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SAMHSA announces STOP ACT grant program to prevent underage drinking

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Pamela S. Hyde today announced the award and anticipated future funding of 81 new grants, totaling up to $15.1 million over four years, to prevent underage drinking through the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP ACT) grant program.

14 Sep 2012

First Edition: Sept. 13, 2012

Today's headlines include news from the Census Bureau that, although record numbers of poor people persist, the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 1.3 million.

13 Sep 2012

Sebelius likely to stay put in Obama second term

If President Barack Obama wins reelection, there are two very good reasons to bet on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to stay for a second term. The health care law's biggest changes don't kick in until 2014, so it makes no sense for her to leave now. And, it could be a lot easier for Obama to keep her on than to get someone else confirmed. Sebelius indicated last week that she wants to be around for the law's big 2014 programs: the insurance exchanges, the tax subsidies and the individual mandate.

13 Sep 2012

SAMHSA announces $2.3M in funding to help 11 new statewide consumer networks

Up to $2.3 million in funding will help up to 11 new statewide consumer networks strengthen coalitions among consumers, peers, policymakers, and service providers, Pamela S. Hyde, the administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced today.

13 Sep 2012

HHS details consumer savings from lower premiums, rebates

A Health and Human Services Department analysis estimated that consumers have saved an estimated $2.1 billion from the health law's consumer protections, resulting in lower premiums and rebates.

13 Sep 2012

ACO 'predecessor' saved Medicare money, according to JAMA study

The study, found that the Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration resulted in health care savings.

13 Sep 2012

Mayo Clinic receives FDA approval for Choline C 11 Injection to help detect prostate cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the production and use of Choline C 11 Injection, a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging agent used to help detect recurrent prostate cancer.

13 Sep 2012

Medicaid news: Cost-savings for programs in Colo., N.C.; Fight over expansion brews in Ark.

State Medicaid budget issues show promise in Colorado -- where a cost savings program may be working -- and North Carolina -- where the program has spent less than anticipated.

13 Sep 2012

Sanofi Aventis receives FDA approval for Aubagio to treat relapsing forms of MS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Aubagio (teriflunomide), a once-a-day tablet for the treatment of adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

13 Sep 2012

APS conference to explore potential mechanisms behind health benefits of exercise

The effects of physical inactivity are, literally, hazardous to your health. Although the detrimental effects of being inactive are generally thought to be associated with childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, they have a significant impact on other illnesses. Physical inactivity contributed at least 25 percent to the prevalence of hip fractures, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, and colon cancer according to recent data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

12 Sep 2012

In Florida, Obama talks Medicare

President Barack Obama promised to fight GOP efforts to "privatize" the health insurance program for senior citizens, charging that the plan advanced by Republican nominee Mitt Romney would cost seniors more.

11 Sep 2012

CSL Biotherapies receives U.S. Government contract to supply pandemic vaccine antigens

CSL Biotherapies, a subsidiary of CSL Limited, one of the world's leading manufacturers of influenza vaccine, announced it has been awarded a contract by the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services to supply pre-pandemic and pandemic vaccine antigens and related services to the U.S. national stockpile.

11 Sep 2012

New strategy will have positive impact on people with brain disorders

New research offers a possible strategy for treating central nervous system diseases, such as brain and spinal cord injury, brain cancer, epilepsy, and neurological complications of HIV. The experimental treatment method allows small therapeutic agents to safely cross the blood-brain barrier in laboratory rats by turning off P-glycoprotein, one of the main gatekeepers preventing medicinal drugs from reaching their intended targets in the brain.

10 Sep 2012

State leaders wrangle over approaches to health insurance marketplaces

Officials and business leaders in Wyoming, Kansas and Michigan are considering their next moves among the myriad options of how to approach federally or state-based health insurance marketplaces.

7 Sep 2012

FDA warns dietary supplement firms in Colorado and Texas

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued warning letters to PruTect Rx, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Trinity Sports Group Inc., of Plano, Texas, for promoting products labeled as dietary supplements with claims to treat concussions and prevent or treat post-concussion syndrome and other neurological disorders.

7 Sep 2012

Health law among Obama's accomplishments as he makes case for second term

During the final night of the Democratic convention, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pledged to protect Medicare from GOP proposals to turn it into what they called a voucher program and extolled the benefits of the health law.

7 Sep 2012

Study sheds light on how high-fibre diet affects the gut environment

Savvy consumers and health professionals know that fibre is an essential nutrient associated with important health benefits, yet barriers such as overall poor tolerance to higher-fibre diets may be why average intake is far less than experts recommend.

7 Sep 2012

HHS Global Health Strategy helps protect Americans, 'all persons worldwide'

"The notion that diseases or contamination somehow recognize geographic or political borders is a dangerous illusion. ... Fortunately, the United States has a broad, diverse, and world-class range of experience and expertise in dealing with all manner of global health issues," Nils Daulaire, director of the Office of Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), writes in a perspective piece in the Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

7 Sep 2012

Convention news: Dems embrace health law

In speeches from the podium and in the buzz from the convention floor, it was apparent on the first day of the Democratic National Convention that delegates and speakers aimed to reclaim the health law as an important accomplishment of the Obama administration.

6 Sep 2012

Medicare’s bundled payment program faces challenges, says economist

For years policymakers have attempted to replace Medicare's fee-for- service payment system with approaches that pay one price for an aggregation of services. The intent has been to reward providers for offering needed care in the most appropriate and cost-effective manner. But many of these programs have known pitfalls, says Stuart Altman, an economist and the Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

6 Sep 2012