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A history lesson as three major health laws mark anniversaries

[S]ome health reforms merely tweak around the edges. But three laws — the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, the 2006 Massachusetts' health expansion and last year's health overhaul — bear closer examination this week.

15 Apr 2011

Calif. joins suit against Sutter Health, alleges fraud charges for anesthesia

Sutter Health, one of California's largest health care givers, fraudulently charged insurers up to hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade for anesthesia services that in some cases weren't even provided, the state's insurance commissioner said Wednesday (Allday, 4/14).

15 Apr 2011

Obama's deficit plan earns raves, pans from editorial boards; more views on abortion and planned parenthood

I've proposed a balanced approach that looks at the entire budget for savings. The third step is to reduce the growth in health care spending in order to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid for future generations. We will get rid of wasteful subsidies and fraud that cost Medicare billions of dollars each year. We'll cut spending on prescription drugs by helping to get generic brands of medicine to market faster.

15 Apr 2011

Media report on additional FY11 budget details

Multiple news outlets examined the proposed reductions of the FY11 spending measure that was released on Tuesday.

15 Apr 2011

Nearly all 2.6 million stillbirths worldwide occur in low-, middle-income countries, Lancet series says

Approximately 2.6 million pregnancies worldwide end in stillbirth - most commonly defined as death in the final trimester - each year, "with the poorest nations worst affected," according to a series of articles published Thursday in the Lancet, BBC reports.

15 Apr 2011

African genital herpes strains are more infectious than the U.S. virus

Strains of genital herpes in Africa are far more virulent than those in the United States, researchers at Harvard Medical School report, a striking insight into a common disease with important implications for preventing HIV transmission in a region staggered by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

15 Apr 2011

Boehner offers 'unswerving support' for Ryan's Medicare plan

Los Angeles Times: Boehner On Board With Ryan's Medicare Plan.

15 Apr 2011

Radiation leaked from Japan's nuclear power plant does not pose immediate public health risk, WHO says

The decision on Tuesday by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to increase the level of severity at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant "does not mean the public health risk is any worse or that the disaster resembles Chernobyl in 1986," the WHO and other agencies said in response to the announcement, Reuters reports.

15 Apr 2011

House votes to slash health law's public health fund

Almost entirely along party-lines, the House voted to repeal a provision of the health law that establishes a trust fund to support prevention and public health activities. Opponents of the trust fund said it was a "slush fund" for the HHS secretary, but the White House responded by threatening a veto.

15 Apr 2011

AP: Poll shows support for health law drops with budget woes

The Associated Press: Poll Shows Health Care Law Support Dips On Budget Woes.

15 Apr 2011

WFP, Clinton warn of escalating humanitarian situation in Libya

The World Food Program (WFP) on Wednesday warned that the humanitarian situation in Libya could worsen as a result of the heavy fighting and low stocks of food supplies, Reuters reports.

15 Apr 2011

NIST's new reference can aid in Huntington's disease diagnosis

A new Standard Reference Material from the National Institute of Standards and Technology will help clinical genetics labs accurately diagnose Huntington's disease, an inherited degenerative brain disorder that usually begins between ages 35 and 50 and progressively leads to physical impairment, dementia and death.

15 Apr 2011

Report: 10 recommendations on how to achieve ACO success

Accountable care organizations have the potential to improve health outcomes and lower costs, but success requires leadership, clear goals and a strong connection between performance and payments, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund.

15 Apr 2011

Obama plan likely to include Medicare, Medicaid changes; take steps to curb long-term spending

In a speech today, President Barack Obama is scheduled to outline his plans to reduce the deficit. They will likely include controversial proposals to trim Medicare and Medicaid spending while also raising taxes.

15 Apr 2011

Study: Opioid users report worse oral health

A team of Boston University researchers has found that the majority of individuals with substance dependence problems report having poor oral health. They also found that opioid users, in particular, showed a decline in oral health over the period of one year. These findings appear online in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

15 Apr 2011

Obama administration unveils new initiative to reduce medical errors

The new, $1 billion patient-safety program comes on the heels of a recent study that found one in three Americans admitted to hospitals will experience some type of medical error or accident.

15 Apr 2011

Obama offers framework to cut federal budget deficit

In his plan, which the administration says would cut federal budget deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years, President Barack Obama rejected GOP calls to make fundamental changes to Medicare and Medicaid and scale back the reach of the new health law.

15 Apr 2011

Signs of failure, difficulties evident in nation's mental health system

The Boston Globe reports on new federal government findings regarding a "crisis" in the New Hampshire state mental health system. Meanwhile, KHN reports on how mentally ill patients sometimes are left to languish in hospital emergency departments.

15 Apr 2011

Deadly infections at Veterans Affairs hospitals drop

The New York Times: Study Finds Drop In Deadly VA Hospital Infections.

15 Apr 2011

Good neighbors increase stroke survival

A new U.S. study has shown that seniors who are able to count on their neighbors for help and conversation have better odds of surviving a stroke than those living in less sociable neighborhoods. Study author Cari Jo Clark, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota said social isolation is unhealthy on many levels.

15 Apr 2011