Health Care News and Research

RSS

World TB Day coverage: Lesotho, Armenia, drug resistance, HIV coinfection

"To mark World [Tuberculosis] Day on Wednesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres [MSF] drew attention to Lesotho, which has the world's third-highest prevalence of HIV ... and the fourth-highest prevalence of tuberculosis," the Associated Press reports

26 Mar 2010

States challenge health insurance coverage mandate as leaders decide on participation

Attorneys general in 14 states have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of a health insurance coverage mandate in the new federal health law, and more may follow.

26 Mar 2010

ONA President’s statement on Ontario provincial budget

Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN says that today's provincial budget means more service and nursing cuts for patients in this province.

26 Mar 2010

Parties vie for political momentum after health vote

The health care debate has already become a proxy for 2010 election fights, with candidates in both parties wielding the issue, according to The Wall Street Journal: "In Kentucky, the two leading Democrats seeking an open Senate seat are battling over who has been most committed to the health-care law." Meanwhile, "[two] potential 2012 presidential candidates, Republicans Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, both issued fund-raising appeals to their supporters, saying they would use the money to fight for the GOP position on the health-care law" (Wallsten, 3/25).

26 Mar 2010

Early screening for diabetes and kidney disease can improve health outcomes

Millions of Americans may have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and not know it, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

26 Mar 2010

Renowned experts discuss key statistics of health care reform at 2010 Keenan Summit

Keenan & Associates, the largest privately-held insurance brokerage and consulting firm in California, convened its sixth annual Keenan Summit on March 3, 2010, in Pasadena, Calif., and on March 4, 2010, in Berkeley. The theme for this year's summit was "Navigating Through Unprecedented Times: Today's Challenges. Tomorrow's Solutions."

26 Mar 2010

Overhaul will affect other economic sectors, not just health care

Health-overhaul legislation signed into law this week will affect not only America's health care industry, but the broader economy, too, The Christian Science Monitor reports. The overhaul could help create jobs. "But the legislation also means tax hikes, mainly on the highest-income Americans. And provisions designed to curb healthcare costs probably aren't strong enough to put a big dent in medical inflation - or federal budget deficits" (Trumbull, 3/24).

26 Mar 2010

Obama's closed-door signing of executive order on abortion funding raises objections

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Wednesday pledging that no federal funding will be used for abortion under the new health bill.

26 Mar 2010

With reform, community health centers will see federal funds double

The Wall Street Journal reports that the health overhaul bill signed by President Barack Obama will increase spending "by $10 billion over five years for [some] clinics, known as community health centers. An additional $2.5 billion is included in a package of changes to that bill, which is expected to get final approval in Congress as soon as this week."

26 Mar 2010

Constitutional expert says new health reform law should stand up to legal court challenges

The newly signed health care reform law should stand up well to legal court challenges, says constitutional expert and political scientist Mark Graber of the University of Maryland.

26 Mar 2010

White House scrambles to fix health bill language on covering sick kids

The White House is seeking to nail down a provision in the new law it says bars insurers from denying coverage to sick kids starting this year.

26 Mar 2010

Civil society groups urge G8 to follow through with AIDS funding commitments

"Civil society organisations from around the world on Wednesday made a coordinated appeal to the Canadian government to help pressure the Group of Eight (G8) into fulfilling its aid commitments in the fight against AIDS,"

26 Mar 2010

New study: Egg donors may be paid too much

"Women who donate eggs for use with in-vitro techniques aren't supposed to be compensated more than $10,000 .... according to guidelines from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine," The Wall Street Journal reports.

26 Mar 2010

Health IT roundup: Fears of hackers, efforts at fraud prevention

Some privacy advocates say the government is seeking to move too quickly to digitize health records, and may risk exposing sensitive information to identity thieves and hackers. These privacy advocates appear to favor slow progress is spreading electronic records because - they hope - consumer safeguards can keep up with that pace.

26 Mar 2010

Standard HCV therapy less effective in urban minority patients: Study

A recent study confirms that the standard hepatitis C therapy, pegylated interferon and ribavirin, is significantly less effective in urban minority patients treated in an ordinary clinical practice setting compared with results produced during clinical trials.

26 Mar 2010

Coverage for sick kids under question in new law

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Andrew Villegas write that while Democrats have said that the new health law "would immediately stop insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing medical conditions, ... health advocates and some insurers say the law does not clearly state that such protection starts this year.

26 Mar 2010

Independent DMC recommends continuance of enrollment in Eisai's Phase III ACCESS trial

Eisai Inc. announced today that the Phase III ACCESS (A Controlled Comparison of Eritoran and Placebo in Patients with Severe Sepsis) trial of the investigational compound eritoran (E5564) will continue enrolling to the preset goal of 2,000 patients. As part of a planned interim analysis, an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has evaluated efficacy and safety data on the first 1,500 subjects to complete the 28-day follow-up in the Phase III ACCESS trial.

26 Mar 2010

GOP forces second house vote on health reconciliation bill

Senate Republicans found a way to force a second House vote on a health reform reconciliation bill after identifying parliamentary flaws, including one in the calculation of a student loan provision.

26 Mar 2010

Obama to pitch health care law in Iowa

President Obama Thursday will try to convince a wavering public that a new health care reform law will benefit their lives as he travels to Iowa City for a rally where he first called for health care legislation as a presidential candidate.

26 Mar 2010

Human rights organization calls for national action to combat rising pregnancy-related complications

Amnesty International today pointed to new government figures showing the highest-ever rate of Caesarean sections as more evidence the United States needs to adopt guidelines for the use of obstetric procedures to begin reversing rising pregnancy complications and maternal deaths.

26 Mar 2010