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State roundup: Daniels signs Ind. law to ban Planned Parenthood funding

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican considering a run for president, signed legislation Tuesday to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding in his state, a move widely seen as a bid to woo influential social conservatives. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and the American Civil Liberties Union went to court to try to block the measure from taking effect.

12 May 2011

Next stop for health law appeal includes two GOP-appointed judges

As news outlets were chewing over Tuesday's hearing on the health law, the next appeal panel, with two Republican-nominated judges, was announced.

12 May 2011

School-based prevention programs can help reduce alcohol problems in young people

School prevention programs aimed at curbing alcohol misuse in children are somewhat helpful, enough so to deserve consideration for widespread use, according to a large, international systematic review.

12 May 2011

Viewpoints: Tea Party on entitlement reform; Boehner's 'trillions' demand; California's silver tsunami

In a speech on Monday, the speaker of the House said that Republicans would insist on trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for votes to raise the debt limit. He did not mention a time frame. He also did not offer specifics on how he planned to make those cuts. After the beating Republicans took for their plan to slash Medicare, he clearly decided generalities were politically safer. There is no way to solve the country's fiscal ills without an accurate diagnosis and rigorous prescriptions for a cure. Mr. Boehner's speech was devoid of both.

12 May 2011

Plans for Medicare, deficit reduction continue to be political flashpoints

President Barack Obama will welcome Democratic congressional leaders to the White House this week to discuss the continuing budget debate.

11 May 2011

Mitt Romney to give 'big' health care speech

The address, which will be given in Michigan on Thursday, is seen as the GOP presidential hopeful's effort to confront what is seen as his key vulnerability - health reform. It will include his own plan to replace the new health law with more targeted changes that give states more responsibility in caring for the poor, elderly and ill.

11 May 2011

Analysis: Ryan's GOP budget plan would cause deep reductions in Medicaid coverage

The analysis, advanced by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute, could lead to as many as 44 million people being cut from the rolls in the next decade. Meanwhile, Politico reports that, in the background, some states are fast-tracking their efforts to expand coverage — in keeping with the requirements of the health law.

11 May 2011

First Edition: May 11, 2011

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Hilary Abramson writes: "Now comes the hard part. California, which has had a long, sometimes-tortured history of trying to overhaul its health care markets, beat every other state last year when it passed a law creating a health insurance exchange - an online marketplace where millions of uninsured residents will be able to get insurance".

11 May 2011

New poll: Ontarians support more public investment in home and community support services

A new poll shows Ontarians support more public investment in home and community support services with six in ten (59%) agreeing new funding is better designated to these preventative care services rather than facilities and full-time nursing care.

11 May 2011

Two new policy briefs on California health reform law

According to two new policy briefs from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the majority of state residents likely to be eligible for federally mandated health insurance coverage initiatives in California in 2014 are also those who may be least likely to excessively use costly health services: men, singles and those of working age.

11 May 2011

Challenges to health law take center stage with appellate court action

President Obama's health care law faces a series of challenges in three appeals courts starting Tuesday as Republican lawyers from 27 states will urge the courts to strike down the law as unconstitutional. In a sign of the high stakes and the partisan divide, one case will feature a rare courtroom clash between the Obama administration's top appellate lawyer and his counterpart from the George W. Bush administration.

11 May 2011

Heart docs dismiss bias claims stemming from industry support of meeting

Doctors said the heart society meeting was an important opportunity to learn about new research in their field and see new products on the market. Unlike in many other areas of medicine, they said, electrophysiologists work hand-in-hand with device company representatives to program implantable defibrillators and diagnose problems.

11 May 2011

Study: Many patients screened for colon cancer more often than recommended

Many patients are getting screened for colorectal cancer more often than guidelines recommend, hints a new study.

11 May 2011

Medicare, entitlement reform continue to trigger political rifts

The AP reports that, as unlikely as it may seem, the Obama administration and congressional Republicans may share some common ideas regarding Medicare costs. Still, the issue of how to address the programs — and the related proposals — still are causing rifts within the GOP.

11 May 2011

Georgia to review Medicaid changes; Calif. judge rules against freeze on payments for disability services

In any other year, a historic overhaul of the Medicaid system would have overshadowed every health issue in the Legislature. But when lawmakers went home early Saturday morning, Medicaid might not have even been the noisiest health-related debate of the 2011 legislative session. Lawmakers passed a nearly $70 billion budget that included deep cuts to hospitals, nursing homes and dozens of other health programs.

11 May 2011

USA Today: Uninsured hospitalizations result in a hefty unpaid tab

Uninsured Americans — including those with incomes well above the poverty line — leave hospitals with unpaid tabs of up to $49 billion a year, according to a government study released today. On average, uninsured families pay only about 12 percent of their hospital bills in full.

11 May 2011

U.K. parliamentary committee report says U.N. response to Pakistan floods was 'patchy'

The U.N.'s response to severe flooding in Pakistan was "patchy," according to a report from the U.K.'s International Development Committee, which also said leadership and humanitarian coordination since the flooding started has been poor, AlertNet reports. As of February, about $1.2 billion of the U.N.'s $1.9 billion appeal had been received, according to the report, Reuters writes.

11 May 2011

Reducing hearing aid cost does not improve device purchase

Lowering the cost of hearing aids isn't enough to motivate adults with mild hearing loss to purchase a device at a younger age or before their hearing worsens, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.

11 May 2011

Chances of dying in natural disaster decreasing, economic costs increasing worldwide, U.N. report says

The risk of dying in a natural disaster is decreasing worldwide, but the economic toll weather-related catastrophes inflict is rising "often due to a lack of investment," according to a new U.N. report released in Geneva on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

11 May 2011

GlobalPost examines Pres. Obama's Global Health Initiative

GlobalPost has published two articles on President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative. "In a series of reports over the coming months from Washington and in capitals around the world, GlobalPost will examine the behind-the-scenes decisions in the Obama administration as well as what diplomats and health experts are doing now in several countries to try to bring to life this new, but what some say is a stumbling approach in global health," the publication writes.

11 May 2011