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Illinois' tobacco tax would bring in $297.6M in new revenue, reduce youth smoking

A new poll released today finds that 74 percent of Illinois voters support raising the tobacco tax by $1 per pack to cut the state's budget deficit and reduce youth tobacco use.

16 Apr 2010

Sebelius: Plan coming to reduce minority health disparities

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that the federal government will soon have a national plan to reduce health disparities between minorities and whites, The Associated Press reports.

16 Apr 2010

Waxman backs away from challenge to big corporations on health costs

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver writes about the cancellation of an upcoming House Energy and Commerce Hearing and what it might mean: "A new congressional staff report has defused a standoff between Democrats and large corporations over losses the firms anticipate because of the new health overhaul law" (Weaver, 4/14).

16 Apr 2010

Researchers say exclusive licensing on genes could hurt patients

The Wall Street Journal reports that Duke University researchers have found in a study published Wednesday that granting "exclusive licenses on individual genes" could hurt patients' chances of pinpointing their risks to develop disease.

16 Apr 2010

Self-monitoring of Coumadin levels reduces risk of blood clots by 50%: Study

A new review of existing research finds that many patients who take an anti-clotting drug or "blood-thinner" can benefit from monitoring the levels of the drug themselves instead of going to clinics for blood tests.

16 Apr 2010

IRS official: If an individual fails to show insurance coverage, refund could be withheld

"The Internal Revenue Service won't audit you to make sure you have purchased health insurance under provisions of the new health-care law—but it may withhold your tax refund if you can't demonstrate that you are insured, an IRS official said Thursday," The Wall Street Journal reports. "There are tools we can use. We obviously will be notifying folks [for whom there is no record of health insurance] that we have these questions," Steven T. Miller, IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, said.

16 Apr 2010

Private insurers seek to help states manage Medicaid expansion

The Wall Street Journal reports on plans by the health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. to issue a report Thursday on managed care strategies that "it says will help cash-strapped states solve budget problems and doctor shortages that hobble the government health-care programs for the poor."

16 Apr 2010

Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes legislation to create USAID Office of Water

"The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation [by voice vote] Tuesday launching a government effort to provide 100 million people in the world's poorest countries with first-time access to safe drinking water and modern sanitation," CongressDaily reports.

16 Apr 2010

PPA helps qualified patients save money on their medicines

As recently noted in the Queens Chronicle, a nationwide partnership, consisting of more than 475 public and private assistance programs, is helping qualified patients save money on their medicines.

16 Apr 2010

Drugstores try to increase their presence with in-store clinic market

Drugstores are trying to bolster their presence in the in-store clinic market, even though the concept has thus far not been a particularly profitable one.

16 Apr 2010

Mass. insurers to revise rates or face fines; In Conn., a lawmaker hopes to help with insurance denials

"State regulators [Tuesday] demanded that health insurers submit revised April 1 premium rates for tens of thousands of individuals and small businesses by 3 p.m. [Thursday] or face stiff fines," The Boston Globe reports.

16 Apr 2010

Low income and lack of health insurance result in fewer rate of colorectal cancer screening

High out-of-pocket costs, lack of health insurance and limited access to care contribute to a relatively low rate of colorectal cancer screening in the United States, according to a new systematic review by researchers at the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.

16 Apr 2010

Despite global economy, aid flow to poor countries continued to grow in 2009, OECD report finds

"Governments in developed countries continued to increase the amount of aid they gave to poorer countries in 2009, despite the financial crisis, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] said," following the release of its annual review of aid, the Wall Street Journal reports (Hannon, 4/14).

16 Apr 2010

States continue budget struggles; Oklahoma nursing homes brace for funding cuts

Three Minnesota Democratic legislators are proposing that the state spend $1 billion from the state's special health care fund in an effort to get $1 billion in federal money. "A spokesman for Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty says the plan won't work because the special fund is already scheduled to run a deficit" (4/14).

16 Apr 2010

Poll: Opposition to health law grows

The Associated Press: "A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds Americans oppose the health care remake 50 percent to 39 percent. Before a divided Congress finally passed the bill and Obama signed it at a jubilant White House ceremony last month, public opinion was about evenly split. Another 10 percent of Americans say they are neutral."

16 Apr 2010

Tougher times ahead for older Americans

It's popular to assume retiring baby boomers will benefit from Social Security and Medicare at the expense of younger generations, as analysts estimate that these government-run programs will pay out more than they collect in payroll taxes by 2017.

16 Apr 2010

New long-term care insurance will provide flexible cash benefits

Writing for Kaiser Health News, Harris Meyer explains the CLASS Act, which is a part of the new health reform law: "Millie Toda of Toledo, Ohio, takes cares of her husband Richard, 83, who is severely disabled from Parkinson's Disease.

16 Apr 2010

First meeting of WHO H1N1 response probe concludes

The first meeting of external experts tasked with reviewing the WHO's handling of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus came to a close Wednesday, with health leaders maintaining it was still too early to declare the pandemic over, Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Apr 2010

Portable x-ray and CR imaging systems installed in Africa and Central America

MinXray Inc., a world-wide leader in the supply of portable x-ray and digital imaging equipment, is pleased to announce recent installations of portable x-ray and CR imaging systems throughout Nigeria Africa and in Honduras Central America.

16 Apr 2010

Lawmaker cancels hearing on big corporations' tax deductions related to health reform

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., canceled a hearing set for next week that would have probed recent announcements by large firms that they are taking millions of dollars in health law-related write-downs, Kaiser Health News reports.

16 Apr 2010

Health Care News and Research

Illinois' tobacco tax would bring in $297.6M in new revenue, reduce youth smoking

Sebelius: Plan coming to reduce minority health disparities

Waxman backs away from challenge to big corporations on health costs

Researchers say exclusive licensing on genes could hurt patients

Self-monitoring of Coumadin levels reduces risk of blood clots by 50%: Study

IRS official: If an individual fails to show insurance coverage, refund could be withheld

Private insurers seek to help states manage Medicaid expansion

Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes legislation to create USAID Office of Water

PPA helps qualified patients save money on their medicines

Drugstores try to increase their presence with in-store clinic market

Mass. insurers to revise rates or face fines; In Conn., a lawmaker hopes to help with insurance denials

Low income and lack of health insurance result in fewer rate of colorectal cancer screening

Despite global economy, aid flow to poor countries continued to grow in 2009, OECD report finds

States continue budget struggles; Oklahoma nursing homes brace for funding cuts

Poll: Opposition to health law grows

Tougher times ahead for older Americans

New long-term care insurance will provide flexible cash benefits

First meeting of WHO H1N1 response probe concludes

Portable x-ray and CR imaging systems installed in Africa and Central America

Lawmaker cancels hearing on big corporations' tax deductions related to health reform

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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