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Omnibus bill aims to improve women's services at VA health care facilities, support caregivers

Several of The American Legion's top legislative priorities are wrapped up in S. 1963 – an omnibus bill passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives – that aims to improve women's services at VA health care facilities, provide better support for caregivers of disabled veterans, expand mental health services, reduce homelessness and commit the U.S. government to a number of other initiatives to better serve veterans and their families.

23 Apr 2010

Minorities, seniors see positives in health law; Worries persist about insurance costs

African Americans are hoping new health will improve their lives, but there's "a debate about whether the coming changes will actually ease the health disparities that black Americans face," NPR reports.

23 Apr 2010

Researchers to measure children with Down syndrome to develop new growth charts

Parents and doctors have known for a long time that children with Down syndrome tend to grow more slowly and are considerably shorter than most other children. But pediatricians needing to record growth milestones at regular office visits have an outdated set of growth charts based on data collected more than 25 years ago.

23 Apr 2010

Poll: Americans confused about new health law

USA Today: "More than half of the nation is confused about President Obama's recently enacted health care law and 56% of Americans say they don't have enough information to understand how the measure will affect them, according to a poll released today by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation."

23 Apr 2010

Investigators raid N.Y. Senate official's office, seeking evidence in Medicare, Medicaid fraud lawsuit

Federal and state investigators raided the Bronx offices of the Soundview HealthCare Network early Wednesday, seeking records as part of a joint investigation into the business and political activities of the Senate majority leader, Pedro Espada, Jr. More than a dozen agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, joined by investigators from the office of Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, arrived at Soundview's offices on White Plains Road shortly before 7 a.m., when the first employees arrived to open the doors for the day.

23 Apr 2010

SVS publishes first supplement on diversity articles to Journal of Vascular Surgery

The Society for Vascular Surgery published its first supplement on diversity articles to its Journal of Vascular Surgery in April 2010.

23 Apr 2010

House passes measure to boost veterans medical benefits

The Los Angeles Times: "The House voted 419 to 0 on Wednesday to approve new benefits and financial support for the primary live-in caregivers of seriously wounded veterans who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure, which would cost about $1.7 billion over five years, is part of comprehensive legislation that would permit the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand its assistance to family members of veterans generally." The bill calls for rates on a par with "commercial rates for home caregivers" (Tan, 4/21).

23 Apr 2010

Despite federal help, states struggle to move people out of nursing homes

23 Apr 2010

Florida's Health Care Freedom Act receives approval

Today, Florida's Health Care Freedom Act (HJR 37/SJR 72), sponsored by Florida Representative Scott Plakon and Florida Senator Carey Baker, passed the House and Senate and will appear on the November ballot. And yesterday, Mississippi Representatives Alex Monsour and Steven Palazzo received preliminary approval to place the Health Care Freedom Act on the 2011 or 2012 ballot.

23 Apr 2010

Cisco uses telemedicine in Southern Calif. and Southwest to lower costs

Cisco is using its HealthPresence telemedicine system in new programs in Southern California and the Southwest to "compete with other major tech companies, including Intel, IBM and General Electric, in the growing market for health-care products and services," The San Jose Mercury News/The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reports.

23 Apr 2010

Miss. lawmakers want voters to have say on health coverage mandate

Two Republican lawmakers in Mississippi want voters there to have the final say on whether purchasing health insurance should be required as mandated by the new federal health reform law. State Reps. Alex Monsour and Steven Palazzo are proposing a ballot initiative to ask voters the question.

23 Apr 2010

Study: California's nursing-ratio law saves patients' lives

News outlets report on a study suggesting that California's mandatory nursing-ratio law saves patient lives.

23 Apr 2010

Sebelius says HHS will not seek more money this year to implement health overhaul

"The Obama administration does not plan to seek additional money in next year's Health and Human Services Department budget to implement the new U.S. healthcare reform law, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday," Reuters reports. "Testifying before a House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee, Sebelius said the $911 billion HHS budget request for fiscal year 2011, which begins Oct. 1, remains the same even after Congress passed the healthcare overhaul," which "included $1 billion" for implementation by HHS.

23 Apr 2010

Report: Wellpoint targets breast cancer patients with policy rescissions

Reuters, in an exclusive report about the insurance industry practice of rescission: "That tens of thousands of Americans lost their health insurance shortly after being diagnosed with life-threatening, expensive medical conditions has been well documented by law enforcement agencies, state regulators and a congressional committee. Insurance companies have used the practice.

23 Apr 2010

Democrats, GOP continue to trade barbs over health reform, plan next moves

Politico: Democrats are following a call from President Barack Obama in daring Republicans to try to repeal the health care reform law. "And they started with what Democrats hope will become one of the most popular features of the overhaul plan, a provision that allow young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26.

23 Apr 2010

CBO estimate: 4 million could pay health insurance penalty by 2016

The Associated Press: "Nearly 4 million Americans will have to pay a penalty if they fail to get health insurance when that element of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law kicks in, according to congressional projections released Thursday." According to a Congressional Budget Office report, the average penalty in 2016 will be slightly more than $1,000 and the majority of people who pay the fine will be middle class.

23 Apr 2010

Website launched to track aid to Haiti from 'pledge to impact'

Agence France-Presse reports that the U.N. has launched "a new website to track the estimated 9.9 billion dollars in aid pledged to Haiti by the international community in the wake of a devastating January 12 earthquake." The website is a joint project of the Haitian government and the U.N. Development Programme.

23 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 22, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with USA Today, writes about the Money Follows The Person program: "Richard Hasselbach and Deborah Kadlec met in a nursing home and dreamed of a life together outside its walls. Their health conditions made living on their own a challenge: Hasselbach, 63, is disabled from a stroke and lost a leg to a blocked artery. Kadlec, 52, has multiple sclerosis. They both use wheelchairs and need help with chores such as bathing, cooking and remembering to take their medicines.

22 Apr 2010

Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care receives $2.8M to extend cancer research

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care is the recipient of $2.8 million from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to expand cancer research.

22 Apr 2010

Pharmaceutical industry faces rapidly changing future: Pharma CI Conference

The pharmaceutical industry finds itself facing a rapidly changing future in light of the health care bill and the evolving pharmaceutical marketplace. There's never been a time when demand has been so intense for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the pharmaceutical industry, especially pharmaceutical competitive intelligence.

22 Apr 2010