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Viewpoints: Ryan's efforts on Medicare leave Republicans 'howling;' Retirement may be too expensive for seniors

Paul Ryan is one of the few considering the long-term trajectory of federal spending who is also preparing a solution without artificial fiscal cliffs. Perhaps surprisingly, his ideas for structural budget and entitlement reform have some Republicans howling even before Democrats get an opportunity to speak up.

7 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Health care 'price gouging;' Health law pushing employers to cut workers' hours; Medicare spending must be tamed

Steven Brill's cover story on the Looking Glass world of healthcare pricing may be the longest article Time Magazine has ever published, but more importantly, it is a fresh sign that the medical-industrial complex should be worried as the deadline for launching Obamacare rolls closer.

26 Feb 2013

Roundup: HHS OKs key part of Fla.'s Medicaid managed care plan; Calif. lawmakers set to take up rules on its health insurance marketplace

The state of Florida won a second victory from HHS that will help the state introduce a statewide Medicaid managed-care program. The agency notified the state that it would grant its request for a medical assistance waiver -- a decision that comes just weeks after the department granted Florida's first request for a waiver for its long-term-care program.

22 Feb 2013

Vaccine prices and availability: an interview with Kate Elder, Vaccines Policy Advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières's Access Campaign

One of the key reasons why children are missed by immunization programs, particularly in developing countries where Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works, is that the products that we currently have in their present formulation are not well-suited to the places that have the most un-immunized children. These are the most challenging contexts to work in.

19 Feb 2013

Community health workers can help individuals better manage their diabetes

Newly published results from a randomized controlled clinical trial in the Pacific U.S. territory of American Samoa add clear evidence for the emerging idea that community health workers can meaningfully improve type 2 diabetes care in medically underserved communities.

12 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Brewer's stance on Medicaid expansion may signal important shift in GOP; A shrinking government--except for health care

Jan Brewer, Arizona's feisty Republican governor, is better known for wagging her finger at President Obama than for linking arms with him. That's why Brewer's recent announcement that her state intends to join the expansion of Medicaid central to Obama's health care law may represent an important shift. If even Brewer, who has battled repeatedly with Obama, finds the case for expansion compelling, other Republican governors now resisting may also reconsider.

10 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Baker and Dingell urge efforts to cut gun deaths; Doctors as union workers

Gun violence now rivals traffic accidents as the leading cause of death by injury in the United States. Quite simply, gun violence threatens to overwhelm us. Americans are grappling for strategies to make sure that the horror that occurred in Newtown isn't repeated.

31 Jan 2013

State roundup: Legislatures tackle health budget gaps, worker pay

With the national economy picking up and the housing market improving, states are poised in 2013 to finally rebound from the recession's lingering revenue crunch. But continued budget delays in Washington may dampen that prospect.

24 Jan 2013

Project SEARCH interns become part of NIH fabric

When Project SEARCH interns enter the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Md., they are immediately recognizable—from their matching, sky-blue polo shirts to their smiling faces. "People know these interns," says Steve Blanks, program director at SEEC, Seeking Equality, Empowerment and Community for People with Developmental Disabilities.

24 Jan 2013

Team support aids Parkinson’s patients

A randomized controlled trial demonstrates improved outcomes if patients with Parkinson’s disease are cared for by a multidisciplinary team.

22 Jan 2013

Macular pigment screening: an interview with Jaquie Finn, Product Line Manager at Elektron Technology

AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in anyone over 50 and globally in 2010 it was estimated to cost $340 billion to treat AMD. The costs are set to spiral over the next 20 years and really over burden the healthcare system unless people start to take preventative action.

18 Jan 2013

Insurers in California, elsewhere, propose steep rate hikes

California's insurance commissioner criticized Anthem Blue Cross for raising rates for small businesses but acknowledged he has no authority to block it. Medpage Today looks at double-digit increases in the individual and small group markets nationwide.

11 Jan 2013

Roundup: Kan., Ga., Mass., Neb. face decisions on implementing health law

At an Atlanta panel discussion Tuesday previewing children's health issues for the upcoming General Assembly session, one item stood out. State Sen. Fran Millar (R-Atlanta) was officially on the panel to highlight "School Flexibility," but he summed up what he sees as the urgency of passing a Medicaid hospital provider fee during the legislative session. Approving the hospital assessment is "perhaps the most critical thing we have to do," Millar said.

11 Jan 2013

First Edition: January 9, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Ankita Rao reports: "While most health-related deals on sites like Groupon and Living Social are for cosmetic procedures like Botox, providers also offer everyday medical, vision and dental services. Health and medical deals make up about 5 to 10 percent of the online coupon industry, according to Unaiz Kabani, data product manager at Yipit, a service that aggregates companies' daily deals"

9 Jan 2013

Flusurvey: an interview with Dr Alma Adler

Flusurvey is an online system of tracking influenza across the UK. We are linked to other flu surveys across Europe, so there are about 12 flu surveys across Europe in total.

9 Jan 2013

Editorial, opinion pieces address effects of health worker murders in Pakistan on polio eradication

Several news outlets published opinion pieces regarding the recent murders of polio vaccination and other aid workers in Pakistan.

7 Jan 2013

Businesses and individuals grapple with decisions about coverage, penalties

News organizations preview what's to come in 2013 as provisions of the Affordable Care Act are put in place.

3 Jan 2013

Study reveals decline in cancer screening rates

The rate of people who seek preventive cancer screenings has fallen over the last ten years in the United States with wide variations between white-collar and blue-collar workers, according to a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine study published on December 27 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology.

27 Dec 2012

Key to at-home geriatric care lies in reliability

Older individuals who live at home but are dependent on healthcare services perceive their care delivery system to be effective when it involves supportive and reliable services, indicate UK study results.

24 Dec 2012

Pakistan reports 9th death in polio worker attacks, resumes vaccination campaign under police escort

"Another victim from attacks on U.N.-backed anti-polio teams in Pakistan died on Thursday, bringing the three-day death toll in the wave of assaults on volunteers vaccinating children across the country to nine, officials said," the Associated Press reports (Khan, 12/20). "Four female health workers were killed in Karachi, shot dead by masked men on motorbikes.

21 Dec 2012