Health and Human Services News and Research

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HHS issues interim rules for grandfathered health plans

The government suggested that under a highly complicated interim rule released today more than half of employer-sponsored health plans could lose their special status that shields them from some aspects of the new health overhaul. The administration outlined "a number of ways health plans could lose their grandfathered status. Plans that substantially eliminate benefits to diagnose or treat a particular condition would lose the status, for instance.

15 Jun 2010

Ingen Technologies' new SMART Nasal Cannula unveiled at Alpha-1 19th National Education Conference

Ingen Technologies, Inc., a medical device manufacturer with an emerging new medical product line for the respiratory market worth an estimated $4 billion in the U.S. and $8 billion globally, unveiled their new SMART Nasal Cannula in Orlando-Florida last week at the Alpha-1 19th Annual National Education Conference.

14 Jun 2010

New report provides state-by-state analyses of substance abuse, mental illness patterns

A new report providing state-by-state analyses of substance abuse and mental illness patterns reveals that despite wide variations among the states in the types and levels of behavioral health problems they experience -- every state suffers from these problems. For example, among those aged 12 and older, Iowa had less than one third the current illicit drug use rate of Rhode Island (4.1 percent vs. 13.3 percent) - yet Iowa's population aged 12 and older was among the group of states with the nation's highest levels of people participating in binge drinking in the past month (27.2 percent).

14 Jun 2010

Study confirms impact of febrile neutropenia on chemotherapy delivery in NHL

Data presented at the 15th European Hematology Association (EHA) congress in Barcelona, highlights the impact of febrile neutropenia (FN) on chemotherapy delivery in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients. The IMPACT NHL study showed that unplanned hospitalisations, delays in chemotherapy and reductions of chemotherapy dose leading to suboptimal relative dose intensity (RDI) of chemotherapy were more frequent in patients who experienced FN than those who did not.

14 Jun 2010

HHS announces grants to support States' efforts to implement, evaluate patient safety approaches

The Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced grants to support efforts by States and health systems to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches and medical liability reforms. The demonstration and planning grants are part of the patient safety and medical liability initiative that President Obama announced during a September 9, 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.

14 Jun 2010

FRC praises decision of federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability

Family Research Council praised today's decision by the federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability to reject any change in current blood donation rules. Current policy provides that men who have had sex with men at any time since 1977 are permanently "deferred" from acting as blood donors, because of the high rates of HIV infection in that population. The panel, which offers non-binding advice to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, voted 9-6 on Friday afternoon against recommending any immediate change in the policy.

14 Jun 2010

HHS announces grants to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches, medical liability reforms

11 Jun 2010

Researchers to present advanced treatment strategies for eye diseases at NEI symposium

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is bringing together premier researchers who translate molecular and genetic approaches from the laboratory to visual system diseases in the clinic.

11 Jun 2010

FRC supports new blood donation policy

Tomorrow (Friday, June 11), Family Research Council Senior Fellow Peter Sprigg will testify before the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (ACBSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services.

11 Jun 2010

N.Y. dermatologist to pay $2.75M to resolve Medicaid, Medicare fraud allegations

A settlement between the United States and Lawrence D. Jaeger, D.O., of Community Medical and Dermatology Center and Advanced Dermatology of New York, has resolved a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged Jaeger submitted false claims to Medicare and the New York Medicaid program.

11 Jun 2010

$250 checks in the mail for Idaho Medicare beneficiaries in "Rx doughnut hole"

Older Idahoans living in fear of the cost of their next prescription drug may be getting some good news in the mail in the coming days; a $250 check to help. The checks are being mailed automatically to Idaho Medicare beneficiaries who fall into the dreaded Part D prescription drug coverage gap know as the "doughnut hole" – which leaves many stuck paying full price for their drugs, a cost many simply can't afford.

10 Jun 2010

Pelosi issues statement in response to HHS Health Insurance Premium Review Grants

Speaker Nancy Pelosi today issued the following statement in response to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announcing the availability of $51 million in Health Insurance Premium Review Grants through the Affordable Care Act.

8 Jun 2010

FSPs designed to improve residential stability, mental health outcomes for homeless persons with mental illness

Full-Service Partnerships are designed to do 'whatever it takes' to improve residential stability and mental health outcomes for homeless persons with serious mental illness. They are the cornerstone of California's Mental Health Services Act - one of the largest mental health policy experiments in recent history.

8 Jun 2010

People conflicted and stymied between public and private long term care insurance

The CLASS Act, part of the new health reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), will offer a type of long term care insurance for working people and others who may become disabled. But confusion and doubt are widespread. "Many wonder how the CLASS Act will affect them personally," says Jonas Roeser, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Operations for LTC Financial Partners LLC, one of the nation's most experienced long term care insurance agencies.

7 Jun 2010

UBMD selects Allscripts EHR solution to help its physicians enhance quality of patient care

Allscripts announced today that UBMD has selected the Allscripts Electronic Health Record solution to help its 450 physicians enhance the quality of patient care, improve patient communications, and better manage the cost of care delivery.

7 Jun 2010

SEMHIE wins $3M contract for Social Security Administration's electronic medical records initiative

The Southeast Michigan Health Information Exchange announced today that it has won a $2,988,000 contract for an electronic medical records initiative from the Social Security Administration. This award comes to SEMHIE in partnership with its fiduciary, Southeastern Michigan Health Association and its project partners CNSI, The Object Management Group™, Computer Sciences Corporation and Oracle/Sun Microsystems.

7 Jun 2010

Burden of substance abuse casts tragic shadow on the lives of many young people: Report

On an average day, 508,000 adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States drink alcohol; 641,000 use illicit drugs; and more than 1 million smoke cigarettes, according to a national survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

5 Jun 2010

NHLBI stops trial evaluating new approach to reduce risk of recurrent stroke in children with sickle cell anemia

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has stopped a clinical trial evaluating a new approach to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke in children with sickle cell anemia and iron overload because of evidence that the new treatment was unlikely to prove better than the existing treatment.

5 Jun 2010

Researchers one step closer to understand how activity outside of nucleus determines cell's behavior

With the rapid and continuous advances in biotechnology, scientists are better able to see inside the nucleus of a cell to unlock the secrets of its genetic material. However, what happens outside of the nucleus has, in many ways, remained a mystery. Now, researchers with the National Institutes of Health are closer to understanding how activity outside of the nucleus determines a cell's behavior.

5 Jun 2010

Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

Although the Obama administration and insurance industry had opposing views on aspects of the health bill that Congress eventually passed, they have now found their fortunes bound together as both work to make the overhaul successful, The New York Times reports. "The political fortunes of President Obama and Congressional Democrats depend on their ability to translate its promise into reality for voters, by reining in health costs and making insurance available to everyone at an affordable price.

5 Jun 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

HHS issues interim rules for grandfathered health plans

Ingen Technologies' new SMART Nasal Cannula unveiled at Alpha-1 19th National Education Conference

New report provides state-by-state analyses of substance abuse, mental illness patterns

Study confirms impact of febrile neutropenia on chemotherapy delivery in NHL

HHS announces grants to support States' efforts to implement, evaluate patient safety approaches

FRC praises decision of federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability

HHS announces grants to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches, medical liability reforms

Researchers to present advanced treatment strategies for eye diseases at NEI symposium

FRC supports new blood donation policy

N.Y. dermatologist to pay $2.75M to resolve Medicaid, Medicare fraud allegations

$250 checks in the mail for Idaho Medicare beneficiaries in "Rx doughnut hole"

Pelosi issues statement in response to HHS Health Insurance Premium Review Grants

FSPs designed to improve residential stability, mental health outcomes for homeless persons with mental illness

People conflicted and stymied between public and private long term care insurance

UBMD selects Allscripts EHR solution to help its physicians enhance quality of patient care

SEMHIE wins $3M contract for Social Security Administration's electronic medical records initiative

Burden of substance abuse casts tragic shadow on the lives of many young people: Report

NHLBI stops trial evaluating new approach to reduce risk of recurrent stroke in children with sickle cell anemia

Researchers one step closer to understand how activity outside of nucleus determines cell's behavior

Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

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