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First Edition: May 28, 2010

Today's health policy headlines focus on efforts by federal officials to get more insurance plans to move early on coverage for young adults as well as congressional Democrats' struggle to pass legislation to extend the COBRA benefit subsidy and to prevent a scheduled cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

28 May 2010

Healthy Returns Initiative developed to address health issues in California's juvenile justice system

The California Endowment issued a report today highlighting the results of a four year initiative created to strengthen the capacity of county juvenile justice systems to provide mental health and other needed services for youth while in custody and in the community.

28 May 2010

Wall Street Journal examines GSK's open-source development for drug discovery plan

The Wall Street Journal examines GlaxoSmithKline's plan to share its database of compounds that could treat tropical diseases. The initiative will test how well "open-source principles work for developing new drugs," the newspaper reports.

28 May 2010

IMRT leads to fewer cases of xerostomia than other types of radiation: AHRQ report

An advanced type of cancer radiation is more successful than traditional radiation in avoiding "dry mouth" when treating head and neck cancers, but it is unknown whether the treatment is better or worse at reducing the size of tumors, according to a new comparative effectiveness review funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 May 2010

Independent pharmacists launch education campaign to explain impact of massive funding cuts

Independent pharmacists have launched a new effort to sharpen the focus on the impact the McGuinty government's massive funding cuts will have on local independent pharmacies. Independents are concerned that their fates are being overlooked, as the government claims to be battling with chain drug stores.

28 May 2010

AbleNet to showcase assistive technology products at Heartland Home for Independent Living

AbleNet, Inc. is showcasing its newest and most popular access, environmental controls and communications products at the Heartland Home for Independent Living. The model home is being constructed as an all-accessible home to give conference attendees first-hand experience with the many innovative design features and the leading accessibility products that enhance independent and functional living for people with disabilities.

28 May 2010

Humber River Regional Hospital issued RFQ for new acute care hospital

Infrastructure Ontario and Humber River Regional Hospital today released a request for qualifications to design, build, finance and maintain its new acute care hospital.

28 May 2010

One-quarter of all hospital patients experience readmission for same conditions: AHRQ

Roughly one-quarter of all hospital patients were readmitted over a two-year period for the same conditions that prompted their initial hospitalization, according to the latest News and Numbers by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 May 2010

Shah outlines U.S. food security partnership with Bangladesh

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Wednesday at the Food Security Investment Forum outlined U.S. plans for its food security partnership with Bangladesh as part of the Feed the Future initiative, the Daily Star reports. The goal of the two-day forum was "to help Bangladesh finalise a roadmap for future investments in food and agriculture," the publication writes (5/27).

28 May 2010

MSF report warns of effects of international donor 'backtracking' in global fight against HIV/AIDS

"Backtracking by international donors in funding for HIV/AIDS may undermine years of progress and is already putting lives at risk," according to a report released Thursday by Medecins Sans Frontieres, Reuters reports (Kelland, 5/27).

28 May 2010

Alimera Sciences provides new data from Iluvien Phase 3 FAME clinical trials for DME

Alimera Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, today announced that a new analysis of data from its Phase 3 (FAME) clinical trials for Iluvien, the company's investigational intravitreal insert being studied for diabetic macular edema (DME), indicates that patient vision continues to improve significantly over 30 months.

28 May 2010

Amnesty International report highlights health care access among global human rights abuses

Millions of people worldwide face repression and human rights abuses, including the denial of health care access, Amnesty International said in its annual report on human rights, which was released on Wednesday, msnbc.com reports (5/26).

28 May 2010

KHN column -- The decline of employer-sponsored coverage under health reform: Good, bad or ugly?

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt writes: "One of the latest criticisms of the new health overhaul law is that it will encourage employers to stop offering health insurance. In fact, it will" (5/27).

28 May 2010

Sen. Lincoln fights criticism on health reform positions in primary run-off battle

The Associated Press: "After vowing that she answered to Arkansas and not the Democratic Party — only to find herself forced into a runoff vote by a rival backed by liberal activists — Sen. Blanche Lincoln is embracing the left as she fights to keep her job." She is running ads that highlight her support of the recently passed health bill that feature a liberal talk show host.

28 May 2010

States act on hospital readmissions, brace for insurance rate hikes and advance health legislation

"[M]ore than 200 area hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, and others met with national experts at the Union League in Center City to learn about strategies to reduce hospital readmissions in the five-county Philadelphia area. One approach is to use nurses to proactively treat the highest-risk patients — older people with multiple chronic illnesses — who cost the most money."

28 May 2010

News outlets look at what COBRA enrollees can do when their coverage expires

As the first of the laid-off to receive a 65 percent subsidy on the cost of continuing their former employer's coverage under COBRA prepare to try to afford coverage without the subsidy, news outlets are helping people examine their options.

28 May 2010

ART associated with reduced risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners, study shows

Research published in the Lancet online Thursday "provides the strongest evidence to date" that antiretroviral therapy might also be used to prevent transmission of HIV, Agence France-Presse reports. The observational study found that treating HIV-positive patients with ART reduced the risk of HIV transmission to their sexual partners by 92 percent (5/26).

28 May 2010

$5 billion in federal funding for high-risk pools may not be enough

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "In one of the marquee benefits of the health overhaul, the federal government will spend $5 billion to subsidize so-called high-risk pools to provide coverage for people who have trouble getting insurance because of preexisting health problems until 2014. But a new report suggests that amount may not be enough to cover their needs"

28 May 2010

WellPoint guidelines may bolster federal 'comparative effectiveness' investments

The health insurer WellPoint has announced guidelines for using comparative effectiveness studies to pit drugs against one another and determine which works best, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports. "Congress has also approved $4.1 billion in the past 15 months to fund comparative-effectiveness studies and a new agency that specializes in them.

28 May 2010

Report: High-risk pool funding may fall short of need

A $5 billion fund to create high-risk pools in the states as part of the health overhaul may fall short of meeting the needs of uninsured people with health problems if state and federal officials closely monitor the program, according to a new report by the National Institute for Health Care Reform, an automaker-sponsored think tank, Kaiser Health News reports.

28 May 2010

Health Care News and Research

First Edition: May 28, 2010

Healthy Returns Initiative developed to address health issues in California's juvenile justice system

Wall Street Journal examines GSK's open-source development for drug discovery plan

IMRT leads to fewer cases of xerostomia than other types of radiation: AHRQ report

Independent pharmacists launch education campaign to explain impact of massive funding cuts

AbleNet to showcase assistive technology products at Heartland Home for Independent Living

Humber River Regional Hospital issued RFQ for new acute care hospital

One-quarter of all hospital patients experience readmission for same conditions: AHRQ

Shah outlines U.S. food security partnership with Bangladesh

MSF report warns of effects of international donor 'backtracking' in global fight against HIV/AIDS

Alimera Sciences provides new data from Iluvien Phase 3 FAME clinical trials for DME

Amnesty International report highlights health care access among global human rights abuses

KHN column -- The decline of employer-sponsored coverage under health reform: Good, bad or ugly?

Sen. Lincoln fights criticism on health reform positions in primary run-off battle

States act on hospital readmissions, brace for insurance rate hikes and advance health legislation

News outlets look at what COBRA enrollees can do when their coverage expires

ART associated with reduced risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners, study shows

$5 billion in federal funding for high-risk pools may not be enough

WellPoint guidelines may bolster federal 'comparative effectiveness' investments

Report: High-risk pool funding may fall short of need

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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