Health Care News and Research

RSS

Public option politically charged on both sides of aisle

Alternatives to the government-run public option for health insurance are part of a long list of policy and politics considerations that officials are pondering in the run down to the final health care reform bill this week.

16 Sep 2009

Primary care shortage could worsen under reform

The shortage of primary care physicians could prove a major challenge to health reform. To make matters worse, some doctors are considering early retirement because of the high cost of practicing medicine.

16 Sep 2009

Breast cancer prevention drugs may negatively affect patients

Three drugs, including tamoxifen, reduce a woman's chance of getting breast cancer, but each drug carries distinct potential harms of its own, according to a new report from HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

16 Sep 2009

Obama's malpractice proposal falls flat for GOP and Democratic contributors

Trial lawyers have used lobbying and fundraising clout to avert malpractice reform for decades, Politico reports. "Given that their political donations went overwhelmingly to Democrats — generally, by a 3-to-1 ratio — this should be a period of respite. But it won't be, now that President Barack Obama has injected tort reform into the health care reform debate" (Cummings, 9/15).

16 Sep 2009

Youthful Aging celebrates 15th anniversary

A most unusual home health care firm is marking its 15th anniversary of helping seniors do more than they think they can do.

16 Sep 2009

President Obama urges labor support for health overhaul

The Washington Post reports that President Obama "urged the nation's largest labor federation... to get behind his proposal to overhaul the U.S. health-care system, saying that reform would help revive an economy that is still struggling with high unemployment."

16 Sep 2009

U.N. General Assembly votes to create U.N. agency for women

After three years of negotiations, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously voted on Monday "to create a new, more powerful agency for women, in a move supporters hailed as a breakthrough for women's equality and rights," Reuters reports (Worsnip, 9/14). Last week, Cuba, Egypt, Iran and Sudan "mounted a last-minute campaign to delay ratification" (Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, 9/11).

16 Sep 2009

Medicaid expansions could spell trouble for states, Democrats in Congress

Rising health costs, growing numbers of Medicaid enrollees and the possibility of a new mandate to increase the income threshold to become eligible for the program are combining to put state's governors, as well as Democrats in Congress in sometimes awkward positions.

16 Sep 2009

New poll suggests Americans believe health reform could make problems worse

USA Today reports that a new polls suggests some Americans believe President Obama's efforts to overhaul the health care system could actually make the system's problems worse.

16 Sep 2009

Newborn screening website to support quality health care for children

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) today launched the Newborn Screening Coding and Terminology Guide (http://newbornscreeningcodes.nlm.nih.gov), an important step toward efficient electronic exchange of standard newborn screening data.

16 Sep 2009

House Democrats hold 'friendly' heartings in an effort to refocus health bill debate

House Democrats tried Tuesday to reframe the debate over health care legislation. Meanwhile, a key House committee chairman says that some of the president's proposals from last week's health care speech are complicating efforts to finalize House legislation.

16 Sep 2009

DaVita achieves target fistula usage rate in Virginia

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), has been recognized in the state of Virginia for reaching the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network's patient quality improvement goal.

16 Sep 2009

Device makers, late to the table, object to new fees in health bills

"The $100 billion medical-device industry is scrambling to reverse billions of dollars in fees proposed by the Senate Finance Committee, but it faces trouble because its reluctance to offer concessions alienated some lawmakers," the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Sep 2009

Wisconsin town offers low cost, quality care model

A Wisconsin clinic offers a better model that provides high-quality care and saves the federal government money. CQ HealthBeat reports on the Marshfield Clinic where nurses are readily available, doctors offer coordinated care to manage chronic conditions, and staff follows best practices based on convincing data.

16 Sep 2009

Poll: Majority of doctors support public option

"Most doctors — 63 percent — say they favor giving patients a choice that would include both public and private insurance," NPR reports.

16 Sep 2009

IncentOne and Discern Consulting to establish standardized framework for health incentive programs

IncentOne (http://www.incentone.com), the leading provider of incentive solutions to the healthcare industry, and Discern Consulting, a firm specializing in the development and implementation of provider pay-for-performance programs, have partnered to deliver "the science of health incentives".

16 Sep 2009

Checking in with Dr. Abraham Verghese on the importance of the bedside manner

Kaiser Health News' Jessica Marcy talked with Dr. Abraham Verghese about a range of issues related to health reform and the practice of medicine. Verghese, a senior associate chair at Stanford University's School of Medicine and a best-selling author, spoke about "how medical educators are addressing the shortage of primary care physicians and the 'battle of stories' in the health care reform debate" (Marcy, 9/15).

16 Sep 2009

University presidents examine schools' roles in global health

Five university presidents came together on Monday at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health's inaugural annual meeting to examine universities' role "in the rapidly-emerging arena of global health and how global health fits into the well-established set of departments, centers and schools" at each university, Inside Higher Ed reports.

16 Sep 2009

Obama to meet with sub-Saharan African leaders next week

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice announced Monday that President Obama will host a luncheon for leaders of sub-Saharan African countries next week during the ministerial meeting of the U.N. General Assembly "to promote economic and social development," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

16 Sep 2009

Costs, partisan battles move center-stage in health care debate

As health reform progresses in Congress, President Obama may have to wade into a partisan debate of the most divisive issues, including Medicaid expansion, illegal immigration and abortion.

16 Sep 2009