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First Edition: October 4, 2011

Today's news highlights include reports that the Supreme Court kicked off its new term by hearing a key Medicaid case that tests whether providers and patients can go to court to challenge decisions by cash-strapped states to reduce Medicaid payments.

4 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Mixing Obama and Ryan's plans, cancer rationing and stalling federal aid

What has been revealed is that the systems set up during an industrial era to provide health care, retirement income and support during economic downturns are inadequate for and ill-suited to our post-industrial, globalized economy. ...one can imagine a system in which all workers and nonworkers are required to buy insurance from the government-regulated exchanges being set up in each region or state under the Obama health-care reform plan.

4 Oct 2011

Sleeping with baby: the dangers quantified

According to Victorian coroner John Olle there are an “alarming” number of infant co-sleeping deaths in Victoria. Figures reveal that 33 of the 72 unexplained child deaths in the past three years occurred in circumstances where a child shared a bed with an adult.

3 Oct 2011

Supreme Court hears arguments in Calif. Medicaid case

Justices will hear arguments today regarding California's plan to cut Medicaid payments to doctors, hospitals and other medical providers in an effort to address the state's budget issues. Experts say the case has national implications because its central issue involves states' rights to regulate their Medicaid programs.

3 Oct 2011

Researchers identify unusual genomic architecture linked with very severe forms of disease

When cells divide normally, DNA gets copied perfectly and distributed among the daughter cells with an even hand. Occasionally though, DNA breaks during division and is rearranged, resulting in duplications or deletions of important parts of the blueprint.

3 Oct 2011

General anesthesia linked to learning disabilities in children

Every year millions of babies and toddlers receive general anesthesia for procedures ranging from hernia repair to ear surgery. Now, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester have found a link among children undergoing multiple surgeries requiring general anesthesia before age 2 and learning disabilities later in childhood.

3 Oct 2011

HealthSpring announces its 2012 Medicare offerings

HealthSpring, a leading Medicare Advantage plan, today announced its 2012 Medicare offerings, which include a range of health and prescription drug plans, as well as special needs plans.

1 Oct 2011

ViroPharma licenses worldwide rights from Intellect Neurosciences to OX1 for treatment of FA

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced the license of worldwide rights from Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. to its clinical stage drug candidate, OX1, being developed for the treatment of Friedreich's Ataxia (FA), a rare, hereditary, progressive neurodegenerative disease.

1 Oct 2011

State roundup: Mass. doctors not keen on new payment methods

A new survey from the Massachusetts Medical Society reveals interesting divisions among doctors over plans to hold down health care spending -- and perhaps some words of warning for lawmakers. More than half -- 58 percent -- of the 1,100 doctors who responded to the society's survey this year said they would not voluntarily agree to treat patients under so-called global payments.

30 Sep 2011

Three Georgia Tech projects to receive NSF's EFRI grants

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $6 million to fund three projects involving researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Each four-year, $2 million grant was awarded through the NSF's Division of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation.

30 Sep 2011

Positive new data from Otonomy's OTO-104 Phase 1b study on Meniere's disease

Otonomy, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapeutics for diseases and disorders of the inner and middle ear, today announced that researchers presented positive new data from a Phase 1b study of the company's lead product candidate, OTO-104, in patients with Meniere's disease.

29 Sep 2011

ACOs: Will feds be ready for the start date?

Health care stakeholders and lobbyists are increasingly convinced that CMS will not make the Jan. 1 deadline for launching the flagship accountable care organization program mandated by the Affordable Care Act as release of the final rule slips later into the fall.

29 Sep 2011

Wis. unveils Medicaid savings website; some low-income Minn. residents must change health plans

Also in Medicaid news, Washington state begins new program that limits emergency department visits for Medicaid enrolless. Oregon also reports gains in efforts to get children coverage.

28 Sep 2011

Justice Department does not seek full appeals court review clearing path for high court to decide health law's constitutionality next summer

The Obama administration announced Monday that it won't press for an en banc appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Such an action would have delayed the legal process and likely pushed back the timing of a final Supreme Court decision until at least 2013.

28 Sep 2011

Roundup: Conn.'s new insurance commissioner getting noticed; Miami-Dade County fires consulting firm over health care issue

Checking his watch, Thomas B. Leonardi worked quickly through his dense defense of this nation's state-by-state approach to insurance regulation. This small New England state generates more insurance business than all but a half-dozen nations. He sided with consumer advocates in March at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, helping to delay a federal regulation designed to protect fees for health insurance brokers. Advocates said the regulation would have driven up the costs of insurance to consumers.

28 Sep 2011

ISRA sponsors 'Susan G. Komen Shoot for the Cure' event

In observance of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the ISRA is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the first annual "Susan G. Komen Shoot for the Cure" benefit shooting event.

27 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Concerns that AIDS fight is losing steam; Pharmacy choice bill is praised; Texas sex-ed policies questioned

The considerable progress in recent years - including the 22-fold increase in the number of people receiving anti-retroviral drugs between 2001-2010 - has been due to scientific breakthroughs and to civil society's efforts to keep AIDS on the political agenda. This is now changing.

23 Sep 2011

Roundup: Texas House Dems ask CMS to reject Medicaid waiver request; Jobs lost as Ariz. mental health Medicaid cuts kick in

The nine House Democrats from Texas want the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reject their state's request that Medicaid beneficiaries get their prescription drugs through managed care plans.

23 Sep 2011

Lawmakers explore savings potential of Medicare extenders

During a Wednesday House Ways and Means Committee hearing, health industry witnesses defended the Medicare "extenders," which, in many cases, are payment policies enacted to address specific problems faced by specific types of health care providers. Ending some of them would save less than $100 million a year. One economist said, however, that when added up, they can tally an estimated $2.5 billion in savings.

23 Sep 2011

As Congress searches for health care savings, care coordination for dual eligibles may offer an opportunity

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said during a Wednesday Senate Finance Committee hearing that the current lack of coordination for people who are on both Medicare and Medicaid leads to massive amounts of waste and low-quality care, but an Obama administration official said more time was needed to address this issue. Also, a new report written by Emory University's Kenneth Thorpe and funded by America's Health Insurance Plans sets a high possible savings estimate if this coordination goal can be achieved.

23 Sep 2011

Hearing News and Research

First Edition: October 4, 2011

Viewpoints: Mixing Obama and Ryan's plans, cancer rationing and stalling federal aid

Sleeping with baby: the dangers quantified

Supreme Court hears arguments in Calif. Medicaid case

Researchers identify unusual genomic architecture linked with very severe forms of disease

General anesthesia linked to learning disabilities in children

HealthSpring announces its 2012 Medicare offerings

ViroPharma licenses worldwide rights from Intellect Neurosciences to OX1 for treatment of FA

State roundup: Mass. doctors not keen on new payment methods

Three Georgia Tech projects to receive NSF's EFRI grants

Positive new data from Otonomy's OTO-104 Phase 1b study on Meniere's disease

ACOs: Will feds be ready for the start date?

Wis. unveils Medicaid savings website; some low-income Minn. residents must change health plans

Justice Department does not seek full appeals court review clearing path for high court to decide health law's constitutionality next summer

Roundup: Conn.'s new insurance commissioner getting noticed; Miami-Dade County fires consulting firm over health care issue

ISRA sponsors 'Susan G. Komen Shoot for the Cure' event

Viewpoints: Concerns that AIDS fight is losing steam; Pharmacy choice bill is praised; Texas sex-ed policies questioned

Roundup: Texas House Dems ask CMS to reject Medicaid waiver request; Jobs lost as Ariz. mental health Medicaid cuts kick in

Lawmakers explore savings potential of Medicare extenders

As Congress searches for health care savings, care coordination for dual eligibles may offer an opportunity

Improving healthcare sustainability through carbon data

Managing vibration in IVF laboratories

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

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