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Scammers look to take advantage of health law

The Green Bay CBS affiliate is reporting that the "Better Business Bureau is putting out an alert about health insurance related scams." Scammers have been more active since the health bill passed.

2 Jun 2010

Obama administration sides with city in San Francisco lawsuit

"The Obama administration took San Francisco's side Friday in a legal dispute over the city's groundbreaking health coverage law, urging the Supreme Court to reject an appeal by restaurant owners who objected to paying part of the cost. In a long-awaited filing, government lawyers said passage of national health insurance legislation 'has dramatically changed the landscape' and reduced the likelihood that cities and states would adopt laws like San Francisco's. The case presents no pressing issues that require the court's review, the lawyers said."

2 Jun 2010

Medicare patients may face accessibility crisis to medical care

According to an article in the June issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), Medicare patients - many who suffer from disabling arthritis of the hip and knee, among other age-related ailments - may end up facing an accessibility crisis to medical care.

2 Jun 2010

Infighting threatens COBRA subsidy extension, longer Medicare doc pay 'fix'

Roll Call reports that infighting over some unemployment benefits and a scheduled "fix" of Medicare physician payments has left Democratic congressional leaders at a "dramatic low" in their relationship. "And while publicly, House and Senate leaders refused to assign blame, the behind-the-scenes story was far different. The deadline for the benefits package had been looming for weeks.

2 Jun 2010

Canada willing to spend $1B on G8 maternal, child health initiative

Canada has told other G8 countries that it "is willing to put about $1 billion toward maternal and child health - as long as other countries ante up, too," the Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press reports.

2 Jun 2010

Health law implementation: Insurance, coverage and Medicare payment questions

Kaiser Health News reports that the insurance industry — traditionally a state-regulated industry — is facing new federal scrutiny by four officials in the new Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. "On this year's to-do list: writing rules to define when premium increases are 'unreasonable,' creating new coverage for people who can't get it because of health conditions and making sure insurers comply with consumer protections. The new director of the office is Jay Angoff, a former Missouri insurance commissioner.

2 Jun 2010

Amgen's Prolia receives FDA approval for treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Amgen Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Prolia™ (denosumab) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, defined as a history of osteoporotic fracture, or multiple risk factors for fracture; or patients who have failed or are intolerant to other available osteoporosis therapy. Prolia, the first and only FDA-approved RANK Ligand inhibitor, is an every six month 60 mg subcutaneous injection administered by a health care professional.

2 Jun 2010

FDA approves Prolia for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Prolia, an injectable treatment for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at high risk for fractures.

2 Jun 2010

GOP candidates for California governor struggle with budget issues, including health care

The two candidates in California's Republican gubernatorial primary, Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman, "agree on several budget fixes, including a spending cap, a hiring freeze, and reforms to welfare, pensions and prison health care." Both candidates seek to rid waste and create a leaner, more cost efficient budget, but cuts can come at a cost. "Reaction to Schwarzenegger's proposed budget revision this month indicates what the next governor is in for.

2 Jun 2010

911 program aims to reduce ER visits

USA Today reports on a 911 pilot program that aims to reduce unnecessary trips to the emergency rooms.

2 Jun 2010

Businesses fret penalties, seek opportunities in health overhaul

Some small businesses may get financial help as part of the health overhaul that could cover up to 35 percent of business's premium costs for insuring employees in the form of new tax credits, Kaiser Health News explains in a consumer column.

2 Jun 2010

Firms chase opportunities in online medicine

General Electric Co. chief executive Jeffrey Immelt urged Japan, at a conference in Tokyo Monday, to use health information technology to improve home-based health care as a hedge against the strains of an aging population, The Wall Street Journal reports. Japan's over-65 population is growing, and could top 30 percent by 2030.

2 Jun 2010

Bowel cancer to cost $1 billion by 2011 – more emphasis on screening programs needed

Findings from a new study show that more and more Australians are being diagnosed with bowel cancer and costs of treatment may well touch $1 billion next year a sharp rise from the $235 million in 2001. The study says that there are more than 13,500 Australians diagnosed with bowel cancer each year.

1 Jun 2010

AMA President to unveil multi-million dollar ad campaign

Today, the 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut goes into effect, leaving health care for seniors and military families in jeopardy. On June 3, AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, will hold a telephone news conference to unveil a multi-million dollar AMA ad campaign urging Americans to call their senators to help avoid a Medicare meltdown.

1 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 1, 2010

A number of today's headlines focus on the continuing role of health reform in national political calculations and strategies.

1 Jun 2010

Europe spends just 5% of total cancer research funds on metastases

On average, about five percent of total cancer research funding is spent on investigating metastases (the spread of cancer cells around the body) in Europe, yet metastatic disease is the direct or indirect cause of 90 percent of all cancer deaths, according to an editorial in the European Journal of Cancer (EJC).

1 Jun 2010

New walk-in medical center opened in Duane Reade Pharmacy

If you have never been to a walk-in medical center at the local drugstore, you just might soon. Walk-in medical centers are already located in about 1,000 retail locations across the country, and experts say that number could easily double or more within five years.

1 Jun 2010

Donald M. Pedersen of Salt Lake City receives AAPA's 2010 Outstanding PA of the Year Award

Donald M. Pedersen, Ph.D., PA-C, of Salt Lake City, Utah, received the American Academy of Physician Assistants' 2010 Outstanding PA of the Year Award at the organization's 38th Annual Physician Assistant Conference in Atlanta yesterday. Pedersen has shaped PA education at the University of Utah School of Medicine for more than three decades, headed the implementation of the university's Master of PA Studies degree, and pioneered the program's international clinical activities in Papua New Guinea and Thailand.

1 Jun 2010

Seattle's Phoumy Bobby Bounkeau receives 2010 Humanitarian PA of the Year Award from AAPA

Phoumy Bobby Bounkeau, PhD, PA-C, of Seattle, Wash., received the American Academy of Physician Assistants' 2010 Humanitarian PA of the Year Award at the organization's 38th Annual Physician Assistant Conference in Atlanta yesterday. Bounkeau, of Lao and Thai descent, co-founded the CME training project, a program that provides funding for rural Lao health workers to travel from their villages to the large city of Luang Prabang, Laos, to participate in much-needed continuing medical education.

1 Jun 2010

AAPA recognizes role of PAs in transforming health care delivery with 2010 PAragon Awards

The American Academy of Physician Assistants celebrated the role of physician assistants in transforming health care delivery at its 38th Annual Physician Assistant Conference in Atlanta yesterday with its presentation of the 2010 PAragon Awards.

1 Jun 2010