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SAMHSA: 4.8% U.S. adults suffer from serious mental illness

According to new results from a national survey, 19.9 percent of American adults in the United States (45.1 million) have experienced mental illness over the past year. The survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that 11 million adults (4.8 percent) in the U.S. suffered serious mental illness in the past year a diagnosable mental disorder has substantially interfered with, or limited one or more major life activities.

19 Nov 2010

Health law revision suggestions pour in from lawmakers, groups

Kaiser Health News reports that vulnerable Democrats are looking for alternatives to the health law's mandate that nearly all Americans carry health insurance. "Under political pressure as a result of the new health law, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has asked the Government Accountability Office to study alternatives to the controversial mandate requiring most Americans to obtain coverage." Because Nelson is from a typically "red" state, Republicans have targeted him as one Democrat willing to play ball on scaling back the law (Vaida, 11/17).

19 Nov 2010

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation launches projects to improve care, reduce cost

Kaiser Health News: "Promising fast action, the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is launching a series of initiatives aimed at improving medical care while reducing its cost, officials said Tuesday. ... In one initiative, eight states will participate in a Medicare demonstration project to evaluate the effectiveness of doctors and other health professionals working 'in a more integrated fashion and receiving more coordinated payment,' according to CMS, the parent agency of the center and a part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

18 Nov 2010

Researchers reveal mechanism of early-stage anthrax infection

Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined a key mechanism by which Bacillus anthracis bacteria initiate anthrax infection despite being greatly outnumbered by immune system scavenger cells. The finding, made by studying genetically modified mice, adds new detail to the picture of early-stage anthrax infection and supports efforts to develop vaccines and drugs that would block this part of the cycle.

18 Nov 2010

AMIA's Annual Symposium provides informatics program for work force

The 34th Annual Symposium on Biomedical and Health Informatics opened this week with keynote speaker Susan Dentzer, editor in chief of Health Affairs, addressing a crowd of more than two thousand professionals who are central to modernizing the nation's health sector by applying the science of informatics to a variety of specialized health domains, including public health, clinical practice, clinical research, and translational bioinformatics.

17 Nov 2010

TexanPlus HMO provides affordable access to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs

TexanPlus HMO powered by CCRx, a Medicare Advantage plan offered through the Universal American's family of healthcare companies, will provide broad and affordable access to LIPITOR and CRESTOR, two popular cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs.

17 Nov 2010

One in seven Medicare patients harmed by problems in hospital, HHS report finds

The New York Times: "One of every seven Medicare beneficiaries who is hospitalized is harmed as a result of problems with the medical care there, according to a new study [.pdf] from the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services. The study said unexpected adverse events added at least $4.4 billion a year to government health costs and contributed to the deaths of about 180,000 patients a year."

17 Nov 2010

Medicare roundup: Payment cuts irk healthcare industry; officials mull new prostate-cancer treatment

Doctors across the United States are taking a wait-and-see approach while Congress decides whether or not to allow a scheduled 23% cut in Medicare reimbursement rates to take effect on Dec. 1.

17 Nov 2010

States seek ways to balance Medicaid budget, contemplate dropping out of program

Kaiser Health News: "As budget-weary state officials contemplate dropping out of the state-federal Medicaid program, a potentially game-changing question has arisen in Washington: Would poor people who lose Medicaid be eligible for subsidies to buy private coverage in an insurance exchange beginning in 2014? Cindy Mann, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations, last week said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was considering the question.

16 Nov 2010

Yukon receives grant under QTDP program for SmartMix delivery platform

Yukon Medical, LLC, a medical device firm located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is proud to announce it has received a grant under the 2010 Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) for their SmartMix delivery platform.

16 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Congress needs conservative leadership; reviving tort reform; can states afford to drop Medicaid?

Nothing has gone quite so awry as the massive, government-run Obama health program, and it is plain that the individual mandate, the employee mandate, the abortion funding, the tangle of outsider/insider councils like the comparative effectiveness board and the effective nationalization of healthcare under grants of authority to the Department of Health and Human Services.

16 Nov 2010

OncoEMR certified as Complete EHR by CCHIT

Altos Solutions, Inc. today announced that OncoEMR Version 2.6 is the first oncology-specific electronic medical record (EMR) to be certified as 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on November 11, 2010 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

16 Nov 2010

HHS seeking to publish new health insurance data

The Department of Health and Human Services is working on regulations that would allow it to publish additional in-depth health insurance data, including the number of people enrolled in each insurance plan.

16 Nov 2010

Graphic images of negative consequences of smoking have greatest impact on smokers

Marketing researchers at the University of Arkansas, Villanova University and Marquette University surveyed more than 500 U.S. and Canadian smokers and found that the highly graphic images of the negative consequences of smoking have the greatest impact on smokers' intentions to quit. The most graphic images, such as those showing severe mouth diseases, including disfigured, blackened and cancerous tissue, evoked fear about the consequences of smoking and thus influenced consumer intentions to quit.

15 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

California has moved quickly to implement key provisions of the federal health care overhaul law, including a health benefits exchange, but the exchange and California's plans could be vulnerable as House Republicans threaten to starve the federal health program of funding.

15 Nov 2010

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

After Republicans in the Texas legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal to opt out of Medicaid last week, experts are trying to determine how serious they are, and whether other states are likely to follow suit, Kaiser Health News reports.

15 Nov 2010

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

Republicans aren't softening their tough criticism of the health law even as they seek Democratic allies to join them in their bid to repeal the overhaul.

15 Nov 2010

SAMHSA awards grants to improve care for children with mental health challenges

Half of all lifetime cases of mental and substance use disorders begin by age 14 and three-fourths by age 24. Proven interventions can prevent future disorders and mitigate the symptoms. To support communities and help families with the best mental health services available for children, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding nine new grants for a total of up to $70.9 million over the next six years to develop and expand systems of care for children and youth with serious mental health challenges and their families.

14 Nov 2010

TCA Cellular Therapy receives QTDP grant for adult stem cell therapies

TCA Cellular Therapy was recently awarded a Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Program (QTDP) grant from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program was highly competitive with nearly seven thousand applicants vying for funding.

14 Nov 2010

Female veterans less likely to engage in binge drinking

According to a new spotlight by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), female veterans aged 20-39 are far less likely to engage in binge drinking or the use of substances such as cigarettes and illicit drugs than male veterans of the same age group.

12 Nov 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

SAMHSA: 4.8% U.S. adults suffer from serious mental illness

Health law revision suggestions pour in from lawmakers, groups

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation launches projects to improve care, reduce cost

Researchers reveal mechanism of early-stage anthrax infection

AMIA's Annual Symposium provides informatics program for work force

TexanPlus HMO provides affordable access to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs

One in seven Medicare patients harmed by problems in hospital, HHS report finds

Medicare roundup: Payment cuts irk healthcare industry; officials mull new prostate-cancer treatment

States seek ways to balance Medicaid budget, contemplate dropping out of program

Yukon receives grant under QTDP program for SmartMix delivery platform

Today's Op-Eds: Congress needs conservative leadership; reviving tort reform; can states afford to drop Medicaid?

OncoEMR certified as Complete EHR by CCHIT

HHS seeking to publish new health insurance data

Graphic images of negative consequences of smoking have greatest impact on smokers

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

SAMHSA awards grants to improve care for children with mental health challenges

TCA Cellular Therapy receives QTDP grant for adult stem cell therapies

Female veterans less likely to engage in binge drinking

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