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Researchers identify four new genetic regions associated with Behcet's disease

Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road.

7 Jan 2013

Racial disparities in hospital care of US children

The US healthcare system needs to undergo further reform if racial disparities in pediatric surgical care are to be addressed, report researchers.

3 Jan 2013

2013 brings health law deadlines, challenges to states

News coverage of how states are planning for the health law include details of state health insurance exchanges.

3 Jan 2013

Hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies face changing marketplace

A report by federal health care inspectors in November said the U.S. nursing home industry overbills Medicare $1.5 billion a year for treatments patients don't need or never receive.

3 Jan 2013

Study reveals decline in cancer screening rates

The rate of people who seek preventive cancer screenings has fallen over the last ten years in the United States with wide variations between white-collar and blue-collar workers, according to a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine study published on December 27 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology.

27 Dec 2012

Juxtapid receives FDA approval for treatment of rare cholesterol disorder

On Dec. 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Juxtapid (lomitapide) to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, and non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). Juxtapid is intended for use in combination with a low fat diet and other lipid-lowering treatments.

27 Dec 2012

Republicans press Obama administration for information on contractors

GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee say they want more information from the Department of Health and Human Services, even as House and Senate GOP lawmakers pressed for details about the contractors who will set up insurance markets in states that don't do it themselves.

21 Dec 2012

Feds OK health insurance exchange plans for three more states; Other 'Obamacare' implementation news

The Obama administration gave conditional approvals to Delaware, Minnesota and Rhode Island, saying they will be ready to open new insurance markets in 2014, as required under the health care law. Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper indicates he's likely to push for Medicaid expansion.

21 Dec 2012

CMS awards $306M to states for enrolling more kids in Medicaid

The Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday awarded $306 million in bonuses to 23 states for enrolling more children in Medicaid. The move is meant to help offset the expense of covering more kids in the state-federal health care program.

21 Dec 2012

USAID releases Action Plan on Children in Adversity

On Wednesday, USAID, "along with representatives from seven government agencies and departments, launched the first-ever, whole-of-government strategic guidance on international assistance for children in adversity," a USAID press release reports.

21 Dec 2012

California Hospital Association honors Sharp HealthCare leader with Award of Merit

Daniel L. Gross , DNSc, RN, Executive Vice President of Hospital Operations for Sharp HealthCare, received the Award of Merit from the California Hospital Association (CHA), at the organization's board meeting today in Newport Beach.

21 Dec 2012

Mayo Clinic announces UnitedHealthcare as new member of HAIL consortium

Mayo Clinic announced UnitedHealthcare as the newest member of the Healthy Aging and Independent Living (HAIL) consortium.

21 Dec 2012

Roundup: Calif. Report sets 10-year health goals; Conn. hospitals plead to stop cuts; Colo. lawmaker wants state universal health care on ballot

With the state facing rising medical costs and increasing rates of chronic disease, California health leaders issued a report Wednesday setting specific health targets to meet by 2022. The state's goals include reducing smoking rates, increasing vaccinations among children and improving depression screening and treatment. The report also describes ways to improve end-of-life care, by expanding palliative care at hospitals and hospice programs at home.

20 Dec 2012

GW nursing professors receive three-year $790,000 gerontology grant from HHS

Beverly Lunsford, a George Washington University assistant professor of nursing, believes a health care crisis is brewing.

20 Dec 2012

NIDA's 2012 Monitoring the Future survey shows rates stable or down for most drugs

Continued high use of marijuana by the nation's eighth, 10th and 12th graders combined with a drop in perceptions of its potential harms was revealed in this year's Monitoring the Future survey, an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan.

20 Dec 2012

FDA allows marketing of Angiotech's Bio-Seal Lung Biopsy Tract Plug System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the Bio-Seal Lung Biopsy Tract Plug System, a device that seals punctures left by biopsies performed to confirm a diagnosis of suspected lung conditions.

20 Dec 2012

Clock is ticking for insurance exchange implementation

The idea of a health insurance exchange as laid out in President Barack Obama's signature law seems straightforward: an online marketplace where people will shop for private health insurance, like buying an airline ticket or a hotel room.

19 Dec 2012

18 states plan to operate their own health exchanges

The deadline for states to inform the federal government if they would operate healthcare exchanges under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law was December 14.

19 Dec 2012

Meeting participants discuss HHS framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza research

CIDRAP News reports on a two-day meeting at the National Institutes of Health during which "researchers, biosecurity experts, and others" discussed the "crafting of a framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza gain-of-function studies." The meeting "is the latest chapter in an intense scientific controversy that was triggered by the publication of two recent studies involving lab-engineered H5N1 strains that showed signs of being transmissible in mammals," according to the news service.

19 Dec 2012

Roundup: Minn. court rules relatives deserve same pay for personal care attendant work; Colo. governor wants $18.5M for expanded mental health care

The state's effort to reduce pay for some personal care attendants has hit a snag. The Minnesota Appeals Court ruled Monday that the state's attempt to pay PCAs who care for relatives 20 percent less than other personal care attendants is unconstitutional. "They have the same training, they have the same experience, they're limited to the same number of maximum hours," said attorney David Bradley Olsen, who represents 11 agencies and several personal care assistants who sued over the matter.

19 Dec 2012