Healthcare News

RSS

Romney pledges more health care options for veterans

The Republican presidential nominee took a break from his party's convention in Tampa to address the American Legion in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, one news outlet looks at geographic disparities in services for veterans.

31 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Romney, Ryan rely on 'the magic asterisk'; Frightening voters over Medicare cuts

The press has focused a lot on the similarities between Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. They are both technocratic, they espouse tax cuts, and they believe in a balanced budget. But there is a deeper similarity as well: they both believe deeply in the "magic asterisk." The magic asterisk was the invention of David Stockman, budget director to Ronald Reagan. Stockman, who needed to show a more favorable budget than the Reagan tax cuts would justify, put in an asterisk and noted "future savings to be identified."

31 Aug 2012

Study estimates prevalence, severity and extent of periodontitis in adult U.S population

In a study titled "Prevalence of Periodontis in Adults in the United States: 2009 and 2010," lead author Paul Eke, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimates the prevalence, severity and extent of periodontitis in the adult U.S population using data from the 2009 and 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycle.

31 Aug 2012

Brazil expanding national HIV treatment program to include patients with higher CD4 cell counts

Brazil is expanding its national HIV/AIDS treatment program to include about 35,000 additional people, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports. "Ronaldo Hallal of the health ministry's Sexually Transmitted Disease Department said people with 500 or fewer CD4 cells per cubic millimeter will receive antiretroviral HIV treatment," increasing the cutoff from 350 or less CD4 cells per cubic millimeter prior to the expansion, the news service writes.

31 Aug 2012

WellStar Health System, Aetna sign multiyear contract agreement

Aetna and WellStar Health System of Marietta, Ga. announced today that they have reached agreement on a multiyear contract extension. Under the agreement, members of Aetna's commercial plans will be able to continue to receive covered services, at in-network rates, from WellStar's hospitals and physicians in the greater Atlanta area.

31 Aug 2012

Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan

Less than half of U.S. schools address pandemic preparedness in their school plan, and only 40 percent have updated their school plan since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

31 Aug 2012

Park Nicollet, HealthPartners sign merger agreement

HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Health Services announced today that their boards of directors have signed an agreement to combine their organizations and create a comprehensive, integrated health care delivery and financing organization serving the entire Twin Cities metro area and western Wisconsin.

31 Aug 2012

Tips for parents to recognize signs of childhood obstructive sleep apnea

With school days upon us, a good night's sleep should be on the top of each child's list of supplies. But for some children, getting the rest they need means more than an early bedtime. At Clarity Allergy Center in Chicago, allergy, asthma, and immunology expert, Dr. Brian Rotskoff, is helping parents recognize the signs of childhood obstructive sleep apnea by carefully monitoring childhood snoring and childhood nasal allergies.

31 Aug 2012

U.S. lags three other industrialized nations in potentially preventable death rates

The United States lags three other industrialized nations-France, Germany, and the United Kingdom-in its potentially preventable death rate, and in the pace of improvement in preventing deaths that could have been avoided with timely and effective health care, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study published as a web first online today in Health Affairs.

31 Aug 2012

Young undocumented immigrants allowed to stay in U.S. are still ineligible for Obamacare benefits

A new CMS rule aims to ensure that illegal immigrants exempted from deportation under the Obama administration's June 15 policy change on immigration will not qualify for subsidized coverage under either high-risk insurance pools or state-based exchanges.

31 Aug 2012

Roundup: Brown's pension plan no panacea for Calif.; Personhood amendment won't make Colo. ballot

Even by the most ambitious forecasts, the plan Gov. Jerry Brown and fellow Democrats are championing to contain government worker pensions in California could leave state taxpayers awash in debt to public employees.

31 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 30, 2012

In this updated FAQ, Kaiser Health News staff writer Marilyn Werber Serafini reports: "It may come as a surprise that President Barack Obama and GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan are pushing the same target rate for controlling federal spending on Medicare.

30 Aug 2012

Tips to make the college transition easier

Your high school graduate is off to college to embark on a newly independent life. But they're not the only one making a transition: parents too face emotional and lifestyle adjustments. With advice on empty-nest syndrome and the college transition, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital physicians offer expert tips for parents and children on topics including redecorating your child's room, credit cards, keeping in touch and more.

30 Aug 2012

Christie says Romney would tell 'hard truths'

Republican keynote address lays "the foundation for calls" by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to change Medicare, Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Aug 2012

Tips for parents to help their kids get a smart start to the academic year

The first day of school always requires preparations -- notebooks, pens and a new set of clothes. But don't forget to prepare for your child's health, says Dr. Joan Bregstein, a physician in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

30 Aug 2012

Guinea worm disease on verge of eradication, WHO reports

"The World Health Organization reports Guinea worm disease, which has plagued people for thousands of years, is on the verge of eradication," VOA News reports. "The U.N. agency says fewer than 400 cases of the infectious parasitic disease exist in four African countries, and that it will soon become only the second, after smallpox, to be wiped off the face of the earth," the news service writes.

30 Aug 2012

New book on medical screening to be launched on Sep. 4

Delegates from around the world will gather for the launch of a new book on medical screening edited by University of Leicester academics.

30 Aug 2012

Poll: Abortion not decisive issue for more than half of voters

While the 2012 presidential race has energized pro- and anti-abortion rights groups, a new CBS News poll shows that as many as 57 percent of registered voters in both parties say it's possible they would vote for a candidate who disagreed with them on the issue. However, women are less likely than men to say that.

30 Aug 2012

Full-term pregnancy benefits many U.S. babies

More U.S. babies are getting the benefit of a full-term pregnancy, according to a new government report that shows that 61 percent of births now happen at 39 weeks of pregnancy or later, a five percent increase between 2006 and 2010.

30 Aug 2012

Judge rewords Mo. health insurance exchange ballot measure

A judge has reworded a ballot measure that would require that state's governor to seek legislative or voter approval before establishing a health insurance exchange over charges that the secretary of state's ballot language was misleading.

30 Aug 2012