Health and Human Services News and Research

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Medicaid funding subject of lawsuits in Massachusetts, Idaho

Some hospitals are suing Massachusetts' Medicaid program for underpaying. Idaho health agencies are broadening their own lawsuit against the state on Medicaid payment rules.

1 Dec 2009

NIH Library subscribes to Computable Genomix' GeneIndexer

Memphis-based Computable Genomix today announced that the National Institutes of Health Library has purchased a subscription to its premier product, GeneIndexer, an online genomics research tool.

1 Dec 2009

D-ATLAS to map the prevalence and costs associated with type 2 diabetes launched

Pinpointing the prevalence and cost of type 2 diabetes and now, the prevalence of obesity (Body Mass Index [BMI] of 30 or greater), is just a mouse click away thanks to a Web-based tool developed by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF).

1 Dec 2009

Strategies to reduce greenhouse gases benefit human health, show new studies

Today, new studies published in the Lancet show that strategies to reduce greenhouse gases also benefit human health. The Lancet series highlights case studies on four climate change topics - household energy, transportation, electricity generation, and agricultural food production.

26 Nov 2009

VA and Kaiser Permanente launch pilot program to improve care and services for Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Kaiser Permanente today announced an exciting program designed to improve care and services to our Nation's heroes. VA and Kaiser Permanente are launching a pilot program to exchange electronic health record (EHR) information using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) created by the Department of Health and Human Services.

26 Nov 2009

Experts call for greater crackdown on Medicare fraud

Efforts to crack down on Medicare fraud heat up while some experts say more should be done.

25 Nov 2009

Senate Health Committee likely to hold hearing on new mammogram guidelines

Roll Call reports that 22 senators have written the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee asking its leaders to hold hearings on controversial new mammogram guidelines. "The letter came less than a week after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended looser guidelines for breast cancer screenings. The task force suggested that women wait until they turn 50 to begin screening and then undergo one mammogram every two years instead of every year."

25 Nov 2009

Major direct health benefits by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions

Tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions will have major direct health benefits in addition to reducing the risk of climate change, especially in low-income countries, according to a series of six papers appearing today (Wed., Nov. 25) in the British journal The Lancet.

25 Nov 2009

Evidence-based clinical research should not be influenced by political considerations, says ACP

The American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 129,000 internal medicine physicians and medical student members, believes that it is essential that research on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments not be influenced by political considerations.

25 Nov 2009

SBI urges Congress to exclude the USPSTF guidelines from health care legislation

Several sections of Senate health care reform legislation contain language stipulating that insurance entities such as private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid would only be required to cover services receiving a specific grade from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Presently, this would exclude mammography services for women 40-49, would only require coverage of biennial (every other year) coverage for women 50-74, and exclude coverage for those 74 and older.

25 Nov 2009

Ocimum Biosolutions' Biotracker awarded caBIG Bronze Compatibility Certification

Ocimum Biosolutions today announced that its specialty life science Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), Biotracker™ has been awarded the prestigious caBIG® (cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid®) Bronze Compatibility Certification by the National Cancer Institute, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

24 Nov 2009

Health reform bill: 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions

Consumer Watchdog released a list today of the 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions of the U.S. Senate health reform bill, HR 3590, which passed an important procedural vote this weekend.

24 Nov 2009

NIGMS invests $42.3 million in "Grand Opportunities" grant

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is investing $42.3 million for grants in scientific areas it identified as "Grand Opportunities (GO)." NIH developed the GO grant program to stimulate biomedical research and the economy using funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act).

24 Nov 2009

Alleged HIPAA violations by CVS Caremark, again

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), Consumer Action, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Patient Privacy Rights, Private Citizen, and Privacy Journal are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate potentially illegal activity by CVS Caremark.

23 Nov 2009

Health debate bears down on senators

"As one of the few senators undecided on healthcare reform, Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln faces a huge headache. Liberals attack her as an obstructionist, even though she cast a key vote keeping the effort alive. Republicans are lining up to run against her -- seven, so far, and counting. The voters here at home seem conflicted, if not downright confused.

23 Nov 2009

AUL Action opposes anti-life health care bill

At 8:00 p.m. tonight, the Senate is expected to vote on cloture on the Motion to Proceed to debate on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's pro-abortion health care bill. Sixty Senators' votes are needed for the bill to move forward. While this vote has been touted by pro-abortion lawmakers as merely "procedural" in nature, according to the Congressional Research Service, over 97% of bills that require a cloture vote to begin debate ultimately pass the Senate.

23 Nov 2009

Senators vote to advance elective abortion bill

Tonight, in a partisan vote, the U.S. Senate voted to proceed to Senator Reid's version of the government takeover of health care. Among the several objectionable items included in this bill; like the public option, employer and individual mandates, is the government funding for elective abortion, which is the most onerous and morally objectionable.

23 Nov 2009

AANS and CNS oppose the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) announced their opposition to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” released this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

21 Nov 2009

New health-reform bill violates Americans' health-insurance choices and privacy, says IHF

The Senate's newly released health-reform bill ("Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act") infringes on Americans' health-insurance choices and medical privacy, says Sue Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom (IHF) -- a patients' rights group in Washington, D.C.

21 Nov 2009

Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October: Quest Diagnostics

Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October, but the pandemic flu virus continues to be a potential source of illness in all age groups, including the elderly, according to a new report by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services.

From Quest Diagnostics 21 Nov 2009

Health and Human Services News and Research

Medicaid funding subject of lawsuits in Massachusetts, Idaho

NIH Library subscribes to Computable Genomix' GeneIndexer

D-ATLAS to map the prevalence and costs associated with type 2 diabetes launched

Strategies to reduce greenhouse gases benefit human health, show new studies

VA and Kaiser Permanente launch pilot program to improve care and services for Veterans

Experts call for greater crackdown on Medicare fraud

Senate Health Committee likely to hold hearing on new mammogram guidelines

Major direct health benefits by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions

Evidence-based clinical research should not be influenced by political considerations, says ACP

SBI urges Congress to exclude the USPSTF guidelines from health care legislation

Ocimum Biosolutions' Biotracker awarded caBIG Bronze Compatibility Certification

Health reform bill: 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions

NIGMS invests $42.3 million in "Grand Opportunities" grant

Alleged HIPAA violations by CVS Caremark, again

Health debate bears down on senators

AUL Action opposes anti-life health care bill

Senators vote to advance elective abortion bill

AANS and CNS oppose the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”

New health-reform bill violates Americans' health-insurance choices and privacy, says IHF

Rates of infection by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus may have peaked in late October: Quest Diagnostics

Event guide: 6th Operationalize Expanded Access Programs Summit East eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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