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Capital BlueCross goes live with TriZetto's care management application

The TriZetto Group, Inc. today announced that Capital BlueCross, the leading health insurer in central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley, recently went live with TriZetto's Clinical CareAdvance® 4.61 care management application.

23 Sep 2011

'Super Committee' hears pleas to protect health program enrollees and providers

Some say the recession's toll could be even greater if Medicaid funding for mental health services hits the deficit panel's chopping block. Meanwhile, provider groups continue to make their cases to the committee.

23 Sep 2011

Bachmann, Perry wrestle over HPV issue

During the last debate, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry clashed over their positions on the HPV vaccine. During Thursday night's Orlando debate, the issue again emerged.

23 Sep 2011

Consumer groups were among winners when HHS awarded insurance rate review grants

HHS this week awarded $109 million to states to strengthen the review process for proposed increases in health insurance premiums. Politico reports that some of the funding also went to consumer advocacy groups that often take on insurers. Meanwhile, California Healthline details what funding its home state secured.

23 Sep 2011

CLASS Act future in doubt

The health law's long-term care program, which has faced concerns about its fiscal sustainability, appears at risk following reports that the HHS office overseeing it faces a key staff reduction.

23 Sep 2011

Medicare, health reform hot topics as Romney, Perry spar in GOP presidential debate

GOP hopefuls across-the-board criticized President Obama's policies while Mitt Romney and Rick Perry accused each other of flip-flopping on health care issues.

23 Sep 2011

BPA may not affect male testes

Bisphenol A (BPA), a common component of plastic used in many consumer products, has recently become infamous -- and banned in some places -- because it can mimic natural estrogen in the body. A new study by Brown University toxicologists, however, finds that male mice whose mothers were exposed even to high doses of BPA while pregnant developed no signs of harm to their testes as adults.

23 Sep 2011

State, private exchange developments attract attention

In Oregon, the Senate confirmed Governor John Kitzhaber's recommendations for the Oregon Insurance Exchange Board. On the private side, Bloom Health, a Minneapolis startup, is continuing its efforts to create a national health insurance exchange.

23 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 23, 2011

In today's headlines, the skinny on how health policy issues played in Thursday night's GOP presidential primary debate.

23 Sep 2011

Role of email advice in patients with sexual problems

More than two-thirds of men who contacted an email advice service run by a leading sexual advice charity had erection problems, which were frequently linked to loss of sex drive, according to research in the October issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

23 Sep 2011

Ritualistic-like behavior reduces stress, says TAU researcher

What do a patient with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), a basketball star, and an animal in captivity have in common? According to new research from Tel Aviv University, they share a clear behavioral link that reduces stress.

23 Sep 2011

DOJ faces strategic decisions in next steps on health law challenges

The Obama administration has to decide by Monday whether it wants to directly ask the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of its signature health reform legislation. Since the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the health law in August, the administration can either ask the full court to take another look at the case or ask the Supreme Court to review it and issue a final decision.

23 Sep 2011

Study: Torontonians want non-profit organizations to provide programs and services

Torontonians want non-profit organizations to provide programs and services in their neighbourhoods that are relevant to their needs, held at convenient times and locations and have stable funding, a research study has found.

23 Sep 2011

Senate committee approves FY12 foreign operations appropriations bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a $53 billion FY12 foreign operations appropriations bill, the Associated Press reports. "Reflecting the economic pressure, the bill is $6.2 billion less than President Barack Obama requested," the news agency notes.

23 Sep 2011

University of Chicago to create Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence

The Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation is giving $42 million to the University of Chicago to create the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence, a unique initiative that will focus on how to improve doctor-patient interaction.

23 Sep 2011

Cutting foreign assistance funding might mean death for world's poor

In this opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog," Rep. Barbara Lee D-Calif. writes that cutting "funding of vital programs that focus on global food security, health, climate adaptation, and disaster relief, which make up less than one percent of the U.S. federal budget, will not get us far in terms of plugging the budget gap but they could literally make the difference between life and death for many of the world's poor."

23 Sep 2011

MannKind proposes to offer senior secured discount notes due 2017

MannKind Corporation today announced that it proposes to offer, subject to market conditions, senior secured discount notes due 2017 expected to yield gross proceeds of approximately $370.0 million.

23 Sep 2011

Commercial interests confound fight against NCDs, some experts say

The Washington Post examines the influence of commercial interests on the "political declaration" that emerged from this week's U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. NCDs "are the globe's biggest health problem, responsible for 63 percent of all deaths each year, with incidence growing steeply in the low-income, rapidly urbanizing nations of the world," but they "are deeply entangled with important global industries, not only tobacco but also food, pharmaceuticals, advertising, transportation and construction," the newspaper writes.

23 Sep 2011

AARP launches ad campaign urging debt panel to steer clear of Medicare

According to the national ad campaign's script, which urges the deficit panel to take Medicare cuts off the table, Social Security payments have been earned by a lifetime of work and Medicare, the health insurance plan for seniors, is paid for by participants.

23 Sep 2011

Wiley-Blackwell signs open access agreements with 3 European research organizations

Wiley-Blackwell, the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc, has signed open access funding agreements with three European research organizations: the Max Planck Society in Germany, the FWF Austrian Science Fund, and Telethon, one of the largest biomedical non-profit organizations in Italy.

23 Sep 2011