Health and Human Services News and Research

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Lymphoseek receives FDA approval for breast cancer, melanoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) Injection, a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent that helps doctors locate lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer or melanoma who are undergoing surgery to remove tumor-draining lymph nodes.

14 Mar 2013

Florida Senate committee rejects Medicaid expansion

The vote doesn't stop an expansion of coverage to the state's uninsured since the panel could make an alternative recommendation.

13 Mar 2013

Health law's Medicaid expansion triggers flurry of state legislature debates, decisions

The Washington Post reports that Arkansas has discovered "wiggle room" regarding the expansion. Meanwhile, debates in state legislatures continue over what should happen in Arizona, Utah, California and Texas. And, in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett plans a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

12 Mar 2013

Progress report on health exchanges: More may be happening in some states than expected

Politico reports some states that have been reticent or even opposed to setting up their own exchanges, like Ohio and Virginia, may be more hands-on than expected. Various reports from the Associated Press and MinnPost chart action in other states.

12 Mar 2013

State highlights: Ga. health bills advance on 'Crossover Day'

A selection of health policy stories from Georgia, New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky and California.

11 Mar 2013

Sebelius credits health law with slowing medical cost growth; Survey shows few insurers now cover services required in 2014

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday credited President Obama's health care law with a recent slowdown in medical spending. The Congressional Budget Office has projected a significant slowing in the growth of Medicare spending and healthcare costs more generally.

11 Mar 2013

Patients with drug-resistant HIV can safely achieve viral suppression without NRTIs

A new multi-site study reveals patients with drug-resistant HIV can safely achieve viral suppression - the primary goal of HIV therapy - without incorporating the traditional class of HIV medications into their treatment regimen.

8 Mar 2013

Rural Latino men need better sexual health services: Study

A new study based on in-depth interviews of rural Latino men in western Oregon finds that these men need sexual health services designed for their needs, including more male health providers, more convenient clinic hours, and Spanish-speaking doctors.

8 Mar 2013

Roundup: N.J. seeks to recover $10M from adult day care centers after Medicaid bills; Ga. panel to implement provider fee picked; Pa.'s adultBasic in limbo after ruling

A state agency that serves as a watchdog over New Jersey government announced Wednesday that it has found improper billing of Medicaid by five adult day care centers and is asking the centers to pay settlements totaling more than $10 million. The state comptroller's office found that centers were charging the state for caring for patients when they did not receive care in some cases and for providing care that was not needed in others.

7 Mar 2013

Va. Gov. McDonnell sends Sebelius a stern message on Medicaid expansion

Meanwhile, Iowa's governor offers an outline of his alternative expansion plan while Ohio officials continue to press federal officials for flexibility.

7 Mar 2013

Roundup: States form panels to fight federal powers, health law; Review shows 3,000 dropped from Medicaid in Pa. were eligible

One bill would make it a felony to enforce the new federal health care law, punishable by up to five years in prison. Another prohibits a physician from asking a patient about firearms.

7 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Disappointing 'surprises' in health law; Cuts in graduate medical training threatens physician supply; Va. can afford Medicaid expansion

The proposed 2.3 percent reduction in (Medicare Advantage plan) payments, which comes on top of cuts already scheduled under the Affordable Care Act, pays no mind to the potential impact on quality of care throughout the program. These cuts will apply to all plans no matter the value they bring in providing quality care to beneficiaries or offering innovative solutions that could ultimately be scaled and applied to the broader program.

5 Mar 2013

Discovery provides clues for potentially eliminating HIV infection in children

A two-year-old child born with HIV infection and treated with antiretroviral drugs beginning in the first days of life no longer has detectable levels of virus using conventional testing despite not taking HIV medication for 10 months, according to findings presented today at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

5 Mar 2013

Study finds antiretroviral-based strategies to prevent HIV infection among women prove ineffective

Three antiretroviral-based strategies intended to prevent HIV infection among women did not prove effective in a major clinical trial in Africa.

5 Mar 2013

KeyHIE Transform ensures care coordination between healthcare providers

A new, low-cost software tool has nursing homes and home health agencies — with or without an electronic health record —contributing patient assessment information to any health information exchange (HIE).

3 Mar 2013

Improvements needed to safeguard medical records

Hacking into patient medical records can be as easy as tapping into a hospital's unsecured wireless network from a laptop in the parking lot. Government auditors proved it "by sitting in hospital parking lots with simple laptop computers" and obtaining "patient information from unsecured hospital wireless networks," according to Julie K. Taitsman, M.D., J.D., and colleagues from the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services.

3 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: A failure to govern; Democrats 'moved the goal posts' in Va. deal on Medicaid panel; Hospitals 'squeeze' the uninsured

To govern is to choose. By missing Friday's deadline for averting $85 billion worth of across-the-board spending cuts to defense and domestic programs, Congress and President Obama have chosen not to govern. Instead, each side has concluded that its interest lies in letting the "sequester" proceed as scheduled - and then trying to win the political blame game.

2 Mar 2013

Chicago's poorest neighborhoods to experience demand for additional primary care doctors

Some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods are expected to see the greatest demand for additional primary care doctors in 2014, as the Affordable Care Act boosts the number of newly insured patients seeking medical services, a new study has found.

2 Mar 2013

NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.8 receives ONC HIT certification

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today that its NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.8 is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as a Complete EHR on March 1, 2013 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, an ONC-ACB, in accordance with the applicable Eligible certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

2 Mar 2013

Arkansas, Michigan advance payment plans for health exchanges

Today's headlines include reports that Arkansas will use federal funds to pay for its state-based health exchange while action in Michigan suggests momentum might be building to pursue a partnership exchange that will be run by the federal government.

1 Mar 2013

Health and Human Services News and Research

Lymphoseek receives FDA approval for breast cancer, melanoma

Florida Senate committee rejects Medicaid expansion

Health law's Medicaid expansion triggers flurry of state legislature debates, decisions

Progress report on health exchanges: More may be happening in some states than expected

State highlights: Ga. health bills advance on 'Crossover Day'

Sebelius credits health law with slowing medical cost growth; Survey shows few insurers now cover services required in 2014

Patients with drug-resistant HIV can safely achieve viral suppression without NRTIs

Rural Latino men need better sexual health services: Study

Roundup: N.J. seeks to recover $10M from adult day care centers after Medicaid bills; Ga. panel to implement provider fee picked; Pa.'s adultBasic in limbo after ruling

Va. Gov. McDonnell sends Sebelius a stern message on Medicaid expansion

Roundup: States form panels to fight federal powers, health law; Review shows 3,000 dropped from Medicaid in Pa. were eligible

Viewpoints: Disappointing 'surprises' in health law; Cuts in graduate medical training threatens physician supply; Va. can afford Medicaid expansion

Discovery provides clues for potentially eliminating HIV infection in children

Study finds antiretroviral-based strategies to prevent HIV infection among women prove ineffective

KeyHIE Transform ensures care coordination between healthcare providers

Improvements needed to safeguard medical records

Viewpoints: A failure to govern; Democrats 'moved the goal posts' in Va. deal on Medicaid panel; Hospitals 'squeeze' the uninsured

Chicago's poorest neighborhoods to experience demand for additional primary care doctors

NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.8 receives ONC HIT certification

Arkansas, Michigan advance payment plans for health exchanges

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