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U.S. must maintain leadership in AIDS fight, bipartisan support of PEPFAR

Through travel to Africa and "as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, we've seen firsthand the enormous toll of HIV/AIDS on families, communities and economies," Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) write in the Huffington Post's "Politics" blog.

7 Dec 2012

Polls show public reluctance for trimming Medicare to curb the deficit

A new AP-GfK poll found most American favor letting tax cuts expire for top wage earners and a Quinnipiac poll found that voters oppose cutting Medicaid spending and increasing the Medicare eligibility age.

7 Dec 2012

Global Fund names interim inspector general

"Norbert Hauser has been named interim inspector general of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports, adding, "The recently retired lawyer and international auditor will serve in this temporary appointment for up to nine months while the Global Fund searches for a permanent inspector general to replace John Parsons," whose employment was terminated last month.

7 Dec 2012

States trying managed care for 'dual eligibles' - Medicare/Medicaid recipients

People who qualify for Medicare and Medicaid - many of whom are elderly and in nursing homes - need lots of often-expensive care.

7 Dec 2012

U.S. House Minority Leader Pelosi announces new top Democrats on House committees

U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday announced the new top Democrats on House committees, Bloomberg reports.

7 Dec 2012

Health workers face 'severe logistical challenges' to vaccinating Maasai tribes in Tanzania

Chris Endean of the GAVI Alliance writes ahead of the GAVI Partners Forum in a CNN opinion piece about efforts to vaccinate members of the Maasai tribes in Tanzania's Arusha National Park. Noting Maasai tribes are "constantly on the move searching for water and fresh pasture for their cattle," he describes "severe logistical challenges" health workers face when trying to reach their patients and notes."

7 Dec 2012

Benefits under health law will vary by state; Restaurant chain backs off plan to move to part-time workers to avoid insurance costs

The New York Times looks at the wide variations in essential health benefits defined by states, while The Associated Press reports that Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, has decided not to try to avoid health law requirements and will not switch full-time employees to part-time status.

7 Dec 2012

General thoracic surgeons perform vast majority of complex noncardiac operations

While thoracic surgeons are traditionally known as the experts who perform heart surgeries, a UC Davis study has found that general thoracic surgeons, especially those at academic health centers, perform the vast majority of complex noncardiac operations, including surgeries of the esophagus and lungs.

7 Dec 2012

Strengthen health systems to integrate polio vaccinations into routine childhood immunizations, Save the Children report says

Speaking at the GAVI Partners Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, David Olayemi, senior program adviser at Save the Children in Abuja, Nigeria, said fewer than half of children in Nigeria are receiving routine immunizations for diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (DTP), and the rate is dropping, Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog."

7 Dec 2012

Longer looks: The frustrations of academic medicine; Small business owners fear health law changes; A doctor struggles to save his mother

Like many franchisees, Robert U. Mayfield, who owns five Dairy Queens in and around Austin, Tex., is always eager to expand and - no surprise - has had his eyes on opening a sixth DQ. But he said concerns about the new federal health care law had persuaded him to hold off.

7 Dec 2012

Nordic project to coordinate initiatives to combat dramatic increase in tick-borne diseases

Last year, more than 40,000 people in Western Scandinavia may have been affected by infections caused by ticks. SEK 17 million has now been invested in a joint Nordic project to coordinate initiatives to combat the dramatic increase in tick-borne diseases.

7 Dec 2012

Weekly telephone contact with nurses reduces hospital re-admissions for high-risk patients

Weekly telephone contact with a nurse substantially reduced hospital re-admissions for high-risk patients, according to results of a University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) study.

7 Dec 2012

Neonaticides have fallen significantly over the last 10 years in Austria

Since 2002, the number of new-born babies who have suffered a violent death has more than halved in Austria. This encouraging development is due to the introduction of the Anonymous Birth scheme in 2001. Scientists at the MedUni Vienna have now been able to provide proof of the scheme's effectiveness.

7 Dec 2012

University of Michigan to create National Kidney Disease Registry

The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center will create a National Kidney Disease Registry to monitor kidney disease among America's veterans.

7 Dec 2012

Roundup: Fla. judge rules legislature must decide on prison care privatization; Skepticism over Ore. medical liability reform proposal

A Tallahassee judge ruled Tuesday that a legislative committee did not have the authority to approve a contract regarding prison health care services. According to Businessweek, the plan would privatize health care services in three of Florida's four prison system regions. Circuit Judge John Cooper, who made the decision, said the policy changes must be approved by the full Legislature, rather than just a panel of 14 select legislators.

6 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Lame duck Congress shouldn't take on entitlement changes; New legal challenge to health law; 'Irrational vote' on disability pact

What we need in order to address this fiscal abyss is a Grand Bargain that addresses the two main drivers of our structural deficits: unsustainable social insurance programs, especially health care programs, and a complex, unfair, uncompetitive and inadequate tax system. But a lame duck Congress cannot and should not tackle comprehensive tax and social insurance reforms.

6 Dec 2012

Political cartoon: '3-2-1 Liftoff?'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with '3-2-1 Liftoff?' By Lisa Benson.

6 Dec 2012

UC San Diego Health System receives Comprehensive Stroke Center designation

UC San Diego Medical Center-Hillcrest is one of five facilities in the country, and the only center in San Diego County, to be recognized as one of the first Comprehensive Stroke Centers (CSC), the newest level of certification for advanced stroke care awarded by The Joint Commission.

6 Dec 2012

First Edition: December 6, 2012

Today's headlines include a report that some in the GOP are urging lawmakers to support the idea of trading tax breaks for changes in safety-net programs.

6 Dec 2012

Few new doctors choose primary care

Less than a quarter of new doctors are choosing primary care as their specialty, even after finishing residency programs focused on internal medicine, a new study reports.

6 Dec 2012

Healthcare News

U.S. must maintain leadership in AIDS fight, bipartisan support of PEPFAR

Polls show public reluctance for trimming Medicare to curb the deficit

Global Fund names interim inspector general

States trying managed care for 'dual eligibles' - Medicare/Medicaid recipients

U.S. House Minority Leader Pelosi announces new top Democrats on House committees

Health workers face 'severe logistical challenges' to vaccinating Maasai tribes in Tanzania

Benefits under health law will vary by state; Restaurant chain backs off plan to move to part-time workers to avoid insurance costs

General thoracic surgeons perform vast majority of complex noncardiac operations

Strengthen health systems to integrate polio vaccinations into routine childhood immunizations, Save the Children report says

Longer looks: The frustrations of academic medicine; Small business owners fear health law changes; A doctor struggles to save his mother

Nordic project to coordinate initiatives to combat dramatic increase in tick-borne diseases

Weekly telephone contact with nurses reduces hospital re-admissions for high-risk patients

Neonaticides have fallen significantly over the last 10 years in Austria

University of Michigan to create National Kidney Disease Registry

Roundup: Fla. judge rules legislature must decide on prison care privatization; Skepticism over Ore. medical liability reform proposal

Viewpoints: Lame duck Congress shouldn't take on entitlement changes; New legal challenge to health law; 'Irrational vote' on disability pact

Political cartoon: '3-2-1 Liftoff?'

UC San Diego Health System receives Comprehensive Stroke Center designation

First Edition: December 6, 2012

Few new doctors choose primary care

Membrane proteins in focus: Turning high-risk targets into routine workflows

How metabolic phenotyping can detect viral infections in minutes

Directed enzyme evolution and the Nobel Prize: Making enzymes evolve in the lab

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