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Obama Administration releases U.S. MDGs strategy

Obama Administration officials on Friday unveiled the U.S. government's strategy to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals by 2015 during a meeting at the U.N. Foundation "that was closed to the press," Washington Post's "Checkpoint Washington" blog reports.

3 Aug 2010

Pennsylvania to open high-risk insurance program for uninsured individuals with pre-existing medical conditions

As part of the national health insurance reform, Pennsylvania this week will open a high-risk insurance program for uninsured individuals who have pre-existing medical conditions, Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario said today.

3 Aug 2010

White House report predicts immediate health law benefits for Medicare's solvency; GOP lawmaker reacts

In a report released Monday, the Obama administration said "[t]he new health overhaul law will start producing savings for Medicare right away, and over time add 12 years of solvency to the program's giant trust fund for inpatient care." According to the report, Medicare savings by the end of next year will tally about $8 billion. Savings for rest of the decade would be an estimated $575 billion.

3 Aug 2010

Republicans plan to block health law by withholding implementation funds

Republicans may not have the numbers to repeal the health overhaul, even after the election, but they are increasingly likely to try to "deny the Obama administration the money it needs to implement the law," Politico reports.

3 Aug 2010

Sebelius tries to soothe state worries about health reform

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is trying to soothe the fiscal and administrative concerns of officials in states who have considerable power in implementing the nation's attempt at health reform, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The law puts heavy demands on Ms. Sebelius — it has more than 1,000 references to actions that the 'secretary shall' take. But much of the responsibility for actually implementing the changes falls to states, so the Obama administration's top health official has been working to guide them."

3 Aug 2010

Free health clinic planned for D.C. area; University of Kansas to study Indian health; Ga. weighs health needs of older prisoners

In the run-up to this week's giant free clinic in the District, Nicole Lamoureux, the lead organizer, could tell that hearts were racing, blood pressure was increasing and tension was rising. Calls from patients scheduling appointments were starting to pour into her office, but there weren't enough volunteer medical workers to see them.

3 Aug 2010

Federal judge says Virginia challenge to health reform law may proceed

USA Today On Deadline Blog: "A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state of Virginia that challenges the new health care reform act, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports." The suit, filed by Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's state attorney general, "challenged a provision of the health care act that requires individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty" (Stanglin, 8/2).

3 Aug 2010

NCI awards LSUHSC-NOLA Louisiana Tumor Registry $12 million SEER contract

The Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR) at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health has been awarded a $12 million contract over seven years by the National Cancer Institute to continue its work as a SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) Program-designated cancer registry. There are 18 competitively awarded SEER cancer registries in the United States.

3 Aug 2010

Senate FMAP vote expected this evening

CQ:An administration official was making last-minute calls Monday "in the lead-up to an evening vote on a stand-alone bill to extend increased Medicaid payments to states and provide $10 billion for educators' jobs." The measure, with a $26.1 billion price tag, contains the Medicaid and education provisions that were "struck a from other bills despite heavy lobbying by state and local officials."

3 Aug 2010

Patients' requests to doctors receive varied responses

USA Today: According to a study appearing in the Journal Of Emergency Medicine, "Emergency room patients who ask to be seen by a physician of their same gender, race or religious background are not always treated equally, U.S. researchers find. The request is most often granted when the patient is a woman, a racial minority, or a Muslim.

3 Aug 2010

Vanguard signs definitive agreement to acquire Arizona Heart Institute

Vanguard Health Systems and Arizona Heart Institute (AHI) announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement for Vanguard to acquire Arizona Heart Institute, one of the world's leading providers of cardiovascular care. Through this agreement, AHI will align with Abrazo Health Care, a Phoenix-based subsidiary of Vanguard, to become part of its distributive cardiovascular network of community-based physicians, providing future opportunities to greatly expand cardiovascular services and patient base throughout the region.

3 Aug 2010

World Breastfeeding Week highlights benefits to infant, child nutrition, health

Kicking off World Breastfeeding Week Sunday, the WHO together with UNICEF emphasized the importance of the agencies' 10 steps to successful breastfeeding to improve health of infants and children around the world, VOA News reports (Schlein, 8/1).

3 Aug 2010

East Africa declared polio-free again after outbreak

"Eastern Africa is free of polio again, with four countries - Ethiopia , Kenya, Sudan and Uganda - having reported no cases of the crippling disease for more than a year, U.N. and other aid agencies said on Friday," Reuters reports (7/30). The WHO "said the region had responded fast to the outbreak," according to the Daily Monitor. The article reports that the four countries now "join neighbouring Somalia which has been polio free for the last three years" (Lirri, 8/2).

3 Aug 2010

Percutaneous heart valve replacement may be an alternative for open heart surgery

A newer, less invasive method of heart valve replacement shows promise and may be appropriate for patients who cannot tolerate traditional open heart surgery, but research is needed to understand its potential risks and benefits, according to a new study funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

3 Aug 2010

'Medical homes' bolster primary care and cut emergency costs

Several news outlets look at efforts to manage care for Medicaid patients and the uninsured better.

3 Aug 2010

Doctor discounts for the asking

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times, Lisa Zamosky writes: "Looking to save money on healthcare? Consider asking your doctor for a discount.

3 Aug 2010

As e-prescribing becomes more popular, hurdles to adoption persist

The [Gary, IN] Post-Tribune: "While the trend toward e-prescribing has picked up steam in recent years, some doctors "said there continue to be barriers to widespread acceptance of a technology that could save thousands of lives.

3 Aug 2010

Researchers develop techniques to identify evolution of drug resistance strains of malaria

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University developed techniques to quickly identify evolution of drug resistance in strains of malaria. Their goal is to enable the medical community to react quickly to inevitable resistance and thereby save lives while increasing the lifespan of drugs used against the disease.Currently, disease monitoring requires months of clinical trials. The new methods can provide more information in just days, and far cheaper.

3 Aug 2010

Pakistani officials fear cholera outbreak after massive flooding

After floods in northwest Pakistan have "already killed up to 1,200 people" and forced 2 million from their homes, authorities are now concerned about disease spread, the Associated Press reports.

2 Aug 2010