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MedPAC finds uneven quality in newer Medicare Advantage plans

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission officials at a meeting on Friday expressed concern over data showing differences in quality among newer Medicare Advantage plans and increasing enrollment in private fee-for-service MA plans, CQ HealthBeat reports.

12 Nov 2007

MRSA prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers

A new study published in Veterinary Microbiology found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers, pointing to animal agriculture as a source of the deadly bacteria.

6 Nov 2007

Proposals for health care reform face many barriers

Supporters of health care reform, each time they offered new proposals, expected "popular clamor" to "drive elected officials to end the national embarrassment of millions of uninsured and rein in health expenditures that were needlessly high and bought less than they should," but, each time, "reformers were right in their indictment and wrong in their political judgments," Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.

6 Nov 2007

Fewer U.S. residents purchase prescription drugs from Canada, in part because of Medicare drug benefit

Online drug sales in 2006 from Canadian pharmacies to U.S. consumers dropped about 50%, from $420 million Canadian dollars in 2005 to $211 million Canadian dollars last year, according to data from IMS Health, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

5 Nov 2007

Medicare lacks tools, incentives to enforce evidence-based coverage policies

According to new research at the University of Minnesota, Medicare lacks sufficient information in most cases to apply a policy and does not have the resources or incentives to acquire the information.

2 Nov 2007

Review of controversy surrounding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine

In an article appearing in the current issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, experts from the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics and Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics review the controversy surrounding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine debate, and its effects on ethical and public health issues.

2 Nov 2007

Infectious diseases experts applaud STAAR Act

With methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, and other "bad bugs" routinely making headlines, infectious diseases physicians are applauding Sens.

1 Nov 2007

Pope says pharmacists have right to conscientiously object to fill emergency contraception

Pope Benedict XVI on Monday at the 25th International Congress of Catholic Pharmacists in Rome told attendees that they have a right to conscientiously object to dispensing drugs such as emergency contraception, which can prevent pregnancy if take up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse, the AP/Google.com reports (Winfield, AP/Google.com, 10/29).

31 Oct 2007

Lobbyists push lawmakers to act quickly on Medicare physician payment rate fix

Physician groups are pushing members of Congress to work quickly on passing legislation to avert a 10% Medicare physician reimbursement rate cut scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2008, The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 10/31).

31 Oct 2007

Bush threatens to veto combined appropriations bill

President Bush on Tuesday said he would veto a more than $700 billion package under consideration by Democrats that includes the fiscal year 2008 Defense (HR 3222), Labor-HHS-Education (HR 3043) and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (HR 2642) appropriations bills, The Hill reports (Soraghan et al., The Hill, 10/31).

31 Oct 2007

Massachusetts Bill that would expand abortion clinic buffer zones provides 'reasonable balance,' editorial says

A Massachusetts bill that would expand abortion clinic buffer zones from 18 feet to 35 feet provides a "reasonable balance that reasonable people will support," a Boston Globe editorial says (Boston Globe, 10/30).

30 Oct 2007

Kansas Supreme Court delays Grand Jury investigation of abortion provider Tiller to decide if panel should convene

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday delayed a grand jury investigation of abortion provider George Tiller and his Wichita, Kan.-based clinic until it determines if the panel should convene, the AP/Guardian reports (Manning, AP/Guardian, 10/27). Attorneys for Tiller earlier this month filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to block the grand jury investigation of him and his clinic.

30 Oct 2007

National Right to Life Committee defends Brownback's talks with Giuliani on abortion views

The National Right to Life Committee recently defended Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) after he was criticized for meeting with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, to discuss Giuliani's views on abortion, The Hill reports (Bolton, The Hill, 10/26).

30 Oct 2007

Pharmacies, drug wholesaler file lawsuit against Abbott over price of antiretroviral Norvir

Four pharmacy chains and one pharmaceutical wholesaler on Monday filed a lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories over the price of its antiretroviral drug Norvir, the Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Oct 2007

Congressional Democrats consider combining labor-HHS-education, veterans, Pentagon spending bills

Congressional Democrats have begun to "prep for a pre-Thanksgiving budget showdown" with President Bush, as lawmakers seek to finalize a more than $700 billion package that includes the fiscal year 2008 Defense (HR 3222), Labor-HHS-Education (HR 3043) and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (HR 2642) appropriations bills, CongressDaily reports (Cohn, CongressDaily, 10/29).

30 Oct 2007

Efforts needed to address financial stability of entitlement programs

The "demands imposed by the retirement of millions of baby boomers will consume the federal budget and blight the prospects of the next generations" without efforts to address problems with the long-term financial stability of Medicare and other entitlement programs, columnist David Broder writes in the Washington Post.

30 Oct 2007

UnitedHealth concurs with House panel that access to dental care lacking for child Medicaid beneficiaries in Maryland

UnitedHealth Group Senior Vice President Judah Sommer in a letter to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy agreed with a panel finding that thousands of Maryland children enrolled in the company's Medicaid plan were unable to receive dental care after initially denying the claims, CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 10/25).

29 Oct 2007

UAW members at Chrysler approve four-year contract with voluntary employees' beneficiary association

United Auto Workers officials on Saturday said that Chrysler Group employees represented by the union approved a four-year contract that will establish a voluntary employees' beneficiary association, the Detroit Free Press reports (Higgins, Detroit Free Press, 10/28).

29 Oct 2007

Southern Africa Litigation Centre launches HIV/AIDS program

The Southern Africa Litigation Centre on Monday announced the launch of a new program that will focus on human rights in an effort to address HIV/AIDS issues in the region, the SAPA/SABCNews.com reports.

29 Oct 2007

Planned Parenthood files suit against Missouri law that would require abortion clinics to upgrade facilities

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri last week filed a second lawsuit in Jackson County, Mo., asking the court to exclude clinics that offer only medical abortions from a state law (SB 370) designating facilities providing some abortions as "ambulatory surgical centers" to exclude clinics that offer only medical abortions, the AP/Hays Daily News reports.

29 Oct 2007

Medical Legislation News and Research

MedPAC finds uneven quality in newer Medicare Advantage plans

MRSA prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers

Proposals for health care reform face many barriers

Fewer U.S. residents purchase prescription drugs from Canada, in part because of Medicare drug benefit

Medicare lacks tools, incentives to enforce evidence-based coverage policies

Review of controversy surrounding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine

Infectious diseases experts applaud STAAR Act

Pope says pharmacists have right to conscientiously object to fill emergency contraception

Lobbyists push lawmakers to act quickly on Medicare physician payment rate fix

Bush threatens to veto combined appropriations bill

Massachusetts Bill that would expand abortion clinic buffer zones provides 'reasonable balance,' editorial says

Kansas Supreme Court delays Grand Jury investigation of abortion provider Tiller to decide if panel should convene

National Right to Life Committee defends Brownback's talks with Giuliani on abortion views

Pharmacies, drug wholesaler file lawsuit against Abbott over price of antiretroviral Norvir

Congressional Democrats consider combining labor-HHS-education, veterans, Pentagon spending bills

Efforts needed to address financial stability of entitlement programs

UnitedHealth concurs with House panel that access to dental care lacking for child Medicaid beneficiaries in Maryland

UAW members at Chrysler approve four-year contract with voluntary employees' beneficiary association

Southern Africa Litigation Centre launches HIV/AIDS program

Planned Parenthood files suit against Missouri law that would require abortion clinics to upgrade facilities

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