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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

AAPA honors Idaho's Hal Joseph with 2010 PA Service to the Underserved Award

Hal Joseph, PA-C/CDE of Orofino, Idaho, received the American Academy of Physician Assistants' 2010 PA Service to the Underserved Award at the organization's 38th Annual Physician Assistant Conference in Atlanta yesterday. Joseph dedicated his career to helping those suffering from diabetes, a medical condition he has lived with since age 12, better manage their illness.

1 Jun 2010

ASH wins six Aster Awards for excellence in healthcare marketing and advertising

American Specialty Health Incorporated, a national health and wellness organization, recently announced that it had won four Gold and two Silver Aster awards for excellence in healthcare marketing and advertising. The Aster Awards, one of the largest national competitions of its kind, is hosted by Marketing Healthcare Today Magazine and Creative Images, Inc.

1 Jun 2010

Odds of surviving cardiac arrest may depend on neighborhood: Study

The odds of surviving cardiac arrest may depend on which part of town you call home and whether anyone in the neighborhood comes to your rescue by attempting to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, according to a first-of-its-kind study in the June issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

1 Jun 2010

Race matching among donors and recipients has no effect on survival rates: Study

Transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins who have reviewed the medical records of more than 20,000 heart transplant patients say that it is not simply racial differences, but rather flaws in the health care system, along with type of insurance and education levels, in addition to biological factors, that are likely the causes of disproportionately worse outcomes after heart transplantation in African Americans.

1 Jun 2010

ACR Task Force proposes steps to improve relationships between radiologists and health care systems

The American College of Radiology's Task Force on Relationships between Radiology Groups and Hospitals and Other Healthcare Organizations has proposed several steps that can help improve relationships between radiologists and the health care systems that they service, according to an article in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

1 Jun 2010

Health Care News and Research

Health law implementation: Insurance, coverage and Medicare payment questions

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

FDA approves Prolia for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

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

911 program aims to reduce ER visits

Businesses fret penalties, seek opportunities in health overhaul

Firms chase opportunities in online medicine

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

AMA President to unveil multi-million dollar ad campaign

First Edition: June 1, 2010

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

New walk-in medical center opened in Duane Reade Pharmacy

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

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

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

AAPA honors Idaho's Hal Joseph with 2010 PA Service to the Underserved Award

ASH wins six Aster Awards for excellence in healthcare marketing and advertising

Odds of surviving cardiac arrest may depend on neighborhood: Study

Race matching among donors and recipients has no effect on survival rates: Study

ACR Task Force proposes steps to improve relationships between radiologists and health care systems

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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