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Treating migraines with behavioral approaches can make financial sense

Treating chronic migraines with behavioral approaches - such as relaxation training, hypnosis and biofeedback - can make financial sense compared to prescription-drug treatment, especially after a year or more, a new study found.

6 Jul 2011

LA Times: Study urges more mammogram guidelines

The standard approach, which is based on age alone, has been challenged in recent years by a number of health experts who contend that some women get more mammograms than they need and others get too few.

6 Jul 2011

Faith communities play a key role in global AIDS fight

"One of the great lessons of this fight is that the single fastest way to mobilize at the grassroots level around the world is through local congregations. Nothing comes close to the size and scope of this pool of compassionate volunteers," Rick Warren, founder and pastor of the Saddleback Church, writes in a CNN opinion piece reflecting on his involvement in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

6 Jul 2011

India must not become complacent despite AIDS control program's success, Prime Minister says

"India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday hailed the country's success in slashing new HIV/AIDS infections by half in the past decade, but warned against complacency," Agence France-Presse reports. Speaking at a conference on AIDS in New Delhi, Singh said the country's HIV prevention program "can justifiably claim a measure of success," but "there should be no room for complacency," as an estimated 2.4 million Indians are living with the disease, according to AFP.

6 Jul 2011

State roundup: Calif. weighs bill to curb premium increases

Assembly Bill 52 … would give the state the authority to approve, deny or modify excessive health insurance rate hikes - much as regulators do now with auto insurance. The bill is a lightning rod for many of the Capitol's most influential interest groups, pitting consumer, labor, small business and health care advocacy groups against the California Chamber of Commerce and hospital, physician and health insurance associations.

6 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: 'Imaginary' mandates, premium hikes, Medicare leadership

Liberals are taking a victory lap since a federal appeals court upheld President Obama's health care plan last week, but not so fast. This is an idiosyncratic and flawed opinion, and we trust the Supreme Court, however it rules, will hold itself to a higher standard of jurisprudential reasoning.

6 Jul 2011

AJC: Hospital execs pay raises eyebrows

In other news, The Boston Globe reports that Quincy Hospital has declared bankruptcy just days after its trustees approved a deal for the facility to be acquired by Steward Health Care System.

6 Jul 2011

Budget negotiations: Administration gives momentum to health care cuts

Obama administration officials have advanced a significant amount of cuts from Medicare and Medicaid in the debt ceiling talks — saying the money could come from hospitals and other facilities without directly imposing new costs on beneficiaries or making radical changes to the Medicare program.

6 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 5, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about how Medicare, Medicaid and the health care industry might fare in the ongoing budget negotiations.

5 Jul 2011

Patients with ESBL-producing bacteria need better health care

Fear and confusion surrounding the diagnosis is often the result of suffering of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Accurate information is crucial for these patients in order for them to handle their situation, yet that is the area where health care is lacking.

5 Jul 2011

New study reaffirms safety of seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines

Back in spring 2009, the H1N1 influenza virus crossed the U.S. border and raised concerns that it might cause a full-scale epidemic in the fall. The Food and Drug Administration worked with other Health and Human Services agencies and vaccine manufacturers to quickly develop, license and distribute a vaccine to protect the public from this particularly virulent strain of the flu.

5 Jul 2011

Physical activity on Prescription reduces sedentary leisure time

Physical activity on Prescription (FaR) is a relatively new method for getting people moving. "Those prescribed organized activities decreased their sedentary time significantly six months after receiving their prescription," says Amanda Ek, Master of Public Health at the Nordic School of Public Health.

4 Jul 2011

Science should inform global AIDS policy

Thirty years have passed since the first reported case of AIDS, and "we now have an unprecedented opportunity, based on solid scientific data, to control and ultimately end the AIDS pandemic," after decades of the idea being "a distant aspiration because we lacked sufficient evidence-based tools to convert the hope to reality," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, writes in a Science editorial.

2 Jul 2011

We must do more to monitor aid spending abroad

In a Washington Times opinion piece, Rep. Jason Chaffetz points to recent developments and experiences that have led him to conclude that "vast amounts of U.S. aid money is being spent with little documentation or verification of quantifiable results."

2 Jul 2011

Patients to get satisfaction survey when they leave hospitals

A provision of the 2010 health care law that seeks patient feedback on hospital stays goes into effect today. Also, federal officials issued a new rule designed to streamline paperwork requirements for the health care industry.

2 Jul 2011

IRIN reports on concerns over poor midwife training in Senegal

IRIN reports on concerns about the low level of training midwives in Senegal undergo, a topic that was discussed at the launch of the U.N. Population Fund's (UNFPA) State of the World's Midwives report in Senegal.

2 Jul 2011

State insurance officials' panel seeks protection for insurance brokers

By voice vote, the task force called on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to endorse legislation by Rep. Mike Rogers that would exclude fees paid to agents and brokers when calculating how much health plans are spending on administrative costs versus medical care.

2 Jul 2011

CDC helping to detect and control disease outbreaks in other countries

"The Atlanta-based CDC is expanding its involvement in cases of illness overseas, from helping track the source of the highly toxic E. coli outbreak in Germany to homing in on the cause of cholera in the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake," in an effort "to stop epidemics before they can reach the United States," Reuters/MSNBC.com reports.

2 Jul 2011

Analysis of appeals court ruling on health law focuses on Bush appointee

Ever since the early days of the health-care reform law, its supporters have argued that there is a "conservative" argument to be made for the constitutionality of the law.

2 Jul 2011

Minn. government shuts down; new Calif., Iowa and Ill. budgets take effect

Talks imploded Thursday between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders in the final hours before a midnight deadline, and Minnesota began a historic government shutdown. ... Even before the shutdown, Minnesotans got an early peek at the inconvenience from the mothballing of many state services.

2 Jul 2011