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Nelson's Medicaid deal comes under attack

A special deal reached by Senate Democratic leaders and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., regarding funding for his state in the context of health reform's proposed Medicaid expansion, is drawing increasing criticism.

8 Jan 2010

Behavioral Innovations partners with insurance companies to mitigate financial burden on parents

Behavioral Innovations, the premier Dallas/Fort Worth provider of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services for families of children with autism and other developmental disorders, announces its partnership with key insurance carriers to offer in-network insurance coverage for several ABA therapy programs. Behavioral Innovations is the first behavioral therapy center in the Metroplex to offer in-network insurance for select treatments - mitigating the financial burden on parents.

8 Jan 2010

Difficult to decipher: Tracking the funding sources for some health care interest groups

"Many of the Washington interest groups that are seeking to shape final health-care legislation in the coming weeks operate with opaque financing, often receiving hidden support from insurers, drugmakers or unions," The Washington Post reports.

8 Jan 2010

Senate retirements focus Democrats on election prospects and health bill impact

USA Today reports on the ripple effect of this week's retirement announcements by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.: The "[t]wo Senate retirements have focused Democrats like a laser on their growing November election challenges, but a more pressing contest is less than two weeks away in an unlikely place: Massachusetts." Democrats are favored to retain the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, but Republicans "have increasingly touted the Jan. 19 special election as an opportunity for an upset."

8 Jan 2010

Opinions: Uganda anti-gay bill; Clinton's foreign policy speech; PEPFAR

A Washington Post editorial calles anti-gay legislation currently under consideration in Uganda "an atrocity." The authors of the editorial write that under the legislation, "anyone convicted of 'aggravated homosexuality,' which could mean someone who is HIV-positive and is intimate with another person of the same sex, could 'suffer death.'"

7 Jan 2010

Uninsured patients struggle to access health care as hospitals end programs

Several news outlets report on uninsured patients and access to health care.

7 Jan 2010

Democrats 'very close' to health bill agreement

Reuters: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "said on Wednesday congressional Democrats were close to agreement on merging their healthcare bills but still faced challenges in blending the two approaches.

7 Jan 2010

UAB issues updated guidelines for childhood and teen immunization schedule

The co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases is a member of the committee that this week issued updated guidelines for childhood and teen immunizations to include formal recommendations that children older than 6 months get the H1N1 influenza vaccine to guard against swine flu, and that combination vaccines are generally preferred over separate injections.

7 Jan 2010

Canada loans 5m doses of H1N1 vaccine to Mexico

Canadian Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Wednesday announced plans for the country to loan Mexico five million doses of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, Agence France-Presse reports.

7 Jan 2010

America Abroad Media examines global response to HIV/AIDS epidemic

America Abroad Media examines the HIV/AIDS policies of some countries and NGOs as well as efforts to prevent the spread of HIV.

7 Jan 2010

Analysis: Medicare Part D has lessons for health reform

The Wall Street Journal: "Four years ago, the U.S. government offered subsidized prescription-drug insurance to 43 million elderly and disabled, the biggest expansion of government-backed health care in decades. Today, the program is working better than many expected."

7 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 7, 2010

Today's health policy news coverage focuses on the continuing efforts to blend together the House- and Senate-passed health reform bills and the key issues in play.

7 Jan 2010

Apoteket and Medco Health Solutions develop centralized prescription safety program

Apoteket, Sweden's largest pharmacy chain, and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. today announced that it has developed one of the first national centralized drug utilization review (DUR) programs outside of the United States to improve prescription safety by reducing adverse drug events and thereby reducing the risk of costly hospitalizations.

7 Jan 2010

Webinar features recent updates on meaningful use of certified EHR systems

Community oncologists, practice administrators and clinical staff interested in learning how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), otherwise known as the stimulus package, can affect health care IT plans for community-based oncology practices are invited to attend a free webinar at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST) on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. To register, visit www.MyOncologyServices.com/HIT. Registration is free, but space is limited.

From Elekta 7 Jan 2010

BUSM researchers develop mathematical methodology to reduce biologic variation in clinical status

Clinicians rely on laboratory tests to monitor the progression or remission of disease, or to identify pathologic alterations in physiology that may precede clinical events. Monitoring quantitative laboratory results represents a crucial component in the assessment of response to therapy.

7 Jan 2010

Board of Directors for Legacy continue efforts to preserve tobacco funds in Ohio

Today, the Board of Directors for Legacy(SM) - a national public health foundation devoted to tobacco cessation and prevention - announced it will continue efforts to preserve tobacco funds in Ohio, by taking the battle to the Supreme Court of Ohio.

7 Jan 2010

ACMGF and Luminex announce annual grant for genetic research

The American College of Medical Genetics Foundation/ACMGF (www.acmgfoundation.org) and Luminex Corporation have joined together to announce an annual grant for a project aimed at promoting safe and effective genetic testing and services.

From Luminex 7 Jan 2010

Cancer treatment-related toxicities have negative effect on quality of life, survivors' perspective

In a first-ever initiative, renowned health-care providers identify and describe how cancer treatment-related toxicities have a negative effect on quality of life from the perspective of patients and survivors.

7 Jan 2010

New public-private electronic records sharing program for some San Diego patients

Two major medical systems in the San Diego area, the private HMO Kaiser Permanente and the Department of Veterans Affairs, will announce a program to share patient records, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

7 Jan 2010

Authors explain why health care reform initiative should include CER

The current health care reform bills approved by the House and the Senate seek to expand health insurance coverage while containing costs; however, the proposed policy changes are not guaranteed to improve health for individuals or society, according to a "Perspective" article by faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College in the Jan. 6 New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Jan 2010