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Pregnant women with depression unlikely to receive consistent treatment

Pregnant women who screen positive for depression are unlikely to receive consistent treatment, researchers say. That may translate to women spending more time in the hospital before babies are even born.

17 Jun 2011

Roundup: Few states raise taxes to ease budgets; Ala. Gov. signs abortion law; Texas House advances bill to turn Medicaid, Medicare into block grants

As 2011 began, the budget situation in state capitals looked more dire than just about anybody could remember. ... With Medicaid, the states had their hands tied. The new federal health care law prohibits states from cutting eligibility or making it harder for people to apply for coverage. So states had to find other ways to control costs. Idaho reduced the amount paid to hospitals and doctors to treat Medicaid patients, an idea that some 30 governors proposed this year.

17 Jun 2011

Ankota introduces TherapEZ web-based, mobile tablet-based solution for home health therapy agencies

Ankota, the developer of the first Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) solutions, introduced today its TherapEZ software as a solution for streamlining many of the operational issues faced by home health therapy agencies as they seek to provide services for patients at home and to coordinate care with home health agencies.

16 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 16, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the prospect for Medicaid cutbacks in an emerging bipartisan budget deal, as well as how a report from a Medicare advisory panel may bolster Medicare options currently on the table.

16 Jun 2011

Study finds life expectacy in large portions of U.S. are stagnating or declining

"Large swaths of the United States are showing decreasing or stagnating life expectancy even as the nation's overall longevity trend has continued upwards, according to a county-by-county study of life expectancy over two decades," researchers at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington note in the journal Population Health Metrics, the Washington Post reports (Brown, 6/15).

16 Jun 2011

CBO portends 'heavy lifting' to avert Medicare doc pay reduction

The report offers cost estimates for a range of approaches that would head off a 29.4 percent reduction in Medicare physician payments scheduled to kick in Jan. 1, 2012. Meanwhile, in other news, a plan to curb the overuse of costly medical imaging demonstrates the difficulties posed by attempting even small changes in the health insurance program for seniors.

16 Jun 2011

Rising food prices, health concerns prompt shifting diets worldwide, Oxfam survey says

"Rising food prices, hovering near record highs after a spike in grain costs, are changing diets particularly in developing countries such as Kenya, according to a survey issued by charity Oxfam on Wednesday," Reuters reports. The survey was conducted in 17 countries.

16 Jun 2011

Screening can help overcome barriers to mental health care among African-American youth

Mental health screening has been demonstrated to successfully connect African-American middle school students from a predominantly low-income area with school-based mental health services, according to results of a new study led by the TeenScreen National Center for Mental Health Checkups at Columbia University. The study was published in a recent online early edition of the Community Mental Health Journal.

16 Jun 2011

Budget woes lead GOP governors to push feds to relax Medicaid rules

President Barack Obama has the power to relax rules, which would allow cash-strapped governors more flexibility in spending Medicaid dollars, including allowing them to tighten eligibility requirements. But allowing such changes would outrage many of the president's core supporters and be at odds with the health law's goal of expanding coverage.

16 Jun 2011

Large trial of tenofovir gel for women set to begin in South Africa

A 24-month clinical trial looking at the effectiveness of tenofovir gel use among women to reduce the risk of HIV infection is set to begin in South Africa in late July or early August, the Mail & Guardian reports.

16 Jun 2011

ASEAN region recognizes first Dengue Day to raise awareness

"The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) at the launch of Dengue Day on Wednesday called on all sectors of society to unite in the battle against the disease, which has developed into a formidable threat to health in Asia, a press statement said," Xinhua reports.

16 Jun 2011

Eyeglasses provide example of good health delivery

In this Washington Post "Think Tanked" post, journalist Allen McDuffee examines a Foreign Policy article by New America Foundation and Center for Global Development scholar Charles Kenny, which "points to advancements in eyeglasses as an example of how health can be better delivered and have a severe impact on poorer countries".

16 Jun 2011

Guardian interviews USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah

The Guardian examines USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah's role in U.S. development policy and looks at some of the domestic challenges he faces.

16 Jun 2011

PLoS Medicine publishes series on migration and health

PLoS Medicine published the latest installment of its six-part series focusing on migration and health.

16 Jun 2011

Budget talks to focus on potential foreign aid cuts among other issues

White House budget talks entered a new phase on Tuesday "as the deficit reduction group led by Vice President Biden" started debate about sensitive issues that they have purposely sidestepped during their six earlier meetings.

16 Jun 2011

$Economic burden of fractures in Europe has been vastly underestimated: New report$

Economic burden of fractures in Europe has been vastly underestimated: New report

A new report launched today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) in collaboration with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA) reveals that the burden of fractures in Europe has been vastly underestimated.

16 Jun 2011

Expert poll finds Afghanistan is the most dangerous place to be a woman

Afghanistan is the most dangerous place to be a woman because of high levels of poverty, poor health care and violence against female officials, according to a survey, the Guardian reports.

16 Jun 2011

Wis. Supreme Court ruling upholds union law pushed by Gov. Walker

The decision overturns a lower court judge who had halted implementation of the law, which requires public employees to pick up a greater share of their health care costs and pensions.

16 Jun 2011

MDGs should focus on achievable goals

"As decision-makers start to consider what our aspirations should be after the deadline [for the 2015 Millennium Development Goals] has expired, it is worth looking back at what worked, what didn't, and how we could do better," Bjorn Lomborg, head of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School, writes on Project Syndicate.

16 Jun 2011

Quam outlines GHI at Global Health Council conference

Lois Quam, executive director of the Obama administration's Global Health Initiative (GHI), talked about GHI projects and "defended the program even if her panel was met with some hard questions" during a presentation on Tuesday at the annual Global Health Council conference in Washington, D.C., GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports.

16 Jun 2011