Health Care News and Research

RSS

Lawmakers face angry constituents in town hall meetings

NPR: "Many of the events this week appear to have been organized by conservative groups. A new Web site is called 'Operation Embarrass Your Congressman.' A widely circulated memo tells right-wing protesters how to treat their representative: 'Make him uneasy... stand up and shout out, and sit right back down... rattle him.'" The man who wrote the memo belongs to the conservative group Tea Party Patriots.

6 Aug 2009

Seniors defend Medicare Advantage plans

USA Today reports that Medicare Advantage, which allows seniors to buy Medicare coverage through private insurance companies, could provide one of the largest spending cuts for Congress to pay for an overhaul of the health care system though "President Obama has called (it) a 'wasteful' subsidy for the health insurance industry

6 Aug 2009

Moving to U.S. increases cancer risk for Hispanics

Results of a new study confirm trends that different Hispanic population groups have higher incidence rates of certain cancers and worse cancer outcomes if they live in the United States, than they do if they live in their homelands.

6 Aug 2009

Insurers say Democratic 'villain' comments on reform hurtful to process

Karen Ignagni, the health industry's chief lobbyist, said Tuesday that insurers were being singled out and vilified for their role in health care reform when they are the ones trying to reform the system, The New York Times reports.

6 Aug 2009

Even while considering major overhaul, Democrats expand government role in public health

"As if hedging their bets on health reform, Democrats are emphasizing smaller but still significant health-related investments this year, from food safety and community health centers to a greater emphasis on rooting out abuses in Medicare and Medicaid," Politico reports.

6 Aug 2009

2 billion worldwide could het H1N1, says WHO

The WHO on Tuesday maintained that roughly two billion people could become infected with the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, Reuters reports.

6 Aug 2009

Health bills create tension over abortion coverage

The Associated Press reports: "Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue.

6 Aug 2009

Checking in with health insurers' chief lobbyist Karen Ignagni

This has become an especially rough-and-tumble time for Karen Ignagni, the health industry’s chief lobbyist. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has denounced insurers as “villains,” and President Obama has criticized the industry for its “windfall profits.” Earlier this year, Ignagni pledged to work with Obama and Congress to pass major health care legislation this year, but relations have cooled as the White House and congressional Democrats have begun citing the industry’s practices as a top reason to pass an overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

6 Aug 2009

Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest is cost-effective

A brain-preserving cooling treatment called therapeutic hypothermia is a cost-effective way to improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 300,000 people each year in the United States and leaves thousands of others neurologically devastated.

6 Aug 2009

CNN poll finds Americans' opinons are divided regarding the President's health reform push

Americans appear split over the president's push for health care reform, a new CNN poll has found. "Fifty percent of those questioned in CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday morning say they support the president's plans, with 45 percent opposed.

6 Aug 2009

In health care debate, small businesses are key

"As they work to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, President Obama and his congressional allies have pledged to help small-business owners such as Rhonda Ealy and Kelli Glasser," The Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Aug 2009

Obama administration takes on opposition attacks, rallies Senate Democrats

President Obama and his Administration launched "a coordinated effort Tuesday to combat what it calls a 'viral whisper campaign' against health reform, Politico reports.

5 Aug 2009

In Kenya, Clinton calls on African leaders to promote good governance, women's rights

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday in Kenya "re-affirmed the new U.S. administration's commitment towards expanding its partnership with African countries, expressing optimism in the continent's long-term potential for growth and development," VOA News reports.

5 Aug 2009

Medicare proposes capping home health care agency payments

The Miami Herald reports: "Fueled by massive fraud, home healthcare providers in Miami-Dade County are raking in more Medicare money than their colleagues in the rest of the country combined -- thanks to bogus billings for patients with diabetes, authorities say.

5 Aug 2009

Indian Government asks UNICEF to stop distribution of nutrition aid

"The increasingly heated fight over health-care legislation is saturating the summer airwaves, with groups on all sides of the debate pouring tens of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns designed to push the cause of reform forward, slow it down or stop it in its tracks," the Washington Post reports.

5 Aug 2009

Interest groups crowd airwaves, pursue lawmakers

5 Aug 2009

States confront budget pressure, anticipate reform

States are grappling with budget cuts, trying to anticipate the effects of Washington's health system overhaul and rejiggering Medicaid programs.

5 Aug 2009

Ghana seeks to eliminate malaria

In October, Ghana's Ministry of Health plans to begin a national program to eliminate malaria with the goal of being the first country in Africa to eradicate the disease, George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, the minister of health, said recently at the 74th Annual Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, GNA/Homepage Ghana reports. Yankey cited the looming threat of the malaria parasite's resistance to artemisinin therapy (8/3).

5 Aug 2009

Plans to control doctors' pay big in Massachusetts, not so much in Washington

Massachusetts officials are proud of their low rate of uninsured people, but the state also hosts the highest health care costs in the country, a problem that jeopardizes their achievement in expanding coverage, NPR's Morning Edition reports.

5 Aug 2009

Washington Post examines future of USAID, foreign policy reports Farmer no longer under consideration for agency top spot

USAID, "the main U.S. foreign aid agency is in limbo, entering its seventh month without a permanent director despite pledges by the Obama administration to expand development assistance and improve its effectiveness in poor countries," the Washington Post reports in an article examining the agency's prospects and concerns that changes could reduce its clout.

5 Aug 2009