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Short coverage lapses limit children's access to health care services

Children's access to health care suffers when they spend any time-even a few months-without health care coverage, according to a new study appearing in the February 2009 issue of Medical Care Research and Review.

27 Jan 2009

Healthcare will be a headache for Obama

Among industrialised nations, the US spends well over twice the per capita average on health care and soaring health costs are expected to reach 20 per cent of Gross Domestic Product by 2015.

23 Jan 2009

Drugs for kids not safe enough

Drugs are regularly prescribed to children in outpatient care that have not been licensed for children.

21 Jan 2009

Sharp increase in use of prescription sleep aids by young adults

Use of prescription sleep aids nearly tripled among 18- to 24-year-olds between 1998 and 2006, according to a study released today by the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters.

19 Jan 2009

Healthcare among public's top priorities for economic stimulus

The public ranks action on health care highly as part of efforts to stem the impact of the economic recession and also views reforming health care as one of the top priorities for President-elect Obama and Congress, according to a new national survey conducted by researchers from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

19 Jan 2009

New online tool to evaluate health reform proposals

The RAND Corporation today launched an online tool to provide policymakers and interested parties with a unique way of understanding and evaluating the effects and unintended consequences of health care reform proposals certain to be introduced in the new 111th Congress and beyond.

13 Jan 2009

Potential health consequences of recession

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just announced a jump in the jobless rate, from 6.8 percent in November to 7.2 percent in December.

13 Jan 2009

Growing body of evidence supports the value of child health insurance

Congress was unable to pass legislation renewing and expanding the federal State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) last year, so it was extended long enough for the new administration and Congress to take on the issue.

12 Jan 2009

New drugs have longer clinical development times despite faster FDA review

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Drug has quickened review and approval of new medicines, the complex nature of diseases for which new therapeutics are being developed has resulted in longer clinical development times, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

8 Jan 2009

10.9 million Americans under age 65 have individual health insurance

About 10.9 million Americans under age 65 purchased individual health insurance policies at some point in 2006, but only 7 million were covered by these policies for the full year, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

8 Jan 2009

Pap test procedure facts

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center shares important information about the cervical cancer screening exam, the Pap test.

7 Jan 2009

United States preterm birth rate continues to rise

New government statistics confirm that the decades-long rise in the United States preterm birth rate continues, putting more infants than ever at increased risk of death and disability.

7 Jan 2009

Adolescents with arthritis need more information when transitioning to adult care

Helping adolescents with arthritis develop the skills and secure resources to assure that their health care needs are met as they transition to adulthood is an important issue in the U.S. In general, the frequency of which young people with special health care needs receive transition services is low and, to date, no studies have examined this frequency.

7 Jan 2009

Social and economic burden of insomnia is high

A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep indicates that the indirect costs of untreated insomnia are significantly greater than the direct costs associated with its treatment.

1 Jan 2009

More private patients in public Australian hospital beds

According to a new report more Australian privately insured patients used the public hospital system last year than previously and there are concerns that encouraging people to take out private health insurance is doing little to reduce the burden on the public health system.

30 Dec 2008

Probiotics found to be effective in stopping diarrhea resulting from antibiotics

Up to one in five people on antibiotics stop taking their full course of antibiotic therapy due to diarrhea.

17 Dec 2008

Women mostly satisfied with egg donation; some claim problems

Two-thirds of women who donated eggs to fertility clinics reported satisfaction with the process, but 16 percent complained of subsequent physical symptoms and 20 percent reported lasting psychological effects, according to the first study to examine the long-term effects of donation.

17 Dec 2008

Promiscuity fears pose barrier to cervical cancer vaccinations

The public's concerns about costs and increased promiscuity among teenagers appear to be hindering use of a vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV) to prevent life-threatening diseases, according to a study by researchers at Yale School of Public Health.

17 Dec 2008

Nearly one-fifth of all Californians under age 65 lack health insurance

Nearly one-fifth of all Californians under age 65 were without health insurance for all or some of 2007, according to a policy brief released today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

15 Dec 2008

Still wide racial disparities in colorectal cancer rates

An American Cancer Society reports says despite unprecedented progress in reducing incidence and death rates from colorectal cancer, the gap between blacks and whites continues to grow.

15 Dec 2008