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AmeriChoice of Pennsylvania, Chester County Hospital sign agreement for access to hospital's facilities

AmeriChoice of Pennsylvania and Chester County Hospital have announced an agreement that will provide AmeriChoice Medicaid members access to the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient facilities.

24 Sep 2009

MetLife unveils its enhanced web-based resource for oral health care

Understanding how to maintain or improve oral health just got easier. MetLife, the largest commercial dental carrier, which administers dental benefits for over 21 million people, today unveiled its enhanced consumer resource, the MetLife Oral Health Library.

24 Sep 2009

Guarding Hearts Alliance to protect quality care for patients suffering from heart disease

Organizations representing the vast majority of cardiologists around the country have joined forces today to preserve and protect the highest quality cardiac care available in America. Guarding Hearts Alliance is advocating to protect patient access to cardiac care in whatever Medicare changes or health care reform legislation is enacted.

24 Sep 2009

States extend, create new programs for vulnerable; In Texas, home health a problem

New outlets report on a variety of health stories at the state level including a new program that provides prescription drug help and routine medical care to low-income people in Iowa, an assurance that poor children will be able to keep their insurance in California and recognition that home health agencies waste Medicare dollars in Texas.

24 Sep 2009

Website for family caregivers to find senior care facilities

AgingCare.com, a website and community forum for people taking care of elderly parents, has created a directory tool that lets family caregivers find senior care facilities in their local area. The directory, www.agingcare.com/Find-Senior-Care/ is free to use, and quickly connects caregivers with local senior care services and providers. The Directory includes assisted living facilities, home health care services, nursing homes, hospice, geriatric care managers and independent living residences.

24 Sep 2009

Some states praise language to change Medicare pay formula

Some states such as Washington and Minnesota see benefit in changes to the Medicare pay formula.

24 Sep 2009

Finance senators debate issues of timing, transparency

The Finance Committee resumed its mark-up of a proposal authored by its chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., on Wednesday, with much of the debate gravitating to amendments concerning speed, timing and transparency. Republicans sought to delay the vote, while Democrats argued for a compromise that would bring the committee's deliberations to a swifter conclusion.

24 Sep 2009

Pregnant women must be vaccinated against H1N1 and seasonal flu

Pregnant women should be sure to get all their flu shots as soon as the vaccines become available this year to protect them against both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 (swine) flu, according to eight leading national maternal and infant health organizations.

24 Sep 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

It seems a poor reflection on one of the richest countries in the world that we are so stingy, so callous and so xenophobic. At least we've not reached the point of turning away cases of immediate need — victims of car accidents or heart attacks or others who need emergency care (Cynthia Tucker, 9/22).

24 Sep 2009

Marchers, celebrities sound off on health care reform

Across the country, protesters and celebrities are sounding off on health reform as legislation gets closer to becoming reality.

24 Sep 2009

AmeriCares commits to donate medicines and medical supplies to health care organizations

AmeriCares this week pledged to expand its medical assistance across the United States at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program, announced by President & CEO Curt Welling, is a two-year commitment to improve community health by donating medicines and medical supplies to health care organizations serving the uninsured and underinsured throughout the country.

24 Sep 2009

Pelosi, House Dems finding compromise on health bills difficult

The Hill: "Speaker Pelosi is backing away from a deal she cut with centrists to advance health reform, said a source familiar with talks. Pelosi's decision to move away from the agreement that was made with a group of Blue Dogs to get the bill out of committee would steer the healthcare legislation back to the left as she prepares for a floor vote.

24 Sep 2009

Who are the uninsured and where do they live?

"The nation's uninsured — a growing class of people whose recession-fed ranks have swelled to 46.3 million — are central to the health care debate in Washington and the questions about how and whether to get them covered are as vexing and emotional as they come," USA Today reports. "While the nation waits for Congress and the White House to come up with answers, those who live without insurance say they are waiting scared."

24 Sep 2009

Opinions: Reforming U.S. aid; delivering health care in developing countries

To change the U.S. foreign aid system, we must "[d]o what the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) did: break the rules and then rewrite them," Mark Dybul, former U.S. global AIDS coordinator, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece examining the development and implementation of the program.

24 Sep 2009

Analyzing the Baucus bill: Individual mandate, tax provisions

One of the biggest points of contention in Senate Finance Committee's consideration of Max Baucus' health bill is the "individual mandate" requirement.

24 Sep 2009

Baucus bill doesn't bend cost curve enough, experts say

Kaiser Health News reports that "President Barack Obama and his congressional allies such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus have repeatedly vowed to 'bend the curve' on health care costs, and Baucus' new bill makes good on some of those promises."

23 Sep 2009

Obama aides say media blitz helps; polls show majority of Americans unworried by costs, quality

White House advisers believe the strategy of blanketing the airwaves with President Obama's live speeches has been an effective one in gaining a foothold in the health care debate, Roll Call reports. After a particularly media-heavy month for the president, critics have said Obama is "overexposed." His aides, however, call that "dominating news cycles," a welcome change after an August in which harsh criticism of the president's plans stole headlines.

23 Sep 2009

Insurers, GOP react to criticism of letters to seniors

Insurers and Republicans react to the Obama administration's criticism of letters about health care reform from insurance companies, including Humana, to seniors. The Associated Press reports: "Republican lawmakers rebuked the Obama administration Tuesday for telling health insurance companies to stop warning elderly customers about proposed health care legislation, which some equated to a gag order."

23 Sep 2009

Some Medicare benefit cuts, increasing premiums could create 'political nightmare'

News outlets examine Medicare costs and long-term financing while the budget chief contradicts the president's repeated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under health care reform.

23 Sep 2009

Morphotek receives NIAID grant to develop human mAb therapies against staphylococcal-derived pathogens

Morphotek(R), Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Corporation of North America, announced today that it was awarded $843,289 in funding from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to support the development of human monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies against staphylococcal-derived toxin(s).

23 Sep 2009