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Senate Finance Committee discusses offsets for estimated $15M to $18M cost of Medicare payment delay; Bush administration requests June 16 deadline

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Wednesday said a Medicare package that would delay for 18 months a 10.6% cut to physician fees would cost between $15 billion and $18 billion over five years, prompting committee members to begin discussions on how to offset those costs, CQ Today reports (Wayne/Armstrong, CQ Today, 5/7).

8 May 2008

Outcomes of obese and nonobese patients undergoing revision total hip arthroplasty

Along with age and injuries, obesity is a leading risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), a painful and disabling joint disease. While excessive weight can aggravate the toll on almost any joint, obesity has been associated with a higher prevalence of hip OA and an increase in total hip arthroplasty (THA).

8 May 2008

Senate Finance Committee holds first in series of Congressional hearings on U.S. health system overhaul

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday hold the first of at least eight congressional hearings focusing on strategies to reform the U.S. health care system, featuring testimony by former HHS secretaries Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala, CQ HealthBeat reports.

7 May 2008

Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies

Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.

7 May 2008

Newspapers examine issues related to health care proposals of Presidential candidates

Several newspapers recently published articles that examined the health care proposals of presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y), Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

6 May 2008

New York lawmakers, HIV/AIDS advocates working to address HIV/AIDS funds for counties

New York state lawmakers and HIV/AIDS advocates are working to address federal HIV/AIDS funding for Nassau and Suffolk counties following a recent ruling that HHS should restore more than $1 million in Ryan White Program funding, the New York Times reports (Saslow, New York Times, 5/4).

5 May 2008

The risks of indoor tanning to women

At age 17, all Meghan Rothschild and Brittany Lietz wanted was a dark tan. They thought it made them look beautiful. But both had no idea that in just three years they would be battling melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now Meghan, 24, of Wilbraham, Mass., and Brittany, 23, of Annapolis, Md., are speaking out about their experiences.

5 May 2008

Small molecule nutlin-3a activates an important cancer suppressor gene

By activating a cancer suppressor gene, a small molecule called nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

1 May 2008

HHS Secretary Leavitt urges lawmakers, public to 'start now' to make changes to Medicare

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday that it is "simply unreasonable" to think Medicare can maintain its solvency without changes to the program and that if "we start now, the change can be made over time and with genuine fairness," CQ HealthBeat reports.

30 Apr 2008

HHS Secretary Leavitt says Bush administration would accept short-term moratorium on two new Medicaid regulations, while five others would take effect

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Tuesday said that the Bush administration would accept a short-term moratorium on two of seven proposed Medicaid regulations to give lawmakers time to reach an agreement on the changes, CongressDaily reports (Johnson, CongressDaily, 4/29).

30 Apr 2008

FDA begins multi-year hiring initiative

Biologists, chemists, medical officers, mathematical statisticians and investigators are among the experts in demand as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration begins a multi-year hiring initiative.

30 Apr 2008

First sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation across the human genome

A nationwide team of researchers, funded in part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has produced the first sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation across the human genome. The work, published today in the journal Nature, provides a starting point to examine how such DNA variation contributes to human health and disease.

30 Apr 2008

Human protein may offer novel target for blocking HIV infection

A research group supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has uncovered a new route for attacking the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that may offer a way to circumvent problems with drug resistance. In findings published today in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that they have blocked HIV infection in the test tube by inactivating a human protein expressed in key immune cells.

29 Apr 2008

CQ's Carey looks at genetic anti-discrimination measure, legislation to block Medicaid rules implementation, FDA hearings

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, examines Senate approval of genetic nondiscrimination legislation, House passage of a measure to block implementation of new Medicaid rules and hearings about FDA's need for increased inspection resources in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

28 Apr 2008

Appeals Court decision restores more than $1 million in HIV/AIDS funds to New York counties

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that HHS should restore more than $1 million in Ryan White Program funding to Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York state, the Long Island Newsday reports.

28 Apr 2008

HHS Secretary Leavitt says rising Medicare costs will cause generational divide

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in an interview with the Washington Times said he is concerned that rising Medicare spending could "divide our nation along generational lines."

26 Apr 2008

Leavitt calls on successor to continue Bush administration's 'Four Cornerstones' plan

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Wednesday urged his successor to continue with the Bush administration's "four cornerstones" initiative that promotes collaborative efforts to improve the national health care system and reduce costs, CQ HealthBeat reports.

24 Apr 2008

House votes 349-62 to approve legislation that would block new Medicaid regulations

Despite a veto threat from the White House, the House on Wednesday voted 349-62 to approve legislation (HR 5613) that would place a one-year moratorium on seven new Medicaid regulations, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Abrams, AP/Houston Chronicle, 4/24).

24 Apr 2008

White House issues formal veto threat against legislation that would delay Medicaid regulations

The Bush administration on Tuesday issued a formal veto threat against legislation (HR 5613) that would place a one-year moratorium on seven new Medicaid regulations, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 4/22).

23 Apr 2008

NACDS seeks passage of E-prescribing bill to finance Medicaid reimbursement rule change

National Association of Chain Drug Stores CEO Steven Anderson on Tuesday in a letter asked lawmakers to pass a bill (HR 4296) that would require physicians who participate in Medicare to adopt e-prescribing by 2011 to finance legislation (S 1951, HR 3700) that would revise a new rule related to Medicaid reimbursements to pharmacies, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 4/23).

23 Apr 2008

Health and Human Services News and Research

Senate Finance Committee discusses offsets for estimated $15M to $18M cost of Medicare payment delay; Bush administration requests June 16 deadline

Outcomes of obese and nonobese patients undergoing revision total hip arthroplasty

Senate Finance Committee holds first in series of Congressional hearings on U.S. health system overhaul

Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies

Newspapers examine issues related to health care proposals of Presidential candidates

New York lawmakers, HIV/AIDS advocates working to address HIV/AIDS funds for counties

The risks of indoor tanning to women

Small molecule nutlin-3a activates an important cancer suppressor gene

HHS Secretary Leavitt urges lawmakers, public to 'start now' to make changes to Medicare

HHS Secretary Leavitt says Bush administration would accept short-term moratorium on two new Medicaid regulations, while five others would take effect

FDA begins multi-year hiring initiative

First sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation across the human genome

Human protein may offer novel target for blocking HIV infection

CQ's Carey looks at genetic anti-discrimination measure, legislation to block Medicaid rules implementation, FDA hearings

Appeals Court decision restores more than $1 million in HIV/AIDS funds to New York counties

HHS Secretary Leavitt says rising Medicare costs will cause generational divide

Leavitt calls on successor to continue Bush administration's 'Four Cornerstones' plan

House votes 349-62 to approve legislation that would block new Medicaid regulations

White House issues formal veto threat against legislation that would delay Medicaid regulations

NACDS seeks passage of E-prescribing bill to finance Medicaid reimbursement rule change

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