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Initiative pays primary-care docs for coordinating Medicare patients' care

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday a new initiative created by the health law that will ask physicians to focus on patients with chronic conditions. The program will be tested in five to seven markets across the country.

30 Sep 2011

Military benefits face same cost challenges as Social Security, Medicare

The federal government last year spent a record $275.2 billion on benefits for retired federal workers, two-thirds of it for military retirees. What's driving up costs: Congress has expanded benefits frequently and Baby Boomers are living longer, collecting pension checks longer and consuming more health care -; the same issues challenging Social Security and Medicare.

30 Sep 2011

BioSpace launches 2011-2012 Biotech Beach Hotbed Campaign

Today BioSpace, the leading life sciences employment and news website, launched the 2011-2012 Biotech Beach Hotbed Campaign, marking the 14th edition.

30 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Rising health costs and the health law

Even a slow economy can't stop healthcare costs from rising. A new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust shows that the cost of employer-provided insurance rose 9% this year -; even as workers and their families were cutting back on trips to the doctor's office -; and has more than doubled over the last decade.

30 Sep 2011

New survey finds Minneapolis as the best U.S. city for senior living

Minneapolis is the best city in the United States for senior living, with Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Denver rounding out the top five, according to a new survey conducted for the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center For a Secure Retirement.

30 Sep 2011

Gingrich issues new 'Contract with America'; includes health insurance proposal

Republican Newt Gingrich, who has positioned himself as the idea guy in this presidential campaign, will today call for Americans to have new choices in how they buy health insurance, pay their income taxes and save for retirement. In his '21st Century Contract with America' that he shared with The Des Moines Register and will officially release Thursday in Iowa, Gingrich says people should to be able to choose either a tax credit or the ability to deduct the value of their health insurance up to a certain amount.

30 Sep 2011

APhA encourages patients to discuss with pharmacist about pain and medications

In honor of Pain Awareness Month, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) encourages patients to have an open discussion with their pharmacist about their pain and the medications they take for pain.

30 Sep 2011

Medicaid payments in N.Y., Kentucky questioned

New York auditors says nursing homes were overpaid, while a Kentucky state senator says doctors at the University of Louisville misused Medicaid funds.

30 Sep 2011

Increased focus on vaccine for dengue fever is critical to curb spread of disease

In this GlobalPost opinion piece, Zulfiqar Bhutta, Husein Laljee Dewraj professor and head of the Division of Maternal and Child Health at the Aga Khan University Medical Center in Karachi, Pakistan, and Ciro de Quadros, executive vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and former director of the Division of Vaccines and Immunization at PAHO, examine the need for a dengue fever vaccine as Pakistan struggles to curb an outbreak of the disease that to date has killed 60 people and has infected more than 8,000.

30 Sep 2011

HBI, TPF launch One Heart Magazine

Heartbeat International Foundation, Inc. (HBI), in partnership with The Publishing Firm Inc (TPF), today announced that it will launch its new publication, One Heart Magazine, to coincide with World Heart Day on September 29, 2011.

30 Sep 2011

Jails are holding increasing numbers of mentally ill

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that in Georgia more mentally ill people are locked away than are treated in state psychiatric hospitals. In other state news about mental health, Florida seeks to recoup $4 million from company that managed Medicaid mental health services, and Milwaukee considers bolstering services.

30 Sep 2011

Elsevier recognizes eleven talented women scientists for research excellence

The Elsevier Foundation, TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world and the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) announced today that they are recognizing eleven talented women scientists from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean for their research excellence.

30 Sep 2011

Survey: 25% of employers have little or no understanding of specialty pharmacy, costs

Twenty-five percent of employers have little or no understanding of specialty pharmacy and 53 percent have only a moderate understanding of this challenging benefit according to a new survey released by the non-profit Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH), one of the nation's leading business groups of private and public employers.

30 Sep 2011

GlobalPost examines how Indian city of Surat cleaned up after 1994 plague outbreak

GlobalPost reports how, spurred by an outbreak of the pneumonic plague in 1994, the Indian city of Surat "successfully went from one of the country's dirtiest cities to one of its cleanest in 18 short months." The news service writes that "after 54 residents died and some 300,000 fled to escape a possible quarantine, the people who stuck around were willing to get with the program -- working to eliminate the tons of garbage and overflowing sewers that had inundated the city with disease-carrying rats."

30 Sep 2011

Six sneaky triggers of allergies and asthma

Halloween can be a frightful time for parents of kids with allergies and asthma. Nut-filled candy isn't the only bogeyman that can ruin the fun. Allergy and asthma triggers can hide in other, unexpected places, too, from dusty costumes to leering jack-o-lanterns.

30 Sep 2011