Health Care News and Research

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Health reform timeline appears to be slipping

ABC News: "Senior Congressional Democrats told ABC News today it is highly unlikely that a health care reform bill will be completed this year, just a week after President Barack Obama declared he was 'absolutely confident' he'll be able to sign one by then reports that senior Congressional Democrats said it's unlikely Obama will get a bill this year."

5 Nov 2009

Studies find U.S. children face health quality issues

U.S. News & World Report/HealthDay News reports: "Uninsured children in the United States are three times more likely to die from trauma injuries than children with private insurance, according to a new study.

5 Nov 2009

Study examines campaign to increase use of zinc to prevent childhood diarrhea

Scientific American reports on a multiyear PLoS Medicine study, published on Monday, which "followed a nationwide public health campaign to increase zinc use for childhood diarrhea in Bangladesh."

5 Nov 2009

Insurers' pricing practices targeted by Senate health committee

Senate health committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, asked four of the nations largest health insurers - Aetna, Humana, Wellpoint and UnitedHealth - to explain their pricing policies after small-business owners testified Tuesday that insurance premiums were crushing their businesses, the Des Moines Register reports.

4 Nov 2009

Key moderates influence the shape of health overhaul bills

The Washington Post: "Moderates have raised numerous concerns about aspects of the bill, including the public insurance option that liberals persuaded Reid to add last week. Although (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid included an 'opt out' provision for states that don't want to participate, many moderate Democrats prefer a "trigger" mechanism, proposed by their lone Republican ally, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine)." Resolving differences could take weeks some say (Murray and Montgomery, 11/4).

4 Nov 2009

PEPFAR expands efforts to improve health services worldwide through use of mobile devices

Fierce Mobile reports on the recent announcement that PEPFAR is teaming up with the United Nations Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Vodafone Foundation to be a founding member of the mHealth Alliance, "a group seeking to bring health services to the most remote corners of the globe using mobile networks and technologies." U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby announced the partnership during a keynote address last week at the inaugural mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C., according to the news service (Versel, 11/3).

4 Nov 2009

House Republicans offer health overhaul plan

Their alternative health care bill "would reward states for reducing the number of uninsured, limit damages in medical malpractice lawsuits and allow small businesses to band together and buy insurance exempt from most state regulation," The New York Times reports.

4 Nov 2009

Health care jobs plentiful but tough to get

While health care jobs are plentiful, "getting one is hard work," The Associated Press/The News-Sentinel reports. "Many people who have lost jobs to the recession may find a cure for unemployment in the health care field," and the demand for nurses, specialists and technicians is strong

4 Nov 2009

Alcatel-Lucent receives FDA clearance to market Alcatel-Lucent TeleHealth Manager in the US

Alcatel-Lucent today announced that the Alcatel-Lucent TeleHealth Manager, a secure and reliable remote patient monitoring solution, has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing in the United States.

4 Nov 2009

Also in Global Health News: Childhood vaccines; USAID administrator; Pakistan polio fight; UNICEF fundraising; measles in India

As a follow-up to the release of the State of the World's Vaccines and Immunization by the WHO, UNICEF and World Bank last month, The International examines the findings that "despite child vaccinations hitting a record-high with about 106 million infants being immunised this year, life-saving vaccines fail to reach some 24 million children in 72 of the world's poorest countries," many of whom, "are estimated to be most at risk from vaccine-preventable diseases," the publication writes.

4 Nov 2009

Small business group lobbies for reform while trade groups see cuts in business

Small business owners lobby Congress while trade associations and a seniors' group worry about what lawmaker's efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system could mean for them.

4 Nov 2009

Automated temperature monitoring module for health care facilities

Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), today announced the availability of its most advanced automated temperature monitoring module.

4 Nov 2009

Reuters examines how much of G8 agriculture investment is new

Three billion of the $20 billion that G8 leaders promised to invest in agriculture in developing countries "appears to be new money, diplomats and sources close to the matter said on Tuesday," Reuters reports. "Most of that new money, up to $2 billion, is coming from the United States, according to two sources, one on the donor side and one on the recipient side," the news service writes.

4 Nov 2009

News outlets examine international efforts to contain H1N1

A WHO official on Tuesday backed the Afghan government's decision to declare H1N1 (swine flu) a health emergency, forcing the closure of all schools in the country for three weeks in an effort to contain the virus, IRIN reports.

4 Nov 2009

Abortion not the only sticky issue in health care debate - news outlets examine others

News coverage focuses on some of the sticky issues in health reform, including immigrants' coverage, long term care for the disabled, CHIP and insurance discounts for healthy habits.

4 Nov 2009

GOP frames election outcome as rebuff of Dems' health overhaul, but Pelosi paints a rosier picture

"Republican victories in two gubernatorial elections are casting a shadow on House Democratic efforts to secure support from wavering members for health-care legislation," Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports. "The GOP is framing the outcome as a rejection of Democratic proposals including the health-care bill, and some conservative and vulnerable Democrats seem inclined to agree, as they keep an eye on 2010 elections" (Vaughan, 11/4).

4 Nov 2009

Abortion continues to snag health reform legislation, divide lawmakers

The divisive issue of abortions, a lingering hurdle to health reform legislation, is plaguing both House and Senate Democratic leaders, the Los Angeles Times reports. "The delays in both houses reflect the fact that even though Democrats hold solid majorities, significant divisions exist below the surface.

4 Nov 2009

AMFm subsidized malaria drugs to be delivered soon

Subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) under the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria (AMFm) program will be available in select countries "in two week's time," SABC News reports. The announcement came Monday at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

4 Nov 2009

Veterans Administration leads in e-health exchange, too

The Veterans Health Administration was at the avant-garde of electronic medical records in the 1980s, and more recently, it's blazed the trail for exchanging health information between providers, the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World reports in the third of a 3-part series on EMRs.

4 Nov 2009

Health bills don't go far enough in cutting costs, experts say

"Democrats in Congress are embracing the spirit of President Obama's call to slow the runaway rise of health-care costs but are shying away from some of the most aggressive techniques for achieving that," The Washington Post reports. "Instead of revolutionizing how care is delivered and paid for, experts say, the legislation being shaped takes a cautious approach to reining in costs."

4 Nov 2009