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ARHC launches seven-state radio ad campaign calling on Democrats to listen to people's opposition to ObamaCare

Americans for Responsible Health Care launched a seven-state radio ad campaign today calling on Democrat Members of Congress to listen to the American people's opposition to ObamaCare, and to vote against the government takeover of the nation's health care.

11 Mar 2010

WHO's updated malaria guidelines include rapid diagnosis, new ACT

The WHO on Tuesday released new guidelines for the treatment of malaria, which recommend "parasitological testing before treatment begins" and add "a new artemisinin based combination treatment [ACT] to the list of prescribed drugs," BMJ News reports.

11 Mar 2010

Poor, minority adults with chronic kidney disease face increase risk of developing ESRD

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) afflicts a large number of younger minority adults receiving medical care in settings that serve the uninsured and underinsured (settings collectively known as the healthcare safety net). Poor, minority adults with moderate to severe CKD are also two to four times more likely to progress to kidney failure than non-Hispanic whites.

11 Mar 2010

Obama makers final public push for health reform as Democrats consider timeline

President Obama is delivering his "closing argument" for health care reform in St. Louis today as Democratic leaders strategize on moving the bill through the House and Senate.

11 Mar 2010

Sebelius: Insurer's opposition to health measure works against them

The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke earlier today at the America's Health Insurance Plans' national policy forum in Washington, D.C. and "warned health insurers Wednesday that opposing President Obama's health-care agenda and letting premium hikes continue would eventually hurt the health-care industry. ... Sebelius cautioned in stark terms that, if insurers opposed Democrats' health-care legislation, premiums hikes would continue and more small businesses would drop health coverage for their employees" (Yoest, 3/10).

11 Mar 2010

President announces plans to crack down on health care fraud

The Boston Globe: "President Barack Obama said Tuesday he'll bring in high-tech bounty hunters to help root out health care fraud, grabbing a populist idea with bipartisan backing in his final push to overhaul the system. ... Obama's anti-fraud announcement was aimed directly at the political middle."

11 Mar 2010

Non-profit operations plugging health care gap in Chicago

Medill Reports presents a story on community health centers in Chicago that try to fill access-to-care gaps for people too sick to get health care coverage or too poor to afford other care.

11 Mar 2010

6 Day Dental and Orthodontics improves access to oral health care

6 Day Dental and Orthodontics now accepts Medicaid and CHIP at all five 6 Day locations – in Allen, Coppell, Frisco/Plano, Flower Mound and Roanoke/Keller.

11 Mar 2010

Passage of legislation could spell disaster for Idaho's health care system

Hundreds of thousands of Idahoans struggling with the high cost of health care received bad news last night -- no relief and more problems are on the way. With the passage of the Idaho Health Freedom Act (House Bill 391), the Senate moved forward legislation that could spell disaster for Idaho's health care system, while addressing none of the health care issues plaguing families across the state.

11 Mar 2010

Lincoln, Kucinich weigh in on health bill votes

The Associated Press/The Washington Times: Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., "insisted Tuesday she remained opposed to pushing a health care bill through the Senate with a simple majority vote, despite saying she wanted to see what was in the legislation." Lincoln "said those comments didn't represent a change of heart on her stance against the controversial majority-vote procedure known as 'reconciliation.' 'I don't support reconciliation. All I said was I want to see what's in it,' Lincoln told reporters outside the Senate floor. She walked quickly into a senators-only area without elaborating" (Werner, 3/9).

11 Mar 2010

GOP putting strategies in place to thwart Dems on reform

"When Mitch McConnell speaks these days, he expects House Blue Dogs to be listening." The Senate minority leader is "very much part of a newly launched Republican shadow war to block health care reform by playing on the nerves of wavering Democrats across the Capitol" with "his real goal of sowing doubts about the fiscal soundness of President Barack Obama's agenda — and with it health care reform.

11 Mar 2010

Cogent Healthcare, Seton Medical Center to develop exclusive hospitalist care delivery system

Cogent Healthcare today announced a new hospital medicine affiliation with 375-bed Seton Medical Center, located in Daly City, Calif., and the Daly City Hospitalist Medical Group, an existing Seton physician group, to develop a distinctive hospitalist care delivery system.

11 Mar 2010

Regence Blueshield acquires Seattle-based health and wellness company

Maveron LLC, a Seattle-based venture capital firm focused on helping exceptional entrepreneurs build great consumer businesses, announced the asset acquisition of portfolio company Kinetix Living Corp. by Regence BlueShield of Washington. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

11 Mar 2010

GSK to offer flexible drug pricing in middle-income countries

Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) "plans to bolster earnings by selling to more people in middle-income countries after cutting prices in the world's poorest nations," Bloomberg/BusinessWeek reports.

11 Mar 2010

Five facts about Obama's proposed changes to Medicare payroll tax

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver outlines some key issues, starting with: "Should affluent Americans have to pay Medicare payroll tax on their investment income?

10 Mar 2010

DSPA's lurasidone NDA accepted for FDA review

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently accepted for review the lurasidone New Drug Application (NDA) for the treatment of patients with acute schizophrenia. The NDA was submitted to FDA on December 30, 2009 and will receive a standard review.

10 Mar 2010

California rescission settlement benefits few consumers

The Associated Press reports on a new California state assembly report that found fewer than 200 people out of the more than 6,000 affected have taken advantage of benefits won by a settlement between state regulators and health insurers that dropped sick policyholders.

10 Mar 2010

Pro- and anti-health reform groups wage last minute attacks

Stephan Payne protested abuses by health insurance companies and pushed for health care reform during a rally Tuesday. The rally was organized by Health Care for America Now and coincided with an annual conference for health insurance executives in D.C. (Jessica Marcy/KHN)

10 Mar 2010

Abortion holding up Democrats endgame on health overhaul

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer "said Tuesday that the abortion fight 'has to be resolved.' The majority leader expressed confidence that the issue would be wrapped up, but he also cautioned reporters that he had not had any formal negotiations with Rep. Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democrat who authored the House abortion restrictions.

10 Mar 2010

States' legislative health initiatives stall

The Boston Globe: "A group of Massachusetts mayors, fed up with what they say is legislative inaction on skyrocketing municipal health care costs, has launched a ballot initiative for 2012 aimed at giving cities and towns more flexibility in reducing expensive benefits for employees, retirees, and elected officials" (Murphy, 3/10).

10 Mar 2010