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HHS releases report highlighting health insurance premium increases

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today unveiled a new report, Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System. The report highlights health insurance premium increases in states across the country and comes shortly after Anthem Blue Cross announced plans to raise rates on its California customers by as much as 39 percent, even after its parent company took in a profit of $2.7 billion in the previous quarter. The complete report is available at www.HealthReform.gov.

19 Feb 2010

MetLife Mature Market Institute provides history of generations born since early 1900s

A series of publications from the MetLife Mature Market Institute provide a history of the generations born since the early 1900s. There are almost as many members of Gen Y (born 1977-1994) in the U.S. in comparison to the largest group, the Baby Boomers.

19 Feb 2010

NIA supports FDA initiative to reduce radiation overexposure from medical imaging

National Imaging Associates (NIA), a Magellan Health Services company, today applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its leadership and progress in addressing the issue of radiation overexposure through its Initiative to Reduce Unnecessary Radiation Exposure from Medical Imaging.

19 Feb 2010

AARP opposes Idaho Health Freedom Act

In a move that could have dire effects on health care in Idaho, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted yesterday to bring the Idaho Health Care Freedom Act (House Bill 391) one step closer to becoming law

19 Feb 2010

Medicare coverage for prescription drugs: HHS to apply ARRA increased FMAP to clawback payments

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $4.3 billion in financial relief to states by reducing the amount they will have to pay the federal government to offset the cost of Medicare coverage for prescription drugs for state residents eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

19 Feb 2010

UBC researcher finds improved uptake of highly active antiretroviral therapy

A comprehensive population-based study, conducted by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and presented at the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francisco, shows that expanded highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) coverage was associated with a 50% decrease in new yearly HIV infections among injection drug users.

19 Feb 2010

NBCH's annual report: How America's health plans are doing to improve care and control costs for diabetes

Today the National Business Coalition on Health issued its annual report on how America's health plans are doing to improve care and control costs for diabetes. The analysis is based on health plan survey data from NBCH's eValue8™ program, the nation's leading Request for Information (RFI) tool used by employers, coalitions and their purchaser members to set expectations and measure health plan performance.

19 Feb 2010

Kaiser Permanente honored as the fifth Most Innovative Health Care Company for pioneering EHR

Kaiser Permanente has been honored in Fast Company's annual Most Innovative Companies issue as the fifth Most Innovative Health Care Company in the World for its pioneering electronic health record that is the world's largest civilian electronic health record, and for its health care innovation center that develops the future of health care.

19 Feb 2010

Secretary of Veterans Affairs launches HIT initiative to improve healthcare delivery

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki launched the "Veterans Health IT Innovation Initiative," an employee-based Health Information Technology (HIT) competition to spur VA's transformation into a 21st Century organization that is Veteran-centric, results-oriented, and forward-looking.

19 Feb 2010

New report shows dramatic rise in medical technology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare costs

Management of Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (Pinksheets: EHSI) stated that they were encouraged by a new report that parallels the company’s conclusions about the new potential for business in the current healthcare marketplace.

19 Feb 2010

Insight Imaging to provide Enterprise Solutions to Progressive Imaging Center

Insight Imaging announced today that it reached a three-year agreement to provide Insight Imaging Enterprise Solutions to the Progressive Imaging Center located on the campus of Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, New Jersey, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, New Jersey’s largest not-for-profit integrated health care delivery system.

19 Feb 2010

Training birth attendants in essential newborn-care techniques reduce stillbirths by 30%: Study

New findings in a study led by the director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Neonatology show that that training birth attendants in essential newborn-care techniques reduced stillbirths by more than 30 percent - and potentially could save as many as 1 million lives worldwide each year.

19 Feb 2010

States struggle to find solutions as Medicaid programs swell budget gaps

The (Louisville) Courier-Journal: "Passport Health Plan, often praised for its efficiency as Kentucky's only Medicaid managed care venture, costs the state far more per person than the state's regular Medicaid program.

19 Feb 2010

Valensa International enters into license agreement with Biova for BiovaFlex ingredient

Valensa International (Eustis, FL USA) announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with Biova, LLC (Johnston, Iowa USA) that will allow Valensa to include the patented BiovaFlex(TM) water-soluble egg shell membrane ingredient in a proprietary new series of formulated joint health products.

19 Feb 2010

Socioeconomic status can affect life expectancy, says VCU researcher

People who live in areas with lower household incomes are much more likely to die because of their personal and household characteristics and their community surroundings, according to Steven H. Woolf, M.D., M.P.H., director of the VCU Center on Human Needs, professor in the Department of Family Medicine and lead author of the study.

19 Feb 2010

Sens. Gregg, Baucus and Rep. Braley: Health care reform should happen

News outlets reports on the health care opinions of several lawmakers, including Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa.

19 Feb 2010

Report examines how medical technology changes state of health care

Federal researchers Wednesday released a report that examines how medical technology is changing the state of health care.

19 Feb 2010

Six states to study sickle cell disease and thalassemias in national pilot project

Medical researchers are developing a new surveillance system to determine the number of patients diagnosed with a family of inherited blood disorders known as hemoglobinopathies, including sickle cell disease, thalassemias, and hemoglobin E disease.

19 Feb 2010

Some Dems say single health reform bill is close, GOP settles on summit strategy

News outlets report on party politics in advance of the president's health care summit.

19 Feb 2010

University of Missouri to offer health literacy courses for health professionals

The cost of low health literacy - the difference between patients' abilities to understand health information and providers' abilities to effectively communicate complex medical information - is $106 billion to $238 billion annually, according to Pfizer, a leading biopharmaceutical company. To improve the health literacy of professionals and patients, the University of Missouri will offer a health literacy study emphasis beginning this fall.

19 Feb 2010

Health Care News and Research

HHS releases report highlighting health insurance premium increases

MetLife Mature Market Institute provides history of generations born since early 1900s

NIA supports FDA initiative to reduce radiation overexposure from medical imaging

AARP opposes Idaho Health Freedom Act

Medicare coverage for prescription drugs: HHS to apply ARRA increased FMAP to clawback payments

UBC researcher finds improved uptake of highly active antiretroviral therapy

NBCH's annual report: How America's health plans are doing to improve care and control costs for diabetes

Kaiser Permanente honored as the fifth Most Innovative Health Care Company for pioneering EHR

Secretary of Veterans Affairs launches HIT initiative to improve healthcare delivery

New report shows dramatic rise in medical technology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare costs

Insight Imaging to provide Enterprise Solutions to Progressive Imaging Center

Training birth attendants in essential newborn-care techniques reduce stillbirths by 30%: Study

States struggle to find solutions as Medicaid programs swell budget gaps

Valensa International enters into license agreement with Biova for BiovaFlex ingredient

Socioeconomic status can affect life expectancy, says VCU researcher

Sens. Gregg, Baucus and Rep. Braley: Health care reform should happen

Report examines how medical technology changes state of health care

Six states to study sickle cell disease and thalassemias in national pilot project

Some Dems say single health reform bill is close, GOP settles on summit strategy

University of Missouri to offer health literacy courses for health professionals

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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