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Take charge of your medical tests

Whether you're healthy or ill, there are a variety of medical tests your health care team might recommend for you. A yearly checkup often includes routine tests such as blood sugar and cholesterol levels, vision and hearing assessments, tests for heart functioning and others used to monitor a chronic condition—such as a lung function test for those with asthma.

20 Dec 2010

AAPD pediatric oral health experts partner with text4baby to provide information to pregnant women, new moms

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the recognized leader in children's oral health, announced today an outreach partnership with the text4baby program. The AAPD's leading pediatric oral health experts will work closely with text4baby in the dissemination of information to pregnant women and new moms about children's oral health care.

20 Dec 2010

PwC: Top Health Industry Issues of 2011

Health organizations will undergo a strategy makeover in 2011 as they react to new rules and payment models, continuing cost pressures and new customer demands, according to the Top Health Industry Issues of 2011, published today by PwC's Health Research Institute. But in a recent nationwide survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, PwC found that consumers don't fully understand or buy-in to all the changes.

20 Dec 2010

Donors pledge almost $49.3B for World Bank's International Development Association fund

The World Bank on Wednesday announced that its International Development Association (IDA) fund will receive $49.3 billion over the next three years, Bloomberg reports (Christie/Martens, 12/15).

20 Dec 2010

New U.N. commission will track donors' pledges on maternal, child health

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete will co-chair a new "U.N. commission tasked with tracking whether $40 billion in pledges from countries and aid groups are really flowing to efforts to improve the health of mothers and young children in poor countries, and what impact the programs have," the Globe and Mail reports (Clark, 12/16).

20 Dec 2010

Medicare bonus payment pilot program also a test for ACOs

Half of 10 physician groups testing Medicare bonus payments for quality and spending control earned payouts during the fourth year of the five-year experiment, the CMS has announced. Bonuses, which totaled $31.7 million for the fourth year, are based on how much physician groups save Medicare and how well doctors perform on measures of quality.

20 Dec 2010

Implementation roundup: HHS meets on state exchanges; Regs out soon on 'unreasonable' insurance rate increases; Plan 'B' options for the individual mandate

The first of a two-day, closed-door, HHS meeting with representatives from 44 states suggested that in many cases states will delay passing laws to create health insurance exchanges until 2012, according to one attendee. ... States have flexibility under the law to structure exchanges in different ways. HHS has urged that, if possible, they begin passing legislation in 2011 to get that process underway (Reichard, 12/16).

20 Dec 2010

House rejects Senate bill to fight child marriage, citing cost as main concern

"A bill to combat the practice of child marriage in developing countries stalled in the House on Thursday," CQ Today reports. In a 241-166 vote "the House rejected … the motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S 987). Suspension of the rules is an expedited procedure that limits debate and requires a two-thirds majority for passage," the news service writes (Dumain, 12/16).

20 Dec 2010

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan seeks dismissal of federal antitrust lawsuit

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan today filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Detroit seeking dismissal of the antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Michigan Attorney General in October.

20 Dec 2010

BioNeutral Group, KHA to introduce Ogiene and Ygiene products

BioNeutral Group, Inc., a specialty life science technology-based company, today announced it is entering into discussions with the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) through its subsidiary Kentucky Hospital Services Corporation LLC (KHSC) to introduce BioNeutral's Ogiene™ and Ygiene™ products into its member hospital association.

20 Dec 2010

FDA moves to curb Avastin's approval for breast cancer

The Food and Drug administration on Thursday revoked its approval of Roche drug Avastin for the treatment of breast cancer. The agency's action, based on findings that did not confirm that the medicine helped patients with this disease, has drawn criticism from patients and politicians.

20 Dec 2010

U.N. Security Council adopts resolution to ramp up fight against sexual violence

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday "called on the U.N. Security Council to make combating sexual violence a 'top priority'" during the opening of a two-day meeting of the 15-member Council on women, peace and security, Xinhua/People's Daily Online reports (12/17).

20 Dec 2010

Research roundup: Gender differences in health spending; How the states could fare under the new law; Increased Medicare premiums

Health Affairs: Pronounced Gender And Age Differences Are Evident In Personal Health Care Spending Per Person - This paper examines health care spending by men and women in 2004, including comparisons "by age group, goods and services consumed, and payers, and an analysis of some of the most frequently cited health conditions and treatments associated with that spending."

20 Dec 2010

Walgreens partners with HHS to provide over $10M worth of flu shots for people without adequate health insurance

Walgreens and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are teaming up in an effort to make 2011 a healthier New Year for those without adequate health insurance.

20 Dec 2010

In Florida, federal court judge considers health-care challenge by states

In Florida, a federal court judge heard oral arguments surrounding the 20-state challenge to the health overhaul. At issue are two key elements of the new law: its mandate requiring that almost everyone have health insurance and its expansions of the Medicaid program. Although the judge said his ruling would take some time, he did offer some signals about the direction he might take.

20 Dec 2010

The Hill: GOP leaders for House Energy and Commerce health panel named

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman-in-waiting of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, announced on Thursday the chairmen and vice-chairmen on his committee. As predicted, abortion-rights foe Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) got the chairmanship of the health subcommittee in a sop to conservatives who bitterly opposed Upton because he has not supported efforts to enact parental notification laws, to defund embryonic stem cell research or oppose "partial-birth" abortion.

20 Dec 2010

State Roundup: UMass bone marrow registry practices probed; Insurance woes hit many Calif. middle income families

Bone marrow registries are usually noble efforts to find donors with the right genetic match to save the life of a terminally ill person, but one such program in New England is under investigation by attorneys general in two states (Greenberg, 12/17).

20 Dec 2010

UCLA report: Low-income Californians with asthma experience more frequent symptoms

Almost 5 million Californians have been diagnosed with asthma, and those living in poverty suffer more severe consequences from the condition than those in higher income brackets, according to a new report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

17 Dec 2010

Nation's anti-fraud efforts paying off, Holder says

At a summit held yesterday in Boston, Attorney General Eric Holder said the nation's crackdown on health care fraud and abuse is paying off, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius talked about new approaches that are contributing to such successes. Meanwhile, a new analysis names big pharma as the nation's "biggest defrauder" under the False Claims Act.

17 Dec 2010

Today's Opinions: Cucinelli argues for quickly moving Va. case to the Supreme Court; Unraveling Medicaid leaves a big gap; Taking away a cancer treatment

It's hard not to laugh at the cries over the "injustice" of forcing people to buy coverage. Working Americans are already forced to buy health coverage - but for others. They can't choose not to pay the Medicare payroll tax. They can't even make a deal with the government, promising, "I will forgo all future Medicare benefits if I can be freed from the Medicare payroll tax" (Froma Harrop, 12/16).

17 Dec 2010

Health Care News and Research

Take charge of your medical tests

AAPD pediatric oral health experts partner with text4baby to provide information to pregnant women, new moms

PwC: Top Health Industry Issues of 2011

Donors pledge almost $49.3B for World Bank's International Development Association fund

New U.N. commission will track donors' pledges on maternal, child health

Medicare bonus payment pilot program also a test for ACOs

Implementation roundup: HHS meets on state exchanges; Regs out soon on 'unreasonable' insurance rate increases; Plan 'B' options for the individual mandate

House rejects Senate bill to fight child marriage, citing cost as main concern

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan seeks dismissal of federal antitrust lawsuit

BioNeutral Group, KHA to introduce Ogiene and Ygiene products

FDA moves to curb Avastin's approval for breast cancer

U.N. Security Council adopts resolution to ramp up fight against sexual violence

Research roundup: Gender differences in health spending; How the states could fare under the new law; Increased Medicare premiums

Walgreens partners with HHS to provide over $10M worth of flu shots for people without adequate health insurance

In Florida, federal court judge considers health-care challenge by states

The Hill: GOP leaders for House Energy and Commerce health panel named

State Roundup: UMass bone marrow registry practices probed; Insurance woes hit many Calif. middle income families

UCLA report: Low-income Californians with asthma experience more frequent symptoms

Nation's anti-fraud efforts paying off, Holder says

Today's Opinions: Cucinelli argues for quickly moving Va. case to the Supreme Court; Unraveling Medicaid leaves a big gap; Taking away a cancer treatment

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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