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Administration sets new rule on essential health benefits

The Obama administration has released the final rule on essential health benefits, which sets the parameters for the types of benefits that must be offered by insurers starting in 2014.

21 Feb 2013

'Cap-and-trade system' proposal for global health funding

In a PLoS Medicine "Policy Forum" article, Luis Carrasco, Richard Coker, and Alex Cook of the National University of Singapore propose "a cap-and-trade system" for global health funding that is based on "global carbon permit markets to mitigate climate change."

21 Feb 2013

Opinion pieces address Save the Children breastfeeding report

Save the Children on Monday released a report examining "the four major barriers that prevent mothers from breastfeeding" -- community and cultural pressures, the shortage of health workers, a lack of maternity legislation, and inappropriate promotion of breast-milk substitutes."

21 Feb 2013

Tips to help reduce dry eyes

Some of the last days of winter can be among the worst for your eyes. Winter may be slowly giving way to spring, but the remaining cold days of the season can cause plenty of trouble for the eyes—trouble that is largely avoidable, says a Vanderbilt Eye Institute ophthalmologist.

21 Feb 2013

Reviewing progress on inclusion of NCDs in development goals

In a post in the BMJ Group Blogs, Katy Cooper, senior project manager at C3 Collaborating for Health, describes "what is happening around the global framework on non-communicable diseases, and how NCDs link into discussions on the successors to the Millennium Development Goals (due to expire in 2015) and the proposed new set of Sustainable Development Goals (as proposed at the Rio+20 conference in 2012)."

21 Feb 2013

Antipsychotic drug dispensing on the rise among older people

A study by Queen's University Belfast has found that the dispensing of psychotropic drugs to older people in Northern Ireland increases on entry to care homes.

21 Feb 2013

States continue mulling Medicaid expansion's costs and benefits

After conducting a review of the two choices California officials are considering for optional Medi-Cal expansion, the state Legislative Analyst's Office yesterday strongly recommended the state-based option, rather than a county-based plan.

21 Feb 2013

Supreme Court gives FTC more power to police hospital mergers

The decision is a win for the federal government as it seeks to monitor the trend toward consolidations around the country.

21 Feb 2013

Blog examines potential impact of sequestration on global health

Noting "several federal agencies released new details about the impact of sequestration on their budgets and programs," the Global Health Technologies Coalition's Communications Officer Kim Lufkin writes in the group's "Breakthroughs" blog.

21 Feb 2013

Pa., Wis. governors face scrutiny, decisions on Medicaid programs

Governors in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are facing questions from their legislatures over plans to expand or limit Medicaid enrollment.

21 Feb 2013

Calif. insurance official pans rate map proposal, warns of 20% hikes

California's insurance commissioner says that residents in some areas of the state could see premiums rise 20 percent if a proposal in the state legislature to split California into six insurance rates zones is approved. He urges an 18-region plan.

21 Feb 2013

Simple interventions could reduce delirium and improve patient perceptions about sleep quality

A hospital is not the best place to get a good night's sleep, especially in a noisy intensive care unit. It's a cause for concern because studies have shown that a lack of sleep can cause patients to experience delirium-an altered mental state that may delay their recovery and lead to short and long-term confusion and memory problems.

21 Feb 2013

Proposals, partisan rhetoric fly in countdown to March 1 spending cuts

News outlets report how spending reductions will impact health care programs. Meanwhile, in hopes of creating momentum toward a compromise, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles on Tuesday unveiled a $2.4 trillion proposal that includes $600 billion in spending reductions to health-care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

21 Feb 2013

Progress on reducing maternal mortality in Nigeria requires cooperation

Referencing the phrase "impatient optimists," coined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aminu Magashi, an adviser for the USAID-funded Targeted States High Impact Project, writes in Nigeria's Daily Trust, "Although in many developing countries, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 of improving maternal health by 2015 will not be achieved, we should all be optimistic and impatient to continue doing what we can to reduce the burden of maternal death which will positively reduce the burden of newborn and child mortality."

21 Feb 2013

Researchers determine normative data for hopping or running

Motor development in children under five years of age can now be tested reliably: Together with colleagues from Lausanne, researchers from the University Children's Hospital Zurich and the University of Zurich have determined normative data for different exercises such as hopping or running. This enables parents and experts to gage the motor skills of young children for the first time objectively and thus identify abnormalities at an early stage.

21 Feb 2013

Possible Medicare Advantage pay reductions cause insurer stocks to slip

The proposed cuts in federal payments, which are open to comment until March 1, could lead to reduced coverage or fewer options for people who choose to buy these plans.

21 Feb 2013

Push for electronic medical records leads to profits for some companies

The approach came in 2009, in a presentation to doctors by Allscripts Healthcare Solutions of Chicago, a well-connected player in the lucrative business of digital medical records.

21 Feb 2013

Blog profiles ranking Republican on Senate HHS Appropriations subcommittee

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog profiles Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. Moran is an advocate of funding for the National Institutes of Health, the blog notes, adding that during his seven terms as

21 Feb 2013

UCSD molecular biologist to receive Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Napoleone Ferrara, MD, PhD, the molecular biologist credited with helping decipher how tumors grow and now senior deputy director for basic sciences at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center, was today named one of 11 recipients of the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, which comes with a $3 million cash award.

21 Feb 2013

IRIN examines why humanitarian aid request remains constant in 2013 Sahel Regional Strategy

Noting "the 2013 Sahel Regional Strategy calls for $1.66 billion to help meet humanitarian needs and build up resilience among vulnerable groups -- an identical figure to the 2012 crisis appeal -- even though aid agencies estimate the number of Sahelians at risk of going hungry this year has dropped 44 percent to 10.3 million," IRIN examines "why the ask has remained constant."

21 Feb 2013