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UnitedHealthcare launches new interactive website

UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, opened Health Care LaneSM, a new interactive Web site where “townspeople” explain and teach health insurance topics.

7 Oct 2009

Change in health care delivery system is certain, says Segal

As the health care reform debate drags on in Congress, change in our health care delivery system is certain, according to Mike Segal, who for the past two decades has worked with physicians to form large practice groups and currently heads the Health Law Practice Group of the Florida law firm Broad and Cassel.

7 Oct 2009

CSL Behring LEAD program invites grant requests from organizations assisting people with rare diseases

CSL Behring, a global leader in the plasma-protein biotherapeutics industry, is calling for grant requests through its Local Empowerment for Advocacy Development (LEAD) program. The LEAD program awards funds to United States patient organizations that assist people with rare diseases in advocating for continued access to health care and life-saving plasma protein therapies.

7 Oct 2009

DestinationRx celebrates 10th anniversary

DestinationRx celebrated the company’s 10th anniversary with an announcement at the Health 2.0 Conference today. Even as sweeping healthcare reform is debated in Congress, this observance marks an important milestone for the health plan and drug comparison industry leader.

7 Oct 2009

Uncertainty regarding clinical effectiveness is a key issue in coverage decisions: Study

A comparison of national agencies that play a role in determining drug coverage decisions in Britain, Canada and Australia finds that uncertainty regarding clinical effectiveness is a key issue in coverage decisions, with other factors including the ability to negotiate price and societal values, according to a study in the October 7 issue of JAMA.

7 Oct 2009

HHS and PEPFAR approve the 100th HIV/AIDS antiretroviral drug

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today marked today marked the recent approval of the 100th antiretroviral drug in association with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), aimed at the prevention, treatment, and care of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide.

7 Oct 2009

Humana announces expansion of its Medicare offerings in California

Humana Inc. announced today an expansion of its Medicare offerings in California. Beginning on November 15, individuals eligible for Medicare in Fresno, San Bernardino and Riverside counties can enroll in a local Humana Gold Plus HMO plan – for a January 1, 2010 effective date.

7 Oct 2009

White House hosts white-coated doctors for health reform pitch

President Obama spoke to a group of doctors in the Rose Garden Monday, the Associated Press reports. "[N]obody has more credibility with the American people on this issue than you do," he said (Babington, 10/5).

7 Oct 2009

Swine Flu vaccine arrives as flu moves quickly through population

The first doses of Swine Flu have arrived in the United States, as health officials work quickly to inoculate people against the virus.

7 Oct 2009

Today's editorials and opinions

In President Obama's Washington, medical specialists are slightly more popular than the H1N1 virus. … [T]he quiet war Democrats are waging on specialists is astonishing (10/6).

7 Oct 2009

NANDA-I urges political leaders to include nurses in health care debate

While the health care debate continues in the U.S., there's one voice you haven't heard much from: nurses. "A number of our professional organizations have testified about proposed health care reforms, but nurses have not been asked to the table as equal participants," said T. Heather Herdman, PhD, RN, Executive Director of NANDA International (NANDA-I).

7 Oct 2009

Parents should watch out for flu warning signs, says Minnesota physicians

Minnesota's physicians are urging parents to watch for the warning signs that their child is having a severe case of H1N1 and to seek out the H1N1 vaccine for their child when it becomes available.

7 Oct 2009

Patients increasingly charged 'facility fees'

Kaiser Health News/The Washington Post reports that patients are increasingly being charged "facility fees," which are "the result of an obscure change in Medicare rules that occurred nearly a decade ago.

7 Oct 2009

Research to explore diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases

The National Institutes of Health announced today a second phase of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) including funds for 19 research consortia.

7 Oct 2009

Senate Finance Committee vote delayed; House Republicans prepare to meet Sebelius

The Senate Finance Committee will delay its vote on health care reform — and, likely the bill's move to the Senate floor — as members await cost estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.

7 Oct 2009

Obama seeks 'broadest coalition possible' but finds greater success outside beltway

In an effort to assemble "the broadest coalition possible" in its push for health reform, the administration has ventured outside the beltway, the New York Times reports.

7 Oct 2009

Reuters examines health effects of climate change in Africa

Reuters examines how floods, droughts and rising temperatures, thought to be caused by climate change, are compromising African farm lands and leading to health problems for already vulnerable populations - a topic discussed at the "first pan-African climate hearings."

7 Oct 2009

Award-winning GWTG hospitals have lower mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure patients: Study

Hospitals receiving performance awards from the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) quality improvement initiative have lower mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure patients than all other hospitals, according to a new study.

7 Oct 2009

'Facility fees' are a surprise cost for many patients

This Kaiser Health News and Washington Post story reported by Sandra Boodman, explores the idea of provider-based billing. This approach "allows hospitals that own physician practices and outpatient clinics that meet certain federal requirements to bill separately for the facility as well as for physician services.

7 Oct 2009

Magazine compiles rankings of U.S. nursing homes

U.S. News & World Report examines government data from more than 15,500 nursing homes to determine which are the nation's best: "At the core of the rankings is the data and ratings found on Nursing Home Compare, a federal website created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

7 Oct 2009