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High-risk pools begin taking applications in some states

The Dallas Morning News: The federal government began accepting applications Thursday for coverage through high-risk insurance pools from people who have been unable to obtain insurance on the commercial market due to pre-existing conditions. "To be eligible, people must be uninsured for at least six months and have been turned down for coverage by a private insurer because of a medical problem. Applications for the insurance are available online at www.HealthCare.gov. Coverage starts Aug. 1" (Boderson, 7/2).

3 Jul 2010

Antibacterial ingredient in honey identified

Sweet news for those looking for new antibiotics: A new research published in the July 2010 print edition of the FASEB Journal explains for the first time how honey kills bacteria. Specifically, the research shows that bees make a protein that they add to the honey, called defensin-1, which could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

30 Jun 2010

Health law provisions kicking in; States prepare for high-risk insurance pool implementation

Three months after health reform was enacted, state leaders are beginning to make decisions about implementing the new law, Politico reports: "With the messy politics of health reform, the burden of balancing state budgets and the goal of expanding health coverage, lawmakers at the state level have had mixed reactions."

30 Jun 2010

High-risk health insurance pools opening soon

News outlets examine how states are coping with covering hard-to-insure people, confusion about insuring young adults and a COBRA subsidy extension.

28 Jun 2010

Mass. panel overturns cap on insurer's premiums; Calif. finds 'substantial' errors in planned premium increase

A Massachusetts "insurance appeals board yesterday overturned the state's cap on health premium increases for small business and individual customers covered by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care." The panel "found that rate increases Harvard Pilgrim initially sought in April are reasonable given what it must pay to hospitals and doctors. That ruling trumped the Insurance Division's earlier finding that the requested increases were excessive, a view that reflects Governor Deval Patrick's campaign to curb health costs. Insurers yesterday cheered the ruling" (Abelson and Wallack, 6/25).

25 Jun 2010

UC Irvine researchers create "plastic antibodies"

UC Irvine researchers have developed the first "plastic antibodies" successfully employed in live organisms - stopping the spread of bee venom through the bloodstream of mice.

22 Jun 2010

N.Y. tries to get more patients in clinical drug trials; Atlanta hospitals create partnerships

In New York, state medical centers and drug makers have begun an effort to address a problem associated with clinical drug trials: "getting patients to sign up. More than 3,000 clinical trials are actively recruiting in New York state, and an additional 8,000 trials involving New York are already running or were recently completed, according to the government clinical trials registry. Patient recruitment is one of the top reasons that clinical trials are delayed or fail, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

19 Jun 2010

State round up: Colo. to delay Medicaid pay to doctors; La. Legislature passes law requiring ultrasounds before an abortion

"Colorado has declared a fiscal emergency and delayed payments to doctors and clinics taking care of the state's neediest patients. Under state law, the Medicaid department can delay reimbursements to doctors, hospitals and clinics during a fiscal emergency. Physicians treating patients with the health-insurance plan for the poor will not receive normally scheduled payments on June 25 or July 2, a hardship for safety-net clinics in particular that rely on public funds. State officials said they would begin catching up on payments July 9 after a new fiscal year begins" (Brown, 6/17).

18 Jun 2010

Scientists develop plastic antibody that works in bloodstream of living animal

Scientists are reporting the first evidence that a plastic antibody - an artificial version of the proteins produced by the body's immune system to recognize and fight infections and foreign substances - works in the bloodstream of a living animal. The discovery, they suggest in a report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, is an advance toward medical use of simple plastic particles custom tailored to fight an array of troublesome "antigens."

10 Jun 2010

Poll says more than half of Californians support health overhaul

Half of Californian voters support the new health care law, but many say "it's only a first of many necessary changes," The Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News reports. "In 1,522 telephone surveys of registered voters conducted in April, Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo says 30 percent strongly support the nation's new health care law, and another 22 percent somewhat support it. Compared to previous national polls, the new law is more popular in California than the rest of the country."

4 Jun 2010

Today's OpEds: New Republic and National Review on health law; Conservative bloggers blast CBO numbers

The shouting war over health reform's effect on the budget got a little louder today when the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, pushed back at conservative bloggers who are saying federal officials were disingenuous about the real costs of the law (Kate Steadman, 6/2).

4 Jun 2010

Top physicians offer health advice to help people survive during summer

This summer a variety of top physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital are offering health advice to help survive the travails that come with one of the most active seasons of the year.

3 Jun 2010

Feds crack down on health care fraud in California, Florida

The Sacramento Bee reports: "Three Sacramento-area residents are among 11 people, including five doctors, accused of participating in a Medicare fraud ring. ... From February 2006 through August 2008, the defendants are alleged to have operated three health-care clinics -- in Sacramento, Carmichael and Richmond -- that submitted more than $5 million in allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare" (Locke, 5/25).

27 May 2010

States combat health costs, workforce and safety issues

"The Massachusetts Senate is weighing a bill aimed at curbing soaring health care costs for individuals and small businesses. Senate President Therese Murray says the bill will ease market instability, smooth out annual fluctuations in premiums and require insurers [to] offer affordable small business plans" (5/18).

19 May 2010

Schwarzenegger budget proposal cuts in-home care

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his latest spending plan for the financially strapped state on Friday, and news coverage focused on the deep cuts he is proposing.

17 May 2010

Axcess International first-quarter net loss increases to $1,118,732

Axcess International Inc., a leader in local area Wireless ID solutions, today reported results for the quarter ending March 31, 2010.

14 May 2010

Cities struggle to pay for health benefits for active, retired workers

The Sacramento Bee reports that 12 of 13 school districts in Sacramento County don't have enough money to pay for their retirees' health benefits "and are not setting aside money to pay for them, according to a grand jury report released Monday."

12 May 2010

Parents, young adult children eagerly await health insurance expansion

The provision of the new health law that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plan is in the news.

10 May 2010

Wellpoint cancels 39-percent rate hikes in California

Anthem Blue Cross, a California-based unit of WellPoint withdrew its request to hike rates by up to 39 percent for some policyholders after state regulators concluded its plan included "all kinds of methodological mistakes," the Los Angeles Times reports.

3 May 2010