'hugely damaging' to American foreign policy

In this New York Times editorial, Carol Giacomo, journalist and member of the newspaper's editorial board, reports on a decline in U.S. foreign aid, writing, "There is a lot of public misunderstanding about foreign aid," adding, "For the sake of national security, this country cannot afford to retreat from the world. Its investment in the State Department and foreign aid helps advance peace and stability by feeding starving people, providing access to doctors and medicines, opening new markets, promoting democracy, curbing nuclear arms and strengthening allies with military and economic assistance".

11 Oct 2011

96% Campaign asks Obama to 'pay attention to science' and scale up global access to ARVs

In this RH Reality Check opinion piece, Matthew Kavanagh, director of U.S. advocacy at Health GAP (Global Access Project), and Dazon Dixon Diallo, founder and president of SisterLove, Incorporated, write, "With proof that treatment is prevention, and with this basket of broader prevention options, scientists and economists have finally been able to show what few could before: models of how we end the AIDS crisis."

11 Oct 2011

Johns Hopkins USFHP recognized as the best private health insurer in Maryland

The Johns Hopkins US Family Health Plan (USFHP), a Department of Defense-sponsored managed care plan, was ranked by Consumer Reports as the best private health insurer in Maryland, while Priority Partners, a joint venture between Johns Hopkins HealthCare LLC and the Maryland Community Health System, placed as the state's top Medicaid health plan.

11 Oct 2011

WHO facing shortage of funds as it works to scale up humanitarian response to Pakistan flooding

WHO representative Guido Sabatinelli has assured Pakistan health officials that the organization "will be scaling up its humanitarian response in all the flood-affected areas of Sindh to resolve health issues faced by the displaced people," News International reports.

11 Oct 2011

Brown signs Calif. measures to aid children with autism, ban kids younger than 18 from using tanning beds

In other state news, Wisconsin last month began scrutinizing health insurance rate increases, Los Angeles County steps in ahead of health law's mandated coverage expansions and a Georgia report notes the state's progress in providing services for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities.

11 Oct 2011

Nigeria's minister of health presents public health vision to save one million lives, improve quality of care

Speaking at the event "Innovative Approaches to Expanding Health Care Services" at the Africare House in Washington, D.C. on September 21, Nigeria's Minister of State for Health, Muhammad Ali Pate, "presented a sweeping panorama of Nigeria's current health status and what it must do if it is to make progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015," Global Health Impact reports.

11 Oct 2011

LUGPA encourages men to speak out to preserve prostate cancer screenings

The Large Urology Group Practice Association (LUGPA), representing more than 1,800 urologists, encourages men to speak out to preserve prostate cancer screenings.

11 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Obama fighting back; putting a price on compassion; questions for GOP candidates

As part of his newfound assertiveness, President Obama is using the term "Obamacare," the Republicans' sneering dismissal of the Democratic health care reforms. We are skeptical that he will be able to turn it into a term of approbation. But it is heartening to see him finally out there defending his pioneering policy with no apologies and an uncharacteristic feistiness.

11 Oct 2011

Conflicts of interest sometimes emerge in ownership arrangements between physicians, medical device companies

The Wall Street Journal reports on how such arrangments sometimes create an incentive for surgeons to do more operations, which raises quality issues and health care costs.

11 Oct 2011

Villanova University establishes MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education

Obesity rates in the United States have reached epidemic proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese and 17 percent of children and teens (ages 2-19) are obese.

11 Oct 2011

WHO releases report highlighting global underinvestment in mental health care as world commemorates Mental Health Day

The WHO "is calling on governments to increase services for people suffering from mental, neurological and substance use disorders," VOA News reports. The WHO's "Mental Health Atlas 2011," "released to coincide with World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10, finds countries all over the world spend very little on the treatment of mental illness," according to VOA.

11 Oct 2011

Merck’s diabetes combo pill gets FDA nod

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Merck & Co.’s Juvisync diabetes drug, a combination pill for type 2 diabetes. Juvisync combines two Merck drugs already on the market, 1) glucose-lowering Januvia (Sitagliptin) medication and 2) cholesterol-lowering Zocor (Simvastatin).

10 Oct 2011

The health law's future: Prose on politics and policies

Politico reports on how the elections of 2012 will dictate the future of the health law. Also, other news outlets report on states' efforts to figure out what to do if the individual mandate is struck down, the essential benefits package, the development of health exchanges and where things stand with accountable care organizations.

10 Oct 2011

For issues that can drive physicians to quit

One news article details the reasons that drove a primary care physician to quit practicing medicine. Meanwhile, the American Medical Association is launching a media campaign to permanently fix the formula that is used to calculate Medicare payments to doctors.

10 Oct 2011

Hospitals attempting to cut costs, what measures matter most?

Hospitals waiting on Congress to squeeze spending may sympathize with the Oakland Athletics' reversal of fortune more than a decade ago, when the ball club's owners refused to continue profligate spending...

10 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 10, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the 'super committee's' moving parts and how the fate of the health law may be determined by what happens in 2012.

10 Oct 2011

MetCare wins South Florida Business Journal Excellence in Health Care Award

Metropolitan Health Networks, Inc., a leading provider of health care services in Florida, today announced that the company was the recipient of the South Florida Business Journal Excellence in Health Care Award presented on October 6th.

10 Oct 2011

Increased competition in the NHS has not harmed deprived neighbourhoods: Study

Increased competition in the NHS has not harmed deprived neighbourhoods, according to new research from the Centre for Health Economics (CHE), University of York.

10 Oct 2011

Advocates prepare for battle on PSA testing; insurers review options

A day after a government panel said that healthy men should no longer get screened for prostate cancer, some doctors' groups and cancer patients' advocates began a campaign to convince the nation that the advice was misguided. Their hope is to copy the success of women's groups that successfully persuaded much of the country two years ago that it was a mistake for the same panel, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, to recommend against routine mammograms for women in their 40s.

10 Oct 2011

Health Care News and Research

Health insurance mandate haunts Romney

Effects of U.S. cuts to foreign aid would be 'hugely damaging' to American foreign policy

96% Campaign asks Obama to 'pay attention to science' and scale up global access to ARVs

Johns Hopkins USFHP recognized as the best private health insurer in Maryland

WHO facing shortage of funds as it works to scale up humanitarian response to Pakistan flooding

Brown signs Calif. measures to aid children with autism, ban kids younger than 18 from using tanning beds

Nigeria's minister of health presents public health vision to save one million lives, improve quality of care

LUGPA encourages men to speak out to preserve prostate cancer screenings

Viewpoints: Obama fighting back; putting a price on compassion; questions for GOP candidates

Conflicts of interest sometimes emerge in ownership arrangements between physicians, medical device companies

Villanova University establishes MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education

WHO releases report highlighting global underinvestment in mental health care as world commemorates Mental Health Day

Merck’s diabetes combo pill gets FDA nod

The health law's future: Prose on politics and policies

For issues that can drive physicians to quit

Hospitals attempting to cut costs, what measures matter most?

First Edition: October 10, 2011

MetCare wins South Florida Business Journal Excellence in Health Care Award

Increased competition in the NHS has not harmed deprived neighbourhoods: Study

Advocates prepare for battle on PSA testing; insurers review options

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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