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HHS announces new $30 million Consumer Assistance Grants program awards

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced new Consumer Assistance Grants program awards of nearly $30 million to help states and territories put patients in charge of their health care. These grants will support states' efforts to establish or strengthen consumer assistance programs that provide direct services to consumers with questions or concerns regarding their health insurance.

20 Oct 2010

NIAID announces four new contracts for clinical trials to address problem of antimicrobial resistance

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced four new contracts for large-scale clinical trials that address the problem of antimicrobial resistance.

20 Oct 2010

Hospital mortality rates decline by 7.98% from 2007 to 2009

A new independent study by HealthGrades of patient outcomes at America's hospitals found that patients at 5-star rated hospitals had a 72% lower risk of dying when compared with patients at 1-star-rated hospitals -- an enormous gap that has held steady over the past years even as overall mortality rates have improved.

20 Oct 2010

Project LAUNCH receives $19 million from SAMHSA

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding over $19 million in Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children's Health) grants to tribal and community-based programs over the next five years. Project LAUNCH promotes the wellness of children from birth to eight years of age by addressing the physical, emotional, social, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development.

20 Oct 2010

NHLBI launches multicenter study of body cooling treatment in infants and children after cardiac arrest

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched the first large-scale, multicenter study to investigate the effectiveness of body cooling treatment in infants and children who have had cardiac arrest. The Therapeutic Hypothermia after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest (THAPCA) trials total more than $21 million over six years.

20 Oct 2010

Feds ask Connecticut to reconsider rate hike approval, other health law implementation news

The Hartford Courant reports that a high-ranking health official in the Obama administration has asked Connecticut insurance regulators to reconsider allowing Blue Cross Blue Shield in Connecticut to raise health insurance rates by as much as 47 percent.

20 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 19, 2010

Today's major health policy headlines include reports about the latest developments in Virginia's court challenge against the health law, a U.S. government lawsuit targeting Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield for anti-trust activities and a study about the Department of Health and Human Services' Hospital Compare.

19 Oct 2010

Iraqi Cultural Center to host first-of its-kind public discussion among behavioral health specialists

On Oct 21, 2010, the Iraqi Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. will host a first-of its-kind public discussion among behavioral health specialists from Iraq and the U.S. about Iraq's increasingly effective behavioral healthcare programs and how the lessons learned in treating severe trauma there can be applied in the U.S. and elsewhere.

19 Oct 2010

New ADNI-GO effort enables researchers to study Alzheimer's disease

Volunteers in New York, NY are being sought for a clinical study examining the subtle changes that may take place in the brains of older people many years before overt symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) appear. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are specifically looking for people with the very earliest complaints of memory problems that affect their daily activities. The study will follow participants over time, using imaging techniques specifically developed to advance research into changes taking place in the structure and function of the living brain, as well as biomarker measures found in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.

19 Oct 2010

Scientists complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Lyme disease bacteria

Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have determined the complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The achievement should lead to a better understanding of how genetic variations among strains may result in different courses of illness in people with Lyme disease, the most common tickborne disease in North America. The wealth of new genetic data will also help scientists develop improved ways to diagnose, treat and prevent Lyme disease.

19 Oct 2010

HHS awards $4.8 million grant for Teen Prevention Education Program

The Princeton Center for Leadership Training (PCLT), in collaboration with long-time partner HiTOPS, was awarded a five-year, $4.8 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to replicate and evaluate a teen sexual health peer education program, known as the Teen Prevention Education Program (Teen PEP), in 16 high schools in rural North Carolina communities with high teen birth rates.

18 Oct 2010

Possibilities of genetics research, personalized medicine, and behavioral intervention

Personalized medicine - improving the fit between patient and treatment - has become a major focus of research in fields from cancer treatment to the psychopharmacology of mental disorders. Genetic studies have suggested that an individual's genetic makeup renders him either more or less sensitive to stressful social environments - but can an individual's unique genotype also determine the effectiveness of preventative or therapeutic behavioral interventions?

18 Oct 2010

Health law's new patient-centered outcomes board takes shape; More insurance waiver requests expected

The Washington Post reports on a new entity: the Board of Governors of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. "If you're not familiar with the board, you're not alone. Created by the health-care overhaul law, it's one of the newest and least known panels in government. But the work of its 21 members, if successful, could increase the public's knowledge of medical treatments for everything from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder to cancer.

18 Oct 2010

Oseltamivir reduces mortality in influenza A/H5N1 patients

A study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases indicates that treatment with oseltamivir significantly reduces mortality in patients with influenza A/H5N1, or 'bird flu', even when given late in the course of illness.

15 Oct 2010

SAMHSA awards grants to expand substance abuse treatment in offender reentry programs

Nearly 650,000 people are released from state and federal prison yearly and arrive on the doorsteps of communities nationwide. A far greater number reenter communities from local jails.

15 Oct 2010

SAMHSA awards grants to provide integrated substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is awarding up to $52.5 million for up to five years in cooperative agreements (grants) to provide integrated substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services to at-risk, traditionally underserved populations.

15 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 14, 2010

Today's headlines examine the Obama administration's efforts to work with insurers to keep coverage options for children, the latest campaign news on the health overhaul and a major government crackdown on a Medicare fraud ring.

14 Oct 2010

Center for Global Health faculty to participate in consortium to enhance medical knowledge in Nigeria

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is among the U.S. medical schools and universities involved in an initiative to invest $130 million over five years to transform African medical education and dramatically increase the number of health workers.

14 Oct 2010

White House will delay W-2 insurance reporting requirement, other health reform news

CongressDaily reports that the Obama administration announced Tuesday it will delay for one year a provision of the health law that requires employers to report the value of an employee's health plan on tax forms. The White House says the extra time is necessary to give employers time to prepare to comply with the requirement. "Under the overhaul law, all employers who provide health insurance are required to include the information on workers' tax forms after 2010.

14 Oct 2010

Planned Parenthood launches campaign for free contraceptives as part of health law

NPR's Shots blog reports that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is joining Planned Parenthood on a campaign to allow free prescription contraceptives as part of the health reform law.

14 Oct 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

HHS announces new $30 million Consumer Assistance Grants program awards

NIAID announces four new contracts for clinical trials to address problem of antimicrobial resistance

Hospital mortality rates decline by 7.98% from 2007 to 2009

Project LAUNCH receives $19 million from SAMHSA

NHLBI launches multicenter study of body cooling treatment in infants and children after cardiac arrest

Feds ask Connecticut to reconsider rate hike approval, other health law implementation news

First Edition: October 19, 2010

Iraqi Cultural Center to host first-of its-kind public discussion among behavioral health specialists

New ADNI-GO effort enables researchers to study Alzheimer's disease

Scientists complete genetic blueprints for 13 different strains of Lyme disease bacteria

HHS awards $4.8 million grant for Teen Prevention Education Program

Possibilities of genetics research, personalized medicine, and behavioral intervention

Health law's new patient-centered outcomes board takes shape; More insurance waiver requests expected

Oseltamivir reduces mortality in influenza A/H5N1 patients

SAMHSA awards grants to expand substance abuse treatment in offender reentry programs

SAMHSA awards grants to provide integrated substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services

First Edition: October 14, 2010

Center for Global Health faculty to participate in consortium to enhance medical knowledge in Nigeria

White House will delay W-2 insurance reporting requirement, other health reform news

Planned Parenthood launches campaign for free contraceptives as part of health law

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