Children's Health News and Research

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$1 million grant to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured children

The Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey, an affiliate of the New Jersey Hospital Association, has been awarded a grant of nearly $1 million under a federal program aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to uninsured children.

3 Oct 2009

New study underscores lack of appropriate government action to ensure safety of vaccines

A new study in the leading scientific journal NeuroToxicology lends further credence to parents and scientists concerned about an increasingly aggressive childhood vaccine schedule and toxic vaccine components.

2 Oct 2009

Democrats shoot down Republican abortion amendment, others pass

Members of the Senate Finance Committee wrangled Wednesday over proposed amendments to tighten abortion restrictions to the panel's health reform bill, with Democrats ultimately defeating the effort.

1 Oct 2009

57% of Americans believe that tackling health care reform is more important than ever: Kaiser poll

Public support for health reform ended its summer slide, reversed course and moved modestly upwards in September, according to the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll.

1 Oct 2009

HHS announces grants to help them find eligible uninsured children for Medicaid or CHIP

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $40 million in grants to 69 grantees in 41 states and the District of Columbia to help them find and enroll children who are uninsured but eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

1 Oct 2009

Health care reform: Detailing women's stake in the debate

The Times reports: "Women need more health care than men because of the combined demands of pregnancy and family planning. ... Partly as a result, young women typically must pay more than young men for individual health insurance, unless they live in one of 10 states where 'gender rating' is illegal.

29 Sep 2009

States worry over Medicaid expansion; Montana expands kids coverage

State officials continue to worry about additional costs that would stem from a Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, Montana unveils a plan to expand health insurance for children and Iowa Republicans are touting their own alternative to a federal health care overhaul.

25 Sep 2009

Health policy research roundup

In this brief, researchers analyze the cost burden associated with excess rates of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and renal disease among Hispanics and African Americans relative to non-Hispanic whites. The study predicts that in 2009, "Medicare alone will spend an extra $15.6 billion while private insurers will incur $5.1 billion in additional costs due to elevated rates of chronic illness among African Americans and Hispanics."

25 Sep 2009

Tooth cell banking for the treatment of future diseases

Pioneered by BioEDEN, tooth cell banking is a safe, natural and wholly non-invasive method of collecting and preserving precious stem cells which could hold the key to children's health.

25 Sep 2009

Only 40% of parents will get their child vaccinated against H1N1?

The latest C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health finds only 40 percent of parents indicate they will get their children vaccinated against H1N1 flu -- while 54 percent of parents indicate they will get their children vaccinated against seasonal flu. Among parents who do not plan to get their children vaccinated against H1N1 flu, 46 percent indicate they are not worried about their children getting H1N1 flu, while 20 percent believe H1N1 flu is not serious.

25 Sep 2009

Statement from David Kears regarding Legislative Bill AB 1422

I would like to thank my fellow commissioners, Executive Director Kris Perry and the First 5 California staff for stepping forward with other like-minded partners to ensure the Healthy Family Program's survival in the coming year.

23 Sep 2009

Medicare round up: News coverage of cost issues and leadership gap

"The national average for Medicare spending on such patients was $46,412, including outpatient care," the Times reports. "But in Los Angeles County, the average cost was nearly double that, $84,179, according to a Los Angeles Times review of Dartmouth data. In seeking to explain why, some researchers have concluded that doctors in areas such as Los Angeles, with more hospitals and other resources, are more likely to have patients admitted, order tests and schedule visits, largely because they can."

21 Sep 2009

Children’s Health Network acquired by MEDNAX

MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE: MD) has completed the acquisition of Children’s Health Network (CHN), a physician group practice that provides a variety of inpatient pediatric physician services at 11 hospitals in four states.

21 Sep 2009

Parents' insurance status affects their children's health care--even when the children are insured

Insured children are less likely to have necessary health-care services if their parents are uninsured, according to a study published in the September/October issue of Annals of Family Medicine.

18 Sep 2009

Health reform yet to address the critical issue of how federal rules will impact health care delivery systems

According to a new report from State Coverage Initiatives, federal policymakers crafting health reform have yet to address the critical issue of how new or modified federal rules will impact health care delivery systems, insurance regulation, and safety net programs administered by the states.

18 Sep 2009

New bill to address Medi-Cal payment shortfalls

California's Medi-Cal program provides essential health care services to the poorest and most vulnerable Californians. Yet, the state ranks dead-last in the nation when it comes to funding health care for these patients. In 2008, California hospitals lost more than $4.2 billion in unpaid Medi-Cal costs.

18 Sep 2009

Two new smoke-free dining areas in the U.S. House of Representatives

On Thursday, the House's last two indoor smoking rooms are being cleaned and converted to smoke-free dining areas. It is no secret that secondhand smoke is dangerous - it causes 50,000 deaths per year in the U.S. Our halls of government should be playing a leadership role in ensuring clean indoor air for their staff and the visiting public and setting a positive example for other work places and public spaces nationwide.

18 Sep 2009

Health policy research roundup

Implementation Choices for the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - This report examines two key areas of the implementation process of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 - outreach and enrollment, and quality of care - and issues a set of recommendations. "Recommendations include: giving funding priority to states that will adopt or maintain key simplifications… ensuring quality measures focus on priority health needs for children, and building quality measurement and improvement capabilities into electronic health information systems, among others," according to a Commonwealth Fund description of the report (Simpson, Fairbrother, Touschner and Guyer, 9/10).

18 Sep 2009

The Baucus health care plan covers elective abortions

Today U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced a detailed summary of his "America's Health Future Act of 2009" that will be marked-up in the Senate Financial Services Committee next week.

17 Sep 2009

Speaker Pelosi remarks on benefits for children in health insurance reform

Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at an event for the Children's Health Fund this afternoon on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol to raise awareness for the more than 21 million children who will benefit from health insurance reform.

17 Sep 2009