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Republicans may be vulnerable on Medicare, social issues in Nov. elections

The recent flurry of socially conservative legislation, on issues ranging from expanding gun rights to placing new restrictions on abortion, comes as Republicans at the national level are eager to refocus attention on economic issues.

23 Apr 2012

Orrin Hatch to face primary battle: Health care record on GOP voters' minds

Beating back a challenge from tea party activists, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah easily qualified for the Republican primary ballot in his quest for a seventh Senate term Saturday, but he fell just short of winning the GOP nomination outright. ... Mr. Hatch's vote total Saturday marked a stark contrast with the fate of his erstwhile Utah Republican colleague, former Sen. Robert Bennett. ... The senator Hatch also trained his fire on FreedomWorks, the small-government, conservative organization that organized opposition to the senator.

23 Apr 2012

Health Discovery launches MelApp for melanoma risk assessment

Health Discovery Corporation, the molecular diagnostics company that launched MelApp, the first SVM-based image analysis iPhone app for melanoma risk assessment is featured in this month's Men's Health Magazine.

21 Apr 2012

Budget battle frames election campaigns

The budget debate focuses on competing priorities -- spending on defense versus the health law or making chocies between tax cuts for business or safety net programs. Also in the news, spending bills continue to percolate in Congress.

21 Apr 2012

U-M Medical School to renovate Taubman Health Sciences Library

The University of Michigan Medical School will greatly expand and improve its space and technology for training future physicians, with a $55 million project approved by the U-M Board of Regents today.

21 Apr 2012

Single biennial HIV prevention conference planned

This year's International Microbicides Conference, held this week in Sydney, "will be the last of its kind" because "from 2014 onwards, it is planned, a single biennial conference on all aspects of HIV prevention will be held," according to an aidsmap news story.

21 Apr 2012

ACOEM releases 10 point Agenda for Change

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has released its 10 point Agenda for Change - an advocacy plan intended to improve the health of America's workers and at the same time integrate workplace health more closely with the nation's overall health improvement strategies.

21 Apr 2012

UnitedHealth sees bright skies ahead -- earnings up

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), the biggest U.S. health insurer, increased its 2012 earnings forecast after reporting that first-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates for higher enrollment and low medical costs. ... UnitedHealth's shares climbed, along with other health insurers, after Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hemsley said he expects only a "gradual" rise in health spending this year.

21 Apr 2012

GSMA-mHA Mobile Health Summit to take place in Cape Town, South Africa

The GSMA-mHA Mobile Health Summit will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa on 29th May – 1st June 2012. Taking advantage of the global reach of the GSMA and mHealth Alliance, this year's summit will demonstrate the commercial scale and sustainability of mobile health initiatives.

21 Apr 2012

Examining links between agricultural development, nutrition

In this post in the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, the director of global health policy and a research fellow at the center, examines the connection between smallholder farming, agricultural productivity and nutrition. She writes, "For some time now, the food security movement has been stating that improving the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers improves nutritional status."

21 Apr 2012

What does technology, mean for doctor-patient relationships

Confronted with a range of new options, doctors are considering technology's place in their examination rooms.

21 Apr 2012

NSF announces 2012 Graduate Research Fellows

From cognitive neuroscience to theoretical physics, this year's National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellows from the University of Houston (UH) have their sights set on careers in fields ranging from medicine to energy.

21 Apr 2012

Consumer-directed health plans surge, get boost from health law

The concept is also central to Republican-backed market-based reforms. Also in the news, media outlets analyze what's a stake as the Supreme Court considers challenges to the health law, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reiterates the administration's confidence that the law will be upheld.

21 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Health law's legal peril; Barney Frank's misdiagnosis

Health-care reform, the impossible dream that seemed to become a reality in 2010, is now in mortal danger. Republicans want to repeal it even though the federal law is patterned after a Massachusetts law that their apparent presidential nominee signed in 2006. They can't do that, of course, unless they sweep the next election. So the clear and present danger comes from the Supreme Court, where a majority of justices seemed to snarl at the law in open session last month. Health-care reform is clearly in legal peril.

21 Apr 2012

Evaluating priority setting for health

"When facing a limited budget as most low- and middle-income countries are how can countries best sort multiple priorities into effective, sustainable policies?" Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Kate McQueston, a program coordinator at CGD, ask in the CGD's "Global Health Policy" blog.

21 Apr 2012

Arizona OKs contraception bill, moves close to defunding Planned Parenthood

Arizona legislators gave final approval to a bill allowing employers to opt out of covering contraception in their health plans while moving one step closer to barring Planned Parenthood from public funding in a separate bill. Debates over contraception and abortion also dominate state capitols in Texas, Nebraska and Minnesota.

21 Apr 2012

Health costs up nearly 6%; Medicare trustees solvency report due Monday

The cost of health care rose nearly 6 percent in the last year, according to a key indicator. In the meantime, Medicare's trustees will release its forecast on the solvency of the program on Monday.

21 Apr 2012

ACP offers recommendations to ensure Medicare beneficiaries

A dozen recommendations to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to high-quality, coordinated care were provided today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). The new policy paper, Reforming Medicare in the Age of Deficit Reduction, was released at Internal Medicine 2012, ACP's annual scientific meeting.

21 Apr 2012

Dems express regrets, grievances over health law push

Some prominent Democrats wish for a political do-over as they criticize the White House for focusing on the health law instead of the economy during President Barack Obama's first term.

21 Apr 2012

Alcohol use in Bollywood films directly influences drinking habits of India's adolescents

Alcohol use in Bollywood movies is directly influencing the drinking habits of India's adolescents, according to a new study presented today at the World Congress of Cardiology in Dubai.

21 Apr 2012