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FRC President Tony Perkins comments on President Obama's speech

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following comments in reaction to President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress.

10 Sep 2009

Payments to Medicare’s private plans at risk in Democrats' reform proposals

As part of their effort to find funds for universal health coverage, Democrats have targeted federal subsidies for Medicare's private plans.

10 Sep 2009

USAction urges Congress to pass quality and affordable health care reform

Responding to President Obama's address to Congress Wednesday evening, USAction President William McNary called on Congress to represent the interests of the American people - not the insurance companies - and pass quality, affordable health care reform with a public health insurance option.

10 Sep 2009

Obama to Congress and the nation: 'I will not accept the status quo'

Shaking off a summer of setbacks, President Barack Obama summoned Congress to enact sweeping health care legislation Wednesday night, declaring the 'time for bickering is over' and the moment has arrived to protect millions who have unreliable insurance or no coverage at all.

10 Sep 2009

Health care reforms opposed by majority of industrial distributors

By a four-to-one margin, industrial distributors are solidly against government being part of any health care reform package, according to a survey conducted by Industrial Distribution magazine (www.Inddist.com). The survey of 634 distributors also shows that 89 percent of the respondents are satisfied with their existing health care.

10 Sep 2009

Polio vaccination resumes in Pakistan's Swat Valley

"Authorities in Pakistan's Swat Valley have resumed vaccinating children for polio, an act once banned by Taliban militants, now beaten back by an army offensive," the Associated Press reports. The three-day campaign, which started on Monday, is targeting about 215,000 children, said government official Khurshid Khan.

10 Sep 2009

WHO's Chan says swine flu will 'test' world on 'fairness'

Addressing a meeting of South East Asian health ministers Tuesday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic will "test the world on the issue of fairness" and "reveal in a measurable and tragic way the consequences of decades of failure to invest adequately in basic health systems and infrastructure,"

10 Sep 2009

Harkin to take the helm of Senate health committee

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that Sen. Tom Harkin — a progressive liberal and ardent supporter of President Barack Obama's plan to create a public insurance plan — will take over the health and education committee."

10 Sep 2009

Dodd rejects HELP chairmanship, skeptical Dems sound off on reform

The Washington Post: "Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) has decided against succeeding his close friend and mentor, the late Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) as chairman of the Senate's health committee, a senior Senate aide said Tuesday night. ... Dodd's decision leaves the chairmanship of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who follows Dodd in seniority. Multiple sources in the Harkin orbit, requesting anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that he is certain to take over the HELP committee" (Kane, 8/8).

10 Sep 2009

South East Asian health ministers adopt declaration to improve disaster preparedness, address childhood diarrhea

Health ministers from 11 member states in the WHO's South East Asian region on Tuesday at the 62nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for South East Asia adopted the Kathmandu Declaration on Protecting Health Facilities from Disasters, which commits them to make health facilities better prepared for health emergencies, Republica reports.

10 Sep 2009

Health care reform must contain a strong public option: Amalgamated Transit Union

"With Congress set to return from a month-long August recess this week, negotiations will begin once again on comprehensive health care reform legislation. Sadly, after having been bombarded by crowds of extremists at town hall meetings, many of our elected representatives, including some whom we helped to elect, are beginning to back away from one of the most crucial elements of health care reform - the public option.

10 Sep 2009

Consumer Watchdog urges President Obama not to sacrifice malpractice victims

President Obama should not make innocent Americans injured by cost-cutting hospitals and negligent doctors a political sacrifice in his quest for health care reform, said Consumer Watchdog in advance of the President's health care speech tonight.

10 Sep 2009

Free, online self-assessment quiz helps assess health and lifestyle risks for PAD

As recent medical studies continue to highlight the seriousness of peripheral arterial disease (or PAD) and its association with heart attack, stroke and early mortality, the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation recommends that older Americans, smokers and diabetics take its free, online self-assessment quiz.

10 Sep 2009

Society of Interventional Radiology's resources emphasize on PAD

The Society of Interventional Radiology offers numerous resources just in time for September's national peripheral arterial disease (or PAD) awareness month. As recent medical studies continue to highlight the seriousness of PAD, these resources are welcome additions to libraries for interventional radiologists and primary care physicians who want to learn more about minimally invasive treatments for this disease that affects an estimated 10 million people in the United States.

10 Sep 2009

In congressional speech, Obama reaches for game-changer

"Reaching for a game-changer, President Barack Obama is beset by conflicting goals in a prime-time address Wednesday expected to detail just how he wants to expand health care coverage and lower medical costs while signaling to a deeply divided Congress that he's ready to deal. And show the public he's in control," The Associated Press reports.

10 Sep 2009

Health care reform should ensure coverage is more affordable: America's Health Insurance Plans

"We agree the status quo is not sustainable. That is why health plans last year did something industries rarely do: stepped up and offered solutions to address the health care concerns raised by the American people.

10 Sep 2009

Preventive-care TB therapy is cost-effective for patients

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers have found that the cost of preventive antibiotic tuberculosis (TB) therapy for patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is generally less expensive than the reported cost of treating newly confirmed TB cases.

10 Sep 2009

Hospital executives weigh benefits, risks of health reform

Hospital executives are balancing their hopes that expanded coverage will provide a windfall for facilities now burdened by uncompensated care with their fears that government intervention, such as the possible creation of a public insurance option, could cut into their revenues, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

10 Sep 2009

Elsevier announces new publishing partnership with CCHSE

Elsevier, world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce a new publishing partnership with the Canadian College of Health Service Executives (CCHSE). The College's official journal, Healthcare Management Forum (HMF), will be published by Elsevier beginning in 2010.

10 Sep 2009

Federal judge finds New York State discriminated against mentally ill

The New York Times reports: "New York State discriminated against thousands of mentally ill people in New York City by leaving them in privately run adult homes, which effectively replaced state-run psychiatric hospitals more than a generation ago but turned out to be little more than institutions themselves, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday."

10 Sep 2009