Health and Human Services News and Research

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Uninsured rate drops more in states that expanded Medicaid, run own exchanges

News outlets also provide updates on Medicaid expansion efforts and debates in Colorado, Virginia, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina and Indiana.

17 Apr 2014

Researchers develop novel tools to learn how astrocytes listen in on neuronal communication

Everything we do - all of our movements, thoughts and feelings - are the result of neurons talking with one another, and recent studies have suggested that some of the conversations might not be all that private.

17 Apr 2014

UTMB experts honored with Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to study of deadly diseases

The global experts who study the deadliest infectious diseases recognized the contributions of Frederick A. Murphy and Thomas G. Ksiazek, professors at the University of Texas Medical Branch, with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 6th annual International Symposium on Filoviruses. The filoviruses include Ebola and Marburg viruses that cause death in 50 to 90 percent of people infected. The current outbreak of Ebola virus raging in West Africa has caused more than 100 deaths so far.

16 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Obamacare dilemma -- some people dislike the law but embrace its provisions; are health costs falling?

Polls have consistently shown that even though the public opposes Obamacare, people like some of its most significant provisions. That's particularly true of the requirement that insurers ignore preexisting conditions when signing up customers for coverage.

16 Apr 2014

Burwell steps into hot seat

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the president's nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department, may have some goodwill, but she will still have to navigate plenty of challenges -- starting with her confirmation hearing.

16 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 15, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate of the costs for expanding health insurance.

15 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Sebelius withstood attacks, but wasn't 'warrior' for law; Burwell offers GOP chance to focus on law's problems

Kathleen Sebelius was known for her patience and cool under savage attack by Republicans, who treated her as a stand-in for the health law. She sat through hearings calmly reciting talking points while they fumed and fulminated for their audience. But that turned out to be one of her biggest liabilities ... What the health law needed in its first years was a cheerful, populist warrior who could laugh at the truly ridiculous distortions and lies Republicans invented about it, and roar back with the truth. Instead, she came across as a mild technocrat. She never emerged from the defensive crouch she assumed after the law's calamitous debut (David Firestone, 4/11).

15 Apr 2014

Highligts: Calif.'s medical system for prisons; gender therapy in Boston; Ga. public health money

California's $840-million medical prison -- the largest in the nation -- was built to provide care to more than 1,800 inmates. When fully operational, it was supposed to help the state's prison system emerge from a decade of federal oversight brought on by the persistent neglect and poor medical treatment of inmates.

15 Apr 2014

High cost of potent hepatitis drug presents challenges across the U.S.

Sovaldi, the hepatitis C treatment drug, is considered a breakthrough for patients with the disease. However, since, it won federal approval in December, lawmakers, insurers and patient advocates have begun an all-out revolt over it's high price point of $1,000 a daily pill or $84,000 over 12 weeks of treatment.

15 Apr 2014

New study of NC Pre-K program to prepare four-year-olds for success in kindergarten

Scientists from UNC's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute have released their new study of NC Pre-K, the state's program to prepare four-year-olds for success in kindergarten. According to FPG's report, students enrolled in NC Pre-K show significant gains across all areas of learning.

15 Apr 2014

Conservatives continue health law attack barrage

Leading Republicans readying for a White House run in 2016 also unofficially kicked off their campaigns in New Hampshire Saturday by hammering the health law.

15 Apr 2014

What challenges lie ahead for exchanges

Questions about 2015 premiums, the age and health status of the newly insured and the impact of premiums on the working poor will be answered in the months ahead. In addition, the New York Times looks at the reasons that New York's state-based exchange may have become one of the most competitive in the country.

15 Apr 2014

Obama turns to 'proven manager' to shepherd HHS and health law

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom President Barack Obama named to replace outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is a relatively unknown 'budget wonk' who is being asked to navigate some difficult terrain to keep the president's signature achievement on track.

15 Apr 2014

Sebelius notes misstepts but praises the health law

In an appearance on "Meet The Press," the outgoing Health and Human Services secretary offered her views on the botched rollout of healthcare.gov and the decision to leave the Obama administration. Meanwhile, news outlets also examine how her resignation unfolded.

15 Apr 2014

GOP intends to focus on health law issues during Burwell's confirmation hearings

Senate hearings for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Barack Obama's pick to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, are likely to focus more on the health law than on the nominee. Many expect the proceedings to set the scene for a heated political debate on the law that will likely be part of the midterm campaign.

15 Apr 2014

Criterions EHR certified under Drummond Group's ONC-ACB program

Criterions EHR version 3.0 has been tested and certified under the Drummond Group's Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Certification Body program. This EHR software is compliant in accordance with the criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

11 Apr 2014

Sebelius resigning, OMB director Burwell tapped to head HHS

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning from the Obama administration after the rocky rollout of President Barack Obama's signature health care law, a White House official said Thursday.

11 Apr 2014

NextGen earns ONC 2014 Edition criteria certification for Emergency Department Solution

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today that NextGen® Emergency Department Solution version 6.0 is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as an electronic health record (EHR) Module on March 7, 2014 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ACB, in accordance with the applicable Hospital certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

10 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Sebelius' questionable arithmetic; Rand finds 9.3 million gained insurance; new numbers on your doctor

In setting the 2015 calendar parameters for health plans and employers, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, quietly did some creative but questionable arithmetic that forced taxpayers to give still more help to businesses and people who buy health insurance (Casey B. Mulligan, 4/9).

10 Apr 2014

NIH study could offer clues for developing new antiviral treatments

A National Institutes of Health study reports that a rare genetic disease, while depleting patients of infection-fighting antibodies, may actually protect them from certain severe or recurrent viral infections.

10 Apr 2014

Health and Human Services News and Research

Uninsured rate drops more in states that expanded Medicaid, run own exchanges

Researchers develop novel tools to learn how astrocytes listen in on neuronal communication

UTMB experts honored with Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to study of deadly diseases

Viewpoints: Obamacare dilemma -- some people dislike the law but embrace its provisions; are health costs falling?

Burwell steps into hot seat

First Edition: April 15, 2014

Viewpoints: Sebelius withstood attacks, but wasn't 'warrior' for law; Burwell offers GOP chance to focus on law's problems

Highligts: Calif.'s medical system for prisons; gender therapy in Boston; Ga. public health money

High cost of potent hepatitis drug presents challenges across the U.S.

New study of NC Pre-K program to prepare four-year-olds for success in kindergarten

Conservatives continue health law attack barrage

What challenges lie ahead for exchanges

Obama turns to 'proven manager' to shepherd HHS and health law

Sebelius notes misstepts but praises the health law

GOP intends to focus on health law issues during Burwell's confirmation hearings

Criterions EHR certified under Drummond Group's ONC-ACB program

Sebelius resigning, OMB director Burwell tapped to head HHS

NextGen earns ONC 2014 Edition criteria certification for Emergency Department Solution

Viewpoints: Sebelius' questionable arithmetic; Rand finds 9.3 million gained insurance; new numbers on your doctor

NIH study could offer clues for developing new antiviral treatments

Event guide: 6th Operationalize Expanded Access Programs Summit East eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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