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Health insurance for college students generating coverage, controversy

A national anti-abortion group is asking Gov. Bev Perdue to look into the details of a new [University of North Carolina] system requirement that all students have health insurance. Students for Life of America has asked Perdue to investigate a number of issues surrounding the UNC system's new health insurance program for students.

23 Aug 2010

Illinois launches health insurance program, California to follow suit

As the new health reform law requires, states are continuing to establish health insurance pools for "high-risk" patients. The Associated Press/Chicago Sun-Times "Hundreds of Illinois residents have submitted applications for a new federally funded health insurance program for people with medical problems.

23 Aug 2010

Beer psoriasis link for women and psoriasis plus depression

According to a new study, women who regularly drink beer may be increasing their risk of developing psoriasis – a disease of the skin. Light beer and wine are not associated with such a risk, the study says. Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterised by itchy red scaly patches that most commonly appear on the knees, elbows and scalp or anywhere else in the body.

23 Aug 2010

Sebelius turns political tables on GOP governors on Medicaid; Program's expansion will help homeless

Kaiser Health News: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week sent a letter to all of America's governors telling them that if they want to continue receiving the enhanced Medicaid funds that Congress approved last week that they have to ask for the money. ... The higher matching rate was originally slated to expire at the end of 2010, but lawmakers interrupted their August recess to approve an extension of enhanced funds, albeit at a lower rate, through June 2011.

21 Aug 2010

Sebelius to governors: Extra Medicaid money comes with a string attached

Kaiser Health News staff writer Andrew Villegas reports: "In this political climate, if you want help, you have to ask for it.

21 Aug 2010

Interim Haiti Recovery Commission approves 29 rehabilitation projects for Haiti worth $1.6B

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), led by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former President Bill Clinton, recently announced more than $1.6 billion in projects to rebuild Haiti, "including a $200 million plan to create 50,000 new jobs in agriculture," Reuters reports.

21 Aug 2010

Donors announce new pledges for Pakistan flood relief

The U.S. and other donor nations "significantly upped their pledges" of aid for the flooding in Pakistan during a U.N. General Assembly meeting on Thursday, in which the U.N. "appeared to [meet] its target of $460 million in immediate aid for flood-stricken Pakistan," the Associated Press reports.

21 Aug 2010

Democrats move away from health cost pitch, focus on changing senior minds

Democrats are "dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit, and instead stressing a promise to 'improve it,'" Politico reports. "The messaging shift was circulated this afternoon on a conference call and PowerPoint presentation organized by FamiliesUSA — one of the central groups in the push for the initial legislation. The call was led by a staffer for the Herndon Alliance, which includes leading labor groups and other health care allies.

21 Aug 2010

UNT Board of Regents approves new M.D. degree program at UNTHSC

The University of North Texas System Board of Regents today voted to approve a proposal to develop a new M.D. degree program at the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth (UNTHSC). The M.D. program will be an independent fifth school in addition to the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, and School of Health Professions.

21 Aug 2010

Abt Associates to evaluate program to encourage healthier eating among lower-income Americans

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service has selected Abt Associates to lead a team evaluating a ground-breaking pilot program aimed at encouraging healthier eating among lower-income Americans. The Healthy Incentives Pilot (HIP) will enroll households in Hampden County, Massachusetts that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program).

21 Aug 2010

A.M. Best maintains negative outlook for health insurers due to impact of health care reform

A.M. Best Co. is maintaining a negative outlook for health insurance companies. The driving factors are the struggles to grow revenue and the near-term impact from the implementation of health care reform. In 2009, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 7.6% in January to a high of 10.2% in October and ended the year at 10.0%. The rising unemployment rate resulted in the loss of members due to layoffs/attrition (known as in-group disenrollment).

21 Aug 2010

FDA issues update to nationwide Salmonella infected egg recall

Through tracebacks conducted as part of its ongoing investigation into the increase of Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses nationwide, FDA and the State of Minnesota identified Hillandale Farms in Iowa as a second potential source of contaminated shell eggs.

21 Aug 2010

Experts explore factors contributing to global nurse faculty migration

Twenty-one experts from 12 countries convened near Geneva, Switzerland, in late June to explore current patterns, types, and causal and contributing factors of global nurse faculty migration, a phenomenon where nursing faculty leave their country of origin to work elsewhere.

21 Aug 2010

HHS unveils $1.9B strategy to better prepare for biological threats

"Acknowledging that the development of medical countermeasures against bioterrorism threats and pandemic flu is lagging, [U.S.] federal authorities Thursday announced a $1.9 billion makeover of the system for identifying and manufacturing drugs and vaccines for public-health emergencies," Tribune Company/Seattle Times reports.

21 Aug 2010

New FDA laws on egg safety would have prevented salmonella outbreak, Feds say

The Washington Post: "Salmonella-infected eggs traceable to a large egg producer in Iowa may have caused as many as 1,200 cases of intestinal illness … The eggs went to distribution companies in 17 states, mostly west of the Mississippi River, but were then sold nationwide. ... Many states, as well as egg-producer associations, have voluntary 'egg quality assurance' programs with guidelines similar to those that are now mandatory. … In healthy people, it rarely causes severe illness.

21 Aug 2010

Cardinal DiNardo calls for support on 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act'

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called on members of the House of Representatives to support the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" (H.R. 5939), introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at the end of July.

21 Aug 2010

Reform law causing students, insurers to examine college health plans

Colleges are saying the new health law could keep them from offering low-cost, limited benefit student health insurance plans, "and they're seeking federal authority to continue offering them," Kaiser Health News reports. "Without a number of changes, it may be impossible 'to continue to offer student health plans,' says an Aug. 12 letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from the American Council on Education and signed by 12 other trade associations representing colleges."

21 Aug 2010

FDA warns of typhoid fever through frozen mamey fruit pulp

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat frozen mamey fruit pulp sold under the La Nuestra brand by Montalvan Sales Inc. Ontario, Calif., or the Goya brand by Goya Foods Inc. Secaucus, N.J.

21 Aug 2010

Assurant health cutting jobs ahead of health reform implementation

Milwaukee-based Insurer Assurant Inc. is cutting its workforce in various locations around America ahead of health care reform implementation. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that 130 jobs in Milwaukee and Plymouth, Minn., will be cut. "The company, which sells health insurance for individuals and small employers as well as short-term policies, faces an onslaught of new federal health care reform regulations, including the requirement that it spend 80% of premiums on medical care.

21 Aug 2010

What hospital consolidation means for the cost of an MRI

An MRI for a skier's torn ligament at Sutter Davis Hospital near Sacramento cost $1,271, while an identical scan at a nearby imaging center run by Radiological Associates of Sacramento runs only $696, Bloomberg reports. Why? Insurers say it's because Sutter has monopolized the regional hospital market and can essentially demand whatever prices it wants — often between 40 and 70 percent higher than competitors.

21 Aug 2010