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CNA launches National Expert Commission on health system improvement

The Canadian Nurses Association today officially launched its National Expert Commission on health system improvement, entitled The Health of Our Nation — The Future of Our Health System.

26 May 2011

Disputes over ACO rule, IPAB, MLR, health law continue

Some hot topics -- the IPAB, the medical-loss ratio rule and the health law's impact on employer-sponsored health care -- also claim headlines today. Meanwhile, MinnPost analyzes executive orders - including a controversial one on health care - by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, now a GOP presidential candidate.

26 May 2011

GSK partners with NGOs to support health care workers in LDCs

Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports that GlaxoSmithKline announced Tuesday it has partnered with three non-governmental organizations to address the shortage of primary health care providers in least developed countries.

26 May 2011

Many young adults couldn't afford needed health care: New Commonwealth Fund report

Young adults ages 19-29 are struggling to get the health care they need more than almost any other age group, demonstrating the need for Affordable Care Act provisions, some already in place, that will expand health insurance and make it more affordable, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.

26 May 2011

PBS' NewHour examines health insurance for 'urban poor' in Pakistan

PBS' NewsHour special correspondent Saima Mohsin on Monday reported from Pakistan on "an innovative health insurance plan for the urban poor." In Pakistan, 99 percent of the country's low-income population does not have health insurance, and this plan, called Naya Jeevan, "hopes to change that.

26 May 2011

Ryan budget, with Medicare and Medicaid overhaul, rejected by Senate

With five Republicans joining Democrats in opposition, the Senate easily rejected a House-passed budget plan Wednesday calling for deep cuts in domestic appropriations and major restructuring of Medicare, the government-backed healthcare program for the elderly.

26 May 2011

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Three days before the start of a Vatican conference focusing on "the centrality of care" in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, on Tuesday printed a piece by Spanish theologian Juan Jose Perez-Soba arguing that married couples with one HIV-positive partner "should abstain from sex, because intercourse performed with a condom is, 'from the moral point of view, not a fully conjugal act,'" RNS/Beliefnet News reports.

26 May 2011

Dems win upset in NY special election; Medicare viewed as game-changing issue

Democrats claimed a victory Tuesday, winning a congressional seat in one of New York's most conservative districts. The win is considered by many as a blow to the GOP plan to overhaul Medicare. It's also likely to add to Republican intra-party strains surrounding the issue.

26 May 2011

IPS examines access to medicine in Malawi

"Health experts say an inadequate number of nurses and pharmacists is among the leading factors denying people access to medicines in Malawi," Inter Press Service writes in an article examining medication shortages in rural Malawi.

26 May 2011

More wealthy families in India choosing to abort female fetuses, study shows

India's 2011 census data show that "wealthier, better-educated families," who have a first-born daughter "are choosing more and more often to abort subsequent pregnancies if the child is female," despite fetal sex determination and sex-selective abortion being illegal in the country, according to a study published on Tuesday in the Lancet, National Journal reports.

26 May 2011

State Legislatures struggling with efforts to fund health programs

A second measure designed to streamline state government advanced late Tuesday as the Senate voted to merge several agencies for the disabled and a rehab program for injured workers into a new social services bureau.

26 May 2011

Budget talks: Medicare costs on table as Biden aims for $1 trillion in cuts

Politics continue to surround talks regarding the budget and congressional efforts to reach an agreement on raising the debt limit. Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading an effort to strike a compromise, has acknowledged that Medicare must be part of the debate. He also maintains that new revenue sources have to be in the mix.

26 May 2011

Texas considers performance-based payments; Calif. docs oppose mammography bill

As crafted, SB 8 gives the Health and Human Services Commission permission to test various performance-based payment programs to increase efficiency and find ways to link payments to improved patient outcomes. Despite a few clarifying amendments, lawmakers' efforts to tack on controversial measures like abortion and end-of-life reporting, Medical Board reform and scope-of-practice expansions were knocked down.

26 May 2011

Nurses can play vital role in increasing patients' adherence to cancer-fighting medication

As the use of oral chemotherapy continues to rise, researchers from Michigan State University have discovered many patients fail to properly take the cancer-fighting medication, a significant clinical problem that can result in complications and premature death.

26 May 2011

Bill Gates, USAID Administrator Shah call for more investment in poor farmers to ensure global food security

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Foundation, and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Tuesday called for developed countries to invest in farmers in the developing world to help end global hunger, Agence France-Presse reports. Gates and Shah spoke at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security in Washington, D.C.

26 May 2011

CDC reports 118 measles cases in 23 states, issues travel alert highlighting vaccination recommendations

CDC officials on Tuesday released a report stating that 118 measles cases in 23 states have been identified in the U.S. so far this year, more than double the average number of cases reported annually, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports. While no one has died so far, 40 percent of cases required hospitalization, USA Today notes.

26 May 2011

Miami Herald explores pilot program for medical homes

House calls, once thought to be too time-consuming and not very cost-effective, are making a comeback as health care providers recognize that they're actually the answer to good care for patients who can't make it to a doctor's office. Medicare-paid house calls have been steadily increasing, according to government figures, and doctors report the same for non-Medicare patients, according to the American Academy for Home Care Physicians.

26 May 2011

Paxil and Pravachol in combination cause unexpected increase in blood glucose levels

A widely used combination of two common medications may cause unexpected increases in blood glucose levels, according to a study conducted at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University and Harvard Medical School. Researchers were surprised at the finding because neither of the two drugs - one, an antidepressant marketed as Paxil, and the other, a cholesterol-lowering medication called Pravachol - has a similar effect alone.

26 May 2011

Editorial: G8 should tell the truth on aid targets

"The final communiques haven't been written. But the word on the street is that when leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized countries meet in France this week, they will claim that wealthy countries have come close to fulfilling their 2005 promise to boost annual development aid by $50 billion by 2010. They are not even in the ballpark," a New York Times editorial states, before noting data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showing that aid fell $19 billion short of that goal.

26 May 2011

NIH-funded analysis finds 19% of young adults with high blood pressure

Roughly 19 percent of young adults may have high blood pressure, according to an analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

26 May 2011