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First Edition: September 10, 2013

Today's headlines include reports from Capitol Hill about the GOP strategy to link debate of a stopgap spending bill to keep the government operating to efforts to defund the health law.

10 Sep 2013

Study: "Negative working conditions score" associated with depressive symptoms

The sum total of adverse working conditions explains a substantial portion of the risk of depression in working-age adults, suggests a study in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

4 Sep 2013

DebMed introduces new dispenser that provides access to hand sanitizer

DebMed®, creator of the world's first electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system based on the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Five Moments for Hand Hygiene, introduced today the availability of a new dispenser that provides access to hand sanitizer in the immediate area within the patient zone.

31 Aug 2013

Occupational caution for young men with severe asthma

Research from Finland shows that men who have severe asthma by early adulthood are vulnerable to the effects of current work and exposure to asthma-aggravating factors on asthma outcomes in middle age.

29 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: 'Mixed signals' on employee benefits; Michigan debates Medicaid expansion; malpractice awards drive safety

It is hard to know whether to rejoice or lament two striking if somewhat conflicting messages last week about the costs of employer-sponsored health insurance. An authoritative survey found that premiums for family and individual coverage at work - including both the company's and the worker's share - have gone up only moderately for the second year in a row.

27 Aug 2013

Lobbying efforts to alter Obamacare take on urgency

Reuters reports how businesses, unions and advocacy groups continue to seek changes in the law, but lobbyists face uphill battles. Kaiser Health News reports on how bare-bones health plans are expected to survive the law, albeit in modified form, and also looks at the government's efforts to inform seniors they shouldn't seek coverage from new online insurance marketplaces.

27 Aug 2013

WHO hand-hygiene compliance strategy easy for health-care workers to practise

WHO's strategy for improving hand hygiene is easy for health-care workers to practise, according to a new study published today in "Lancet Infectious Diseases". Health care-associated infections are a major threat to patient safety worldwide and transmission in these settings is mainly from the hands of health-care workers.

23 Aug 2013

UC Davis Health System develops new screening strategy for lethal stage of TB in Asia

More than 20,000 people in Pakistan are being tested for the potentially deadly stage of tuberculosis using a new strategy developed at UC Davis Health System to effectively detect the disease in children for the first time.

22 Aug 2013

Study: Participants who used community health workers showed improvement in diabetes control

The prevalence of diabetes among Hispanic Americans is growing and their likelihood of being hospitalized for uncontrolled diabetes is two times greater than that of non-Hispanic Whites. Rather than a new drug, the prescription for controlling diabetes may be a person.

21 Aug 2013

As the health law reshapes the marketplace, concerns emerge

Many of the plans [offered on the new health marketplaces] will include relatively few choices of doctors and hospitals. In some cases, plans will layer on other limits, such as requirements that patients get referrals to see specialists, or obtain insurer authorization before pricey procedures.

16 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: How much power should the AMA have to set Medicare prices?; GOP's 'disastrous' march to defund health law

S.G.R. More than 99 percent of Americans have no idea what these three letters stand for. And yet they are extremely valuable: worth about $140 billion. This week, a House committee will finally take up the issue. The S.G.R., or the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, was enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to restrain the inevitable increase in Medicare's annual spending on physician services. ... Nice idea in theory. Never worked out in practice (Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Topher Spiro, 7/29).

31 Jul 2013

Lawmakers' aides fret over requirement to buy Obamacare coverage

The New York Times explores how congressional staffs are anxious about a health law provision requiring them to buy coverage in online insurance markets because the federal government may no longer pay a share of their premiums.

31 Jul 2013

Affordable Care Act may result in increased employee harassment

The contrasting incentives of employers and employees under the Affordable Care Act ultimately may result in increased employee harassment and retaliation claims, two University of Illinois law professors say in a paper they co-wrote.

24 Jul 2013

BD Saf-T-Intima Safety Integrated IV Catheter System gets European approval for subcutaneous infusion therapy

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, announces the approval of the BD Saf-T-Intima Safety Integrated IV Catheter System for use in subcutaneous infusion therapies in Europe.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 23 Jul 2013

Based on preliminary insurance premiums, HHS sees lower-than-expected Obamacare costs

Coverage of health law implementation issues include reports about a recent Department of Health and Human Services analysis that concluded premium costs would be less than initially projected in 11 states, as well as news about rate shock, the role of the health law in triggering a shift to part-time work and other issues.

20 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: Baucus applauds 'listening to customers' on employer mandate delay; Unions 'wake up' to problems with health law; Medicare's 'two midnights' rule

Any successful business leader will tell you the importance of listening to customers, gathering their input and suggestions and always putting them first. That lesson was not lost on the Obama administration earlier this month when it correctly decided to push back the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's employer responsibility provision - the employer mandate - until 2015. I'm sure this was a tough call, but it was the right one. It shows the administration is listening to the business community and working to address its concerns, as well as the concerns of Congress (Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., 7/17).

19 Jul 2013

UK Markey Cancer Center receives National Cancer Institute designation

The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center was joined by national, state and local leaders last Friday to celebrate its designation as a National Cancer Institute cancer center.

19 Jul 2013

Some employers continue to offer 'skinny' plans

Even though the Obama administration will not enforce the mandate requiring large employers to offer coverage for another year, some companies still plan to offer so-called "skinny," or limited benefit plans -- and the federal government will permit them, according to Politico. Other reports look at the growth in part-time jobs and whether that is a result of the health care law.

17 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 16, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews reports: "Since smokers' health-care costs tend to be higher than those of nonsmokers, is it reasonable for smokers to pay higher premiums when they buy insurance through the new state marketplaces that are scheduled to open in October? A handful of states and the District say the answer is no" (Andrews, 7/16).

16 Jul 2013

Researchers to study effectiveness of palliative care home health visits for people with HIV

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing will assess how effective palliative care home health visits are in treating people with HIV and other chronic illnesses in a new four-year, $1.7-million study funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

12 Jul 2013