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Experts attribute increased demand for nursing jobs to rise in pediatric specialty services

A shift upward in the number of children treated by hospitals and outpatient facilities nationwide has created a spike in the demand for pediatric nurses, resulting in high pay and exceptional benefits for these positions.

8 Dec 2009

eHealthInsurance provides comparison data on health insurance premiums

eHealthInsurance (NASDAQ: EHTH), the leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses, has provided comparison data on health insurance premiums for people unable to afford COBRA coverage once their COBRA premium reduction (the COBRA subsidy) expires.

8 Dec 2009

Consumer Watchdog: Opponents of health reform are fear-mongering relentlessly during Senate debate

Opponents of health reform are fear-mongering relentlessly during prolonged Senate debate, said Consumer Watchdog, spinning endlessly the lobbying messages of the insurance industry.

8 Dec 2009

Erbitux gaining market share of Avastin in Europe

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, despite its dominance in early lines of metastatic colorectal cancer treatment, Roche/Chugai's Avastin will face increasing competition from Bristol-Myers Squibb/Eli Lilly/Merck KGaA's Erbitux in Germany, France and Spain.

8 Dec 2009

VisionShare to enable connectivity to the NHIN and HIEs from its secure exchange platform

VisionShare, one of the nation’s largest and most secure health information exchanges for administrative transactions, today announced plans to expand support for the exchange of clinical transactions on its platform and making connectivity to the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) and state and community-based Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) available to its customers.

8 Dec 2009

U.S. bishops recommend the Senate to support Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment

The U.S. bishops have voiced support for the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment to the Senate health reform bill and have asked voters to back it.

8 Dec 2009

The big health reform issues bedeviling Harry Reid

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports on the outlook in the Senate during its weekend session and Majority Leader Harry Reid's continuing efforts to advance the cause.

8 Dec 2009

States struggle with budget cuts and Medicaid funding issues

News outlets report on a variety of health issues at the state level especially budget cuts and Medicaid funding issues.

7 Dec 2009

Senate Democrats seek agreement on public plan alternative

The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones: "Senate Democrats appear ... closer to reaching agreement on an alternative to a government-run health-insurance plan in health-care overhaul legislation, even as they dealt with disagreement within their party on abortion. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, (D., Mich.) told reporters Monday that Democrats are 'rapidly coming to a conclusion' on language within the bill, including a public-plan alternative."

7 Dec 2009

Last-ditch public option compromise looks to federal employees' plan

As the health care debate grinds forward, Majority Leader Harry Reid asked a group of ten Democratic senators - five liberals and five centrists - to forge a compromise on a government-operated health insurer, The New York Times reports. Even among Democrats, moderates and liberals differ on this thorny issue. "The push for a deal on the public option indicated the pressure Democrats were feeling to resolve their differences if they hope to pass the bill by their self-imposed deadline of Christmas" (Pear and Herszenhorn, 12/6).

7 Dec 2009

Advocates worried about health insurance affordability push for more subsidies

The Boston Globe: "President Obama has promised that the nation's health care overhaul will make medical insurance available - and affordable - for everyone. But while bills in Congress would make insurance more accessible for millions of Americans, advocates worry that the Senate bill would impose significant financial burdens on some of the families who will now be required to buy coverage."

7 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 7, 2009

President Obama took to the Hill this weekend to boost Senate Democrats' health reform efforts. Meanwhile, the negotiations on flashpoint issues such as the public option continue.

7 Dec 2009

Obama on Senate health bill: 'They're going to get it done'

News coverage is focusing on the Senate health debate, with some reporting that some agreements may be reached today.

6 Dec 2009

Health experts available to discuss health care reform

Edward D. Miller was named chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine, the 13th dean of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and vice president for medicine of The Johns Hopkins University in January 1997.

5 Dec 2009

New data reveals insurance-based discrimination is more common among lower income women

According to an analysis of statewide data taken from 1998-2001, women in Oregon who made less than $50,000 a year were more than three times likely to report they were discriminated against by health providers because of their insurance status during pregnancy and delivery

5 Dec 2009

Health experts available to discuss national healthcare policy issues

Experts at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and the USC School of Pharmacy are available to discuss critical national healthcare and healthcare policy issues.

5 Dec 2009

Recession continues to impact low-income families with disabled children

The prolonged recession is deepening the financial burden for some of the country's most vulnerable families, a new study indicates.

5 Dec 2009

Perspective opinion piece addressing health care reform published

The New England Journal of Medicine today published a Perspective opinion piece addressing health care reform, co-authored by Irwin Redlener, M.D., president, Children's Health Fund and Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness and Professor of Clinical Population & Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; and, Roy Grant, M.A., of the Children's Health Fund, a national organization that advocates for and develops primary care programs for disadvantaged and medically underserved children.

5 Dec 2009

Call for every health insurance plan to cover Phenylketonuria

Credit Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Robert Casey (D-PA) with a significant contribution to the health care debate: a bill ends a glaring disparity in the way Americans living with Phenylketonuria (PKU) control their potentially devastating disease, and the way others living with serious chronic conditions are treated. "The Medical Foods Equity Act of 2009" aims to save affected families thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, cut long-term costs for the entire system, and offer 20,000 Americans a better shot at healthy, happy, and productive lives.

5 Dec 2009

Wide variation in state Medicaid and SCHIP policies determine financial burden for families

In the United States, caring for a child with special health care needs usually means higher medical expenses for a family - particularly for low-income families, who spend a disproportionally large share of their income on their child's care.

5 Dec 2009