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Fla. GOP takes aim at health law; Hawaii considers cuts in mental health services

Florida Republican lawmakers are reviving a proposed constitutional amendment that takes aim at a major part of the federal health overhaul with Senate President Mike Haridopolos planning the unusual step of sponsoring the proposal himself.

24 Nov 2010

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Dallas Morning News: "Tea party members and other conservative activists pushed state lawmakers Tuesday to vote to nullify the federal health care law and get out of Medicaid, though one GOP senator said the largely federally funded program pays for nursing home care for the elderly and disabled and is 'not all bad.' … Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and dozens of others said the Legislature should declare the federal law void and also refuse to set up a state health insurance exchange.

24 Nov 2010

Opinions: The Pope and condoms; fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa; malaria eradication or control; health care workers; foreign aid in Haiti

Reflecting on Pope Benedict XVI's recent statements regarding the use of condoms to prevent the transmission of HIV, Michael Gerson writes in a Washington Post column.

24 Nov 2010

End-of-life care raises difficult questions about quality issues

PBS Frontline has kicked off a series called Facing Death, which explores the way Americans die, issues around extending life or prolonging death, uncertainty, talking about the end of life and modern medicine's trade offs.

24 Nov 2010

Democrats, liberal groups urge GOP lawmakers who opposed health law now to reject federal insurance

When a little-known GOP Congressman-elect who campaigned against the new health law demanded that the benefits of his new federal health plan start immediately, it was an irresistible opening for some.

24 Nov 2010

Poll shows majority favor health reform; N.Y. Democrat dares GOP to repeal law; Court allows legal challenge

McClatchy Newspapers: "A majority of Americans want the Congress to keep the new health care law or actually expand it, despite Republican claims that they have a mandate from the people to kill it, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. The post-election survey showed that 51 percent of registered voters want to keep the law or change it to do more, while 44 percent want to change it to do less or repeal it altogether.

24 Nov 2010

KHN column: If employers walked away from health coverage

In their latest Kaiser Health News column, Brian Klepper and David Kibbe ask, What would happen if the rank and file of America's employers, financially overwhelmed by the burden associated with sponsoring health coverage, suddenly opted out.

24 Nov 2010

Today's OpEds: Medical students say don't repeal; 'Obamacare' waivers; The medical loss ratio; Medicare 'doc fix'

Here's the dilemma: The only way for the health-care industry to move toward accountable care is to further accelerate a process of consolidation that has already reduced competition and increased market power. … In such a market, government may be required to step in with more direct regulation and competition management than traditional antitrust rules now provide (Steven Pearlstein, 11/23).

24 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 24, 2010

In today's headlines, the political skirmishes of health overhaul debate continue, with liberals pressing the new law's congressional opponents not to accept federal health insurance coverage.

24 Nov 2010

Policy of routine error disclosure may minimize impact of medical errors

People who believe their doctor or hospital would inform them if a medical error occurred are "far more forgiving" than those who doubt their health care provider would disclose the error, reports a study in the November issue of Medical Care.

24 Nov 2010

Five technology-based high-tech ventures receive funding under QTDP grants

Five technology-based high-tech ventures that have achieved success in the health care field with the assistance of NJIT's Enterprise Development Center (EDC) are the recipients of more than a million dollars in funding awarded in 2009 and 2010 under the federal program Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Grants for the State of New Jersey.

24 Nov 2010

Important queries about PrEP, iPrEx trial for HIV infection

The results of the iPrEx PrEP effectiveness trial of once-daily TDF/FTC (brand name Truvada) in gay men, transgender women and other men who have sex with men are a landmark in HIV prevention research.

24 Nov 2010

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unveiled regulations requiring insurers to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums collected on medical care, Politico reports. "The rules will have vast implications for how insurance companies spend money as well as for other aspects of the health care industry. Insurers' worries that the Department of Health and Human Services would rule against them on a number of issues were unfounded, and many of the nation's largest insurance companies' stocks rose on the news Monday."

24 Nov 2010

Massachusetts makes drug and medical device company payments public

The Boston Globe: "Massachusetts health officials published online yesterday the most comprehensive state database in the country listing payments drug companies and medical device makers have made to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and other health care providers. The report lists $35.7 million in payments from hundreds of companies for the six months between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2009 … About half of that money, or $16.4 million, went to physicians. This is the first time Massachusetts has made such information public.

24 Nov 2010

AP reports on 'significant' clarification of Pope's comments on condoms to prevent HIV

The Associated Press/Washington Post reports that after questions arose about Pope Benedict XVI's comments on the use of condoms to prevent HIV, which one translation "implied that he was referring primarily to homosexual sex, when condoms aren't being used as a form of contraception," Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi "told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to only apply to male prostitutes.

24 Nov 2010

Meningitis immunization program to launch in 3 African countries next month

At a press conference in London, health officials said that the anticipated roll-out of the MenAfriVac for meningitis in three African countries will start on Dec. 6, the BBC reports.

24 Nov 2010

Daily oral antiretroviral reduces HIV infection risk in MSM by 44%, study finds

A study that included nearly 2,500 HIV-negative men and transgender women who have sex with men has shown that a daily dose of Truvada, a pill containing the AIDS drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir, "can reduce risk of contracting [HIV] by an average of 44% - and by more than 70% if the subjects" follow the regimen closely, Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, 11/23).

24 Nov 2010

Lifestyle-related diseases will be costly down the road; Americans rate their healthcare highly

Increased efforts to prevent several lifestyle-related diseases could save the United States billions of dollars a year in medical costs, according to a study scheduled to run in the American Journal of Public Health.

24 Nov 2010

Study estimates cost savings associated with global polio eradication; global post examines vaccination efforts in Africa

Research published in the November issue of the journal Vaccine found that a global campaign to eliminate polio could save between $40 billion and $50 billion over the next few decades if the crippling disease is wiped out within five years Bloomberg reports.

24 Nov 2010

Health spending proposals, health law repeal divide lawmakers

The Wall Street Journal reports that proposals for cuts in health spending by President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction commission are drawing opposition from health companies, doctors and some consumer groups. "How to tackle health costs has become a sticking point for the 18-member committee, which last week concluded three days of meetings without a firm agreement among members.

24 Nov 2010

Health Care News and Research

Fla. GOP takes aim at health law; Hawaii considers cuts in mental health services

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Opinions: The Pope and condoms; fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa; malaria eradication or control; health care workers; foreign aid in Haiti

End-of-life care raises difficult questions about quality issues

Democrats, liberal groups urge GOP lawmakers who opposed health law now to reject federal insurance

Poll shows majority favor health reform; N.Y. Democrat dares GOP to repeal law; Court allows legal challenge

KHN column: If employers walked away from health coverage

Today's OpEds: Medical students say don't repeal; 'Obamacare' waivers; The medical loss ratio; Medicare 'doc fix'

First Edition: November 24, 2010

Policy of routine error disclosure may minimize impact of medical errors

Five technology-based high-tech ventures receive funding under QTDP grants

Important queries about PrEP, iPrEx trial for HIV infection

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Massachusetts makes drug and medical device company payments public

AP reports on 'significant' clarification of Pope's comments on condoms to prevent HIV

Meningitis immunization program to launch in 3 African countries next month

Daily oral antiretroviral reduces HIV infection risk in MSM by 44%, study finds

Lifestyle-related diseases will be costly down the road; Americans rate their healthcare highly

Study estimates cost savings associated with global polio eradication; global post examines vaccination efforts in Africa

Health spending proposals, health law repeal divide lawmakers

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