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Indiana braces for the costs of health law's expanded coverage

In addition to questions about costs from the health law's Medicaid expansion, states are also wrestling with issues related to the creation of health exchanges and questions regarding essential benefits.

21 Sep 2012

New census data show insurance coverage expands in 20 states

Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont saw the biggest expansions, while Missouri and Montana saw declines in coverage. The biggest increases occurred among young adults between the ages of 19 and 25.

21 Sep 2012

Nurses can play a key role in feeding people and restoring their humanity in times of crisis

Nurses can play a key role in feeding people and restoring their humanity in times of great crisis and this was very evident during their little-known involvement in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen at the end of World War Two.

21 Sep 2012

Administration touts thriving Medicare Advantage under health law

Enrollment in the private plans is projected to increase 11 percent next year, while premiums hold steady, officials say, disproving predictions made by critics of the health care law.

21 Sep 2012

Ciprofloxacin use is major contributor to MRSA spread in hospitals

The use of a commonly prescribed antibiotic is a major contributor to the spread of infection in hospitals by the 'superbug' MRSA, according to new research. The study also found that increasing measures to prevent infection - such as improved hygiene and hand washing - appeared to have only a small effect on reducing MRSA infection rates during the period studied.

21 Sep 2012

Cholera vaccine stockpiles could help save lives in future outbreaks

In a post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Helen Matzger, a program officer in new vaccine delivery at the foundation, writes about outbreaks of cholera in Haiti, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and other areas, and says creating stockpiles of a recently WHO-approved cholera vaccine could help save lives in the future.

21 Sep 2012

September issue of 'Global Fund News Flash' email newsletter available

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has published Issue 8 of its newsletter, the "Global Fund News Flash."

21 Sep 2012

MU endocrinologist to receive American Heart Association lifetime achievement award

One of the first researchers to study the deadly link between cardiovascular disease and diabetes will receive an American Heart Association lifetime achievement award today at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award presented to University of Missouri endocrinologist James Sowers, MD, recognizes his more than 30 years of accomplishments as a physician, scientist and educator.

21 Sep 2012

Layoffs hit group health in Washington and Boston Children's Hospital

Group Health Cooperative, recognized as a leader in health-care innovations and patient satisfaction, says it must cut $250 million over the next 16 months through layoffs, better cost control and some reorganization at the top. As part of those changes, Richard Magnuson, executive vice president and chief financial and administrative officer, will soon leave the organization.

21 Sep 2012

Thyroid journal publishes new ATA guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) today announced that new clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism are published in the current issue of Thyroid.

21 Sep 2012

Longer looks: A 'renegade' Bill Frist?; The pharmacist's expanding role

Meet former Sen. Bill Frist, a renegade "Obamacare"-loving Republican who is in the mood for some real bipartisanship. Yes, the same Frist who as Senate majority leader led an army into the culture wars over Terri Schiavo and whose efforts in 2004 to unseat his then-rival, Minority Leader Tom Daschle, led to a nasty - and personal - Washington battle royal. Now, Frist is pushing for a national conversation on end-of-life care and dismissing "caricatured" talk of death panels.

21 Sep 2012

MD Anderson introduces Moon Shots Program to reduce cancer deaths

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announces the launch of the Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented effort to dramatically accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances that reduce cancer deaths.

21 Sep 2012

New Okla. challenge to health law zeros in on tax penalties and subsidies

In a new legal challenge, the state's attorney general is asking a federal court to rule that the law's requirement that most people purchase insurance or face a tax penalty is inoperative in his state.

21 Sep 2012

Drug co. execs say cost-containment pressures undermine medical innovation

Pressure from governments to lower drug prices risks undermining medical innovation, Bayer AG's chief executive said on Wednesday, echoing complaints of other drug company executives. Speaking at the Boston College Chief Executives' Club, Marijn Dekkers said there was "tremendous pressure" on drugmakers to lower prices.

21 Sep 2012

N.Y. Times examines why many kidneys available for transplant are discarded

In each of the past five years, more than 2,600 kidneys were recovered and discarded, according to government data.

21 Sep 2012

State roundup: HCA fined for kickbacks; Minn. rural health care investigation

The Hospital Corporation of America will pay $16.5 million to settle claims that its subsidiaries had paid a diagnostics firm for referrals, violating federal anti-kickback rules, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. HCA subsidiary Parkridge Medical Center and HCA Physician Services, both provided "financial benefits" to a physician group, Diagnostic Associates of Chattanooga, for referrals to the HCA facilities.

21 Sep 2012

Alabama voters approve moving money from state trust fund to balance budget

Alabama voters decided by a 2-to-1 margin Tuesday to avoid dramatic cuts in state government by withdrawing $437 million from a state trust fund to help balance the General Fund budget for the next three years. State Health Officer Don Williamson, who oversees the state Medicaid program, said it will still have to make $20 million to $40 million in cuts to live within the new year's budget, but that will be much less painful than the massive cuts that were forecast.

21 Sep 2012

Study of spinal injury data may help surgeons treat injured soldiers or civilians

Spinal injuries are among the most disabling conditions affecting wounded members of the U.S. military. Yet until recently, the nature of those injuries had not been adequately explored.

21 Sep 2012

Mosquitoes show signs of behavior change in response to bed net use, study says

About three years after two villages in Benin began using insecticide-treated bed nets to help prevent malaria, mosquitoes in the area changed their biting habits, so their "hours of 'peak aggression' [went] from 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. to around 5 a.m." and "in one village, the proportion of mosquito bites inflicted outdoors rose," according to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Reuters reports.

21 Sep 2012

Itrim programme effectively reduces weight among obese people

Anyone who wants to lose weight has a wide variety of diets to choose from, but knowledge of what works is often poor. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University have now evaluated a Swedish commercial weight loss programme called Itrim, and found it to be effective. After one year, participants had lost 11 kg on average.

21 Sep 2012