Health Care News and Research

RSS

Poll finds popularity for Medicaid program

A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that most Americans oppose the GOP plan to cut Medicaid, throwing into question the conventional wisdom that this health insurance program for the poor lacks the widespread public support generally attached to Medicare.

26 May 2011

Viewpoints: Sebelius, Orszag on Medicare costs; has the Minnesota GOP lost its way?

The right way is to strengthen it, closing coverage gaps while also bringing down costs by improving care and reducing waste and fraud. Medicare's trustees estimate that the new health care law has already added eight years to the life of the Medicare trust fund by doing just that. The president's fiscal framework would put the program on even more solid ground in the future.

26 May 2011

Roundup: N.Y.C. hospitals face new cuts; Vt. health bill signing expected Thursday; difficulties for Conn. insurance chief

Vermont is moving one step closer to a goal of its Democratic governor: a state-run health plan that would insure most of its 625,000 residents. The bill Gov. Peter Shumlin plans to sign on Thursday would create a panel whose goal would be to figure out how to pay for a new system intended to reduce the rate of overall health-cost increases.

26 May 2011

Scarcity of resources calls for equitable distribution system for novel HCV treatment

For many patients with the hepatitis C virus, direct antiviral agents (DAA) offer a potential cure for the disease. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved two new DAAs, telaprevir and boceprevir, and with that clinicians must now decide who should be the first to receive this treatment.

25 May 2011

MAXIMUS offers eHealth Literacy Services for state and community programs

MAXIMUS, Inc., a leading provider of government services worldwide, announced today that it is now offering eHealth Literacy Services to help state and community programs meet the communication and engagement challenges facing consumers and providers using the new health information technology infrastructure.

25 May 2011

First Edition: May 25, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "Most Americans oppose the House Republicans' plan to overhaul and slash funding of Medicaid, the state-federal program that covers 56 million low-income people, according to a poll being released today".

25 May 2011

Federal officials review Indiana's Planned Parenthood law

Federal officials said Monday they're taking a hard look at a new Indiana law that withholds some public funding for Planned Parenthood of Indiana, a development that could cost the state some of its Medicaid funding.

25 May 2011

As implementation continues, poll finds public view of law improving

Since its passage in March 2010, President Obama's health care reform package has been controversial. The latest Associated Press poll, however, finds that the percent of Americans who approve of the way Mr. Obama is handling health care has hit a new high.

25 May 2011

Pawlenty, Gingrich offer views on Medicare, entitlement programs

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty formally announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with a pledge to reinvent programs like Medicare in order to tackle the nation's fiscal difficulties. And another GOP candidate — Newt Gingrich — continued his efforts to explain his remarks about the Medicare overhaul plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

25 May 2011

PET scans can help determine patients' response to treatment for HIV-MDR tuberculosis

With the deficiencies in knowledge of tuberculosis-as well as in the practices, programs and strategies used to combat the disease and co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus-the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major problem for the health care community.

25 May 2011

GOP leaders ask governors for ideas on Medicaid savings, improvements

A top House and Senate Republican wrote to the nation's governors Monday to ask for suggestions on how to find savings in and improve Medicaid. The letter from House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan and Senate Finance ranking member Orrin G. Hatch of Utah said the quality of medical care provided by Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, is not as good as that provided to Medicare or privately insured patients.

25 May 2011

Medical-income argument by critics of 'Obamacare' is feeble, says Queen's University professor

U.S. doctors might find that their incomes start to rise - not decline - when Barack Obama's healthcare reforms are put in place says a Queen's University School of Medicine professor.

25 May 2011

With NY special election down to the wire, Republicans 'brace for blowback'

This week, an off-year special election in Buffalo and a purely symbolic vote in the Senate might tell Republicans all they need to know about the mercurial politics of Medicare reform.

25 May 2011

Doctors report hundreds of new cholera cases in Dominican Republic

A cholera outbreak in the Dominican Republic appears to be spreading, and health officials are reporting hundreds of new cases, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

25 May 2011

Global Fund freezes grants to China over suspected misuse of funds

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has frozen "payments of grants to China worth hundreds of millions of dollars over suspected misuse of the money and the government's reluctance to involve community groups in the projects," the Associated Press reports.

25 May 2011

Russia spent more than $80M in health-related foreign aid in 2010, report says

The Russian Federation in 2010 spent more than $80 million to improve health in developing countries, according to a report prepared by the country's Ministry of Finance, which highlights "how the country is meeting its G8 commitments ahead of the upcoming summit in Deauville, France," the Moscow Times reports.

25 May 2011

AFP examines expansion of Indian drug companies in South Africa

Agence France-Presse examines how Indian drug companies have infiltrated the South African market over the last few years in an effort to have a broader reach in Africa. India's pharmaceutical industry is now the second largest in the world by volume, according to AFP.

25 May 2011

Ahead of U.N. General Assembly meeting next month, IPS examines global funding shortfall for HIV/AIDS treatment

Inter Press Service examines the global funding shortfall for antiretroviral treatment programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, noting that the U.N. General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS next month in New York "will shape the direction of the global response to HIV and AIDS for the next decade and beyond."

25 May 2011

Senate GOP faces tricky vote on House-passed budget

Democratic leaders are terming this week's Senate vote on the House-passed Ryan budget, including its proposal to revamp Medicare, a "defining issue." Meanwhile, some Republican senators have announced that they won't back the plan.

25 May 2011