Health and Human Services News and Research

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Progressive groups offer support for maintaining Medicaid requirements

The nation's governors are will be in Washington this weekend for the National Governors Association winter meeting. Budget issues, especially related to Medicaid spending and other health costs, will be a hot topic.

28 Feb 2011

CTSI awards NYU one-year pilot grant to assess feasibility of hemoglobin A1C diabetes test

New York University's Clinical and Translational Science Institute has awarded an NYU nursing-dental research team a one-year pilot grant to assess the feasibility of using gingival crevicular blood from periodontal patients to gauge hemoglobin A1C -- a blood glucose measurement -- as a means of diagnosing diabetes and identifying pre-diabetes.

28 Feb 2011

Study: Kinship caregivers receive fewer support services than foster parents

Children who are placed with a relative because of mistreatment at home fare better in some areas than those placed in foster care, but they may have a higher risk of substance use and teenage pregnancy.

28 Feb 2011

AHRQ: $52.2 billion spent on prescription drugs for treatment of metabolic conditions during 2008

Insurers and consumers spent $52.2 billion on prescription drugs in 2008 for outpatient treatment of metabolic conditions such as diabetes and elevated cholesterol, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 Feb 2011

NIH-funded study finds way to reduce transmission of malaria to humans

Spraying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes with a genetically modified fungus can kill the malaria parasite without harming the mosquito, potentially reducing malaria transmission to humans, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, the study was led by Raymond J. St. Leger, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, College Park.

25 Feb 2011

State News: Ga. Senate oks insurance mandates bill; Va. Assembly says abortion clinics should be regulated as hospitals

State agencies, county prosecutors, insurance companies, and health care employers and associations are mandatory reporters — they're required to report potentially dangerous and unprofessional doctors to medical regulators, who can bar the doctors from practicing and keep patients out of harm's way. But the mandatory reporters sound few alarms, and when they do, regulators rarely take action, the Tribune found.

25 Feb 2011

Affordable Care Act provides states with flexibility and resources to improve health care benefits

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a new report showing that the Affordable Care Act provides states with significant flexibility and resources to improve health care benefits and protect consumers. Already, the law has provided or offered $2.8 billion in funding to States. This is a fraction of the total funding available under the law to help States implement new consumer protections, expand health coverage, and improve health care quality.

25 Feb 2011

HHS offers new grants to help states with insurance rate reviews

These grants are designed to assist states in creating or enhancing their reviews of the premiums charged by health insurance companies.

25 Feb 2011

First Edition: February 25, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about developments in New York's Medicaid program and other state-level news.

25 Feb 2011

Researchers explain genetic differences that distinguish early-transmitting HIVs-viruses

A new finding from scientists at the National Institutes of Health could help efforts to design vaccines and other prevention tools to block HIV in the early stages of sexual transmission, before infection takes hold. Researchers at the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have helped explain genetic differences that can distinguish some early-transmitting HIVs-viruses found in an infected individual within the first month after infection-from forms of HIV isolated later in infection.

25 Feb 2011

Journal of Clinical Virology publishes positive outcome from CMX001 treatment against AdV infection

Chimerix, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing orally-available antiviral therapeutics, today announced the publication of the first reported case in which adenovirus infection was successfully eradicated following treatment with its broad-spectrum antiviral drug, CMX001.

25 Feb 2011

Longer looks: Best health policy picks from thought-provoking publications

Last week, in the largest nationwide bust of its kind ever, more than 700 federal agents fanned out from Miami to Los Angeles and rounded up 111 doctors, nurses, physical therapists and health company executives in nine cities.

25 Feb 2011

Roundup: In Ariz., Senate panel takes steps to end Medicaid; Mass. Gov. starts sales pitch for payment reform

A Republican proposal to retain solvency in a key state health care fund is making headway at the Capitol, despite the tumultuous ride reform has taken this session. The fund — which supports MinnesotaCare, a state-sponsored program for about 140,000 "working poor" residents — is set to run a $150 million deficit by 2013.

25 Feb 2011

Study: Rare genetic mutations may provide clues to improve treatment for schizophrenia

Scientists are eyeing a rare genetic glitch for clues to improved treatments for some people with schizophrenia - even though they found the mutation in only one third of 1 percent of patients.

25 Feb 2011

MedInformatix, University Radiology work together to implement Federal Government-certified technology

University Radiology Group, New Jersey's largest provider of subspecialty radiology and teleradiology services, is working with MedInformatix Inc. to implement Federal Government-certified technology that enables medical practices to achieve Stage 1 meaningful use goals and objectives under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for Health Information Technology.

25 Feb 2011

State roundup: Budget cuts to affect health care for state workers, disabled, elderly

A year after making a name for himself by slashing spending, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie presented a $29.4 billion budget on Tuesday that makes nips and tucks to programs—notably Medicaid—but puts much of the state in a holding pattern.

24 Feb 2011

HHS issues home health grants to states

In other Medicaid news, the Obama administration has dispatched experts to go into the field to help budget-strapped states find ways to save money on the health insurance program for the poor.

24 Feb 2011

Study: Newborn screening for hemoglobin H disease can reduce mortality rate

A new and groundbreaking study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland hematologists is the first of its type to examine the natural history of heritable blood disorder hemoglobin H (HbH) which is on the rise in the United States.

24 Feb 2011

New study: PCBs linked to embryo implantation failure during IVF

According to a new study published February 24 in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives, serum polychlorinated biphenyls at concentrations found in the general U.S. population are associated with the failure of fertilized embryos to implant in the uterus after in vitro fertilization.

24 Feb 2011

MassHealth call center earns Center of Excellence designation

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services, announced today that its Massachusetts Health Benefits Customer Service project call center has once again been recognized as a "Certified Center of Excellence" by BenchmarkPortal in collaboration with the Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue Research Park.

23 Feb 2011

Health and Human Services News and Research

Progressive groups offer support for maintaining Medicaid requirements

CTSI awards NYU one-year pilot grant to assess feasibility of hemoglobin A1C diabetes test

Study: Kinship caregivers receive fewer support services than foster parents

AHRQ: $52.2 billion spent on prescription drugs for treatment of metabolic conditions during 2008

NIH-funded study finds way to reduce transmission of malaria to humans

State News: Ga. Senate oks insurance mandates bill; Va. Assembly says abortion clinics should be regulated as hospitals

Affordable Care Act provides states with flexibility and resources to improve health care benefits

HHS offers new grants to help states with insurance rate reviews

First Edition: February 25, 2011

Researchers explain genetic differences that distinguish early-transmitting HIVs-viruses

Journal of Clinical Virology publishes positive outcome from CMX001 treatment against AdV infection

Longer looks: Best health policy picks from thought-provoking publications

Roundup: In Ariz., Senate panel takes steps to end Medicaid; Mass. Gov. starts sales pitch for payment reform

Study: Rare genetic mutations may provide clues to improve treatment for schizophrenia

MedInformatix, University Radiology work together to implement Federal Government-certified technology

State roundup: Budget cuts to affect health care for state workers, disabled, elderly

HHS issues home health grants to states

Study: Newborn screening for hemoglobin H disease can reduce mortality rate

New study: PCBs linked to embryo implantation failure during IVF

MassHealth call center earns Center of Excellence designation

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