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UnitedHealth cut lobbying spending even as Congress finalized health reform measure

The UnitedHealth Group Inc. "dialed down" their federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2010, even as Congress prepared to pass the health reform bill. In the first quarter of 2010, it spent $660,000 on lobbying, less than half of the $1.5 million it spent in the first quarter of 2009 on lobbying.

25 May 2010

Regulators puzzling out what insurers must do under new health law

The Washington Post reports that regulators are "trying to resolve" which insurance plans must comply with the health law's new requirements. "In keeping with President Obama's promise that you can hold on to your insurance if you like it, the new law exempts existing health plans from many of its provisions. But the law leaves it to regulators to decide how much a health plan can change without giving up its grandfathered status."

25 May 2010

Media outlets highlight studies presented at International Microbicides Conference

A study in Africa, presented Sunday at the International Microbicides Conference (M2010) in Pittsburgh, has shown that a man's risk of HIV infection doubles if his HIV-positive partner is pregnant, according to HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report.

25 May 2010

Advances in health IT

The New York Times: A "broad transformation in health care underway" is "fueled in good part by technology" that "promises to shift a lot of the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease from hospitals and specialized clinics, where treatment is expensive, to primary care physicians and patients themselves — at far less cost."

25 May 2010

Obama's health IT leader says doctors will embrace change

25 May 2010

AMA's code of conduct helps ensure greater transparency and accountability from health insurers

The American Medical Association (AMA) today released its Health Insurer Code of Conduct Principles and called on all U.S. health insurance companies to adopt consistent corporate practices that will bring transparency and accountability to the multibillion-dollar health insurance industry

25 May 2010

Delphinus Medical Technologies secures $8M in venture capital to commercialize SoftVue system

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute announced today that its spin-off company Delphinus Medical Technologies, LLC, has secured $8 million in venture capital to start the commercialization process of SoftVue, an alternative to mammography.

25 May 2010

Florida health care providers offer language services, medical homes

As "the region continues to attract residents from all over the country and the world, local health care providers and educators are searching for ways to better serve them." Some use "cultural toolkits," and have guides to help providers relate to patients' cultural and religious preferences. "'From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense,' said Bernardo Ramirez, assistant professor of health services administration at the University of Central Florida.

24 May 2010

Abbott's new FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips receive FDA clearance

Abbott today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its new FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips. The new FreeStyle Lite test strips minimize interference during blood glucose testing and are designed to offer a better testing experience.

24 May 2010

Hospitals facing new payment squeezes

News outlets report on payment issues for hospitals, including those stemming from the new health law.

24 May 2010

2010 Southeast Michigan Mid-Market Group Benefits Survey released

McGraw Wentworth, Michigan's largest employee group benefit brokerage/consulting firm, today released the results of its 2010 Southeast Michigan Mid-Market Group Benefits Survey. The annual survey, now in its seventh year, tracks health benefits and trends for 2010 among 414 southeast Michigan organizations with 100-10,000 employees.

24 May 2010

Today's OpEds: Taxing health plans, a health care 'loophole,' NY Times on medical loss ratio

Few Americans know what a "medical loss ratio" is, but a fierce struggle over how to calculate it under the new health care reform law will determine how much insurers must spend on patient care and how much they can retain for administration and profits. This is but one of many battles that will emerge as federal and state regulators develop regulations to implement reform (5/23).

24 May 2010

Lawmakers could vote this week on three-year 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

Before they leave for the Memorial Day recess, lawmakers face legislation which includes a provision on Medicare payments to physicians and an extension of the COBRA subsidy to newly laid-off workers.

24 May 2010

Study: Health law could mean penalties for one in three employers

News outlets covered analyses of health law provisions affecting businesses. "About one-third of employers subject to major requirements of the new health care law may face tax penalties because they offer health insurance that could be considered unaffordable to some employees, a new study says," The New York Times reports.

24 May 2010

China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals first-quarter 2010 revenues increase 16.3% to $10.68M

China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of the leading health products distribution and retail sales companies in China, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2010.

24 May 2010

New FDA approved Landon Medical LM-800 Finger Pulse Oximeter available for home use

PulseOximetersDIRECT.com, the leading online retailer of portable Pulse Oximeter products introduces today the new, affordable $39 FDA approved Landon Medical LM-800 Finger Pulse Oximeter for home use.

24 May 2010

Salix Pharmaceuticals announces availability of Xifaxan tablets for reducing risk of overt HE recurrence

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced the availability of Xifaxan (rifaximin) 550 mg tablets for the reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy recurrence in patients 18 years of age or older. Those HE patients may now fill their Xifaxan 550 mg prescriptions in U.S. pharmacies and should speak with their doctors about this important treatment option.

24 May 2010

Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical pleads guilty for promoting epilepsy drug Topamax for psychiatric use

Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to one count of misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act for illegally promoting its epilepsy drug Topamax for uses that were not approved by the FDA. The company was also sentenced at today's hearing.

24 May 2010

First Edition: May 24, 2010

Irene Wielawski writes for Kaiser Health News that electronic medical records may be as important as stethoscopes. "Dr. David Blumenthal was not happy to find a new computer installed on his desk when he showed up for work one morning eight years ago at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He knew the hospital had been hard at work on developing an electronic medical record system, but Blumenthal wasn't keen on changing practices that had served him and his patients just fine over the years.

24 May 2010

NIH issues new conflict of interest guidelines for researchers

New NIH guidelines, proposed Thursday, are intended "to prevent financial conflicts of interest among [40,000] researchers who receive federal funding, a move long sought by watchdogs of scientific research concerned about the influence of the drug industry and others," The Washington Post reports.

24 May 2010

Health Care News and Research

UnitedHealth cut lobbying spending even as Congress finalized health reform measure

Regulators puzzling out what insurers must do under new health law

Media outlets highlight studies presented at International Microbicides Conference

Advances in health IT

Obama's health IT leader says doctors will embrace change

AMA's code of conduct helps ensure greater transparency and accountability from health insurers

Delphinus Medical Technologies secures $8M in venture capital to commercialize SoftVue system

Florida health care providers offer language services, medical homes

Abbott's new FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips receive FDA clearance

Hospitals facing new payment squeezes

2010 Southeast Michigan Mid-Market Group Benefits Survey released

Today's OpEds: Taxing health plans, a health care 'loophole,' NY Times on medical loss ratio

Lawmakers could vote this week on three-year 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

Study: Health law could mean penalties for one in three employers

China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals first-quarter 2010 revenues increase 16.3% to $10.68M

New FDA approved Landon Medical LM-800 Finger Pulse Oximeter available for home use

Salix Pharmaceuticals announces availability of Xifaxan tablets for reducing risk of overt HE recurrence

Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical pleads guilty for promoting epilepsy drug Topamax for psychiatric use

First Edition: May 24, 2010

NIH issues new conflict of interest guidelines for researchers

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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