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President's budget to call for Medicare, Medicaid cuts - but no major changes

News organizations got a preview of the multi-trillion-dollar federal budget President Barack Obama is expected to propose on Monday.

13 Feb 2012

Permitting children to stay on parents' health insurance improves access to care

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that laws permitting children to stay on their parents' health insurance through age 26 result in improved access to health care compared to states without those laws.

13 Feb 2012

Even in dramatic times of crisis it is possible to assure public health

Even in dramatic times of crisis, when the Gross National Product collapses, it is still possible to assure a good level of public health. If one is prepared to strengthen the public system of healthcare. "Look for instance to Cuba in the nineties", say scientists from the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine.

13 Feb 2012

Birth control mandate is a rallying cry in presidential campaigns

Rick Santorum said Thursday that arguments against a recent federal law requiring health insurance coverage for contraception were not ignoring the rights of women. "It's the churches' money, and forcing them to do something that they think is a grievous moral wrong, how can that be the right of a woman?" Santorum asked in an interview on CNN's "John King USA".

13 Feb 2012

First Edition: February 13, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations preview President Barack Obama's budget, which will be released today, and examine the lingering controversy over mandates on contraceptive coverage.

13 Feb 2012

NYU Langone's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery publishes 2012 Quality and Outcomes Report

At NYU Langone Medical Center the focus on quality, patient safety and patient experience are not just broad stroke initiatives - but measurable, quantifiable and concrete. Patients and health care professionals can learn about this commitment to world-class care and operational transparency in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery's recently published "2012 Quality and Outcomes Report," which is now available online as well as in hard copy at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) meeting taking place this week in San Francisco.

13 Feb 2012

Study examines sleep and its impact on health and education

Whether or not you know any high school students that actually get nine hours of sleep each night, that's what federal guidelines currently prescribe. A new Brigham Young University study found that 16-18 year olds perform better academically when they shave about two hours off that recommendation.

13 Feb 2012

'The Elders' promote 'Girls Not Brides' initiative in India

"A group of prominent activists from around the world known as 'The Elders' arrived in India Thursday to take a stand against the practice of child marriage" and promote its global "Girls Not Brides" movement, VOA's "Breaking News" blog reports.

13 Feb 2012

Coakley and Cuccinelli debate the health law

Two prominent state attorneys general examined the health law case before the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that some senators are pushing to get television cameras in the Supreme Court.

13 Feb 2012

Sexuality changes throughout life but US policy and research fail to keep up

Americans will spend more than $17 billion on Valentine's Day, but far less on programs like sex education for adolescents. The editors of the new book, Sex for Life, From Virginity to Viagra, How Sexuality Changes Throughout Our Lives, argue that not only do our public policies on sex education need to be reevaluated, our entire concept of human sexuality needs to be broadened.

13 Feb 2012

Health insurance exchanges stall in Kansas and Georgia

The House Appropriations Committee has voted to block Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger from spending any more federal grant dollars to plan for the implementation of the federal health reform law. ... The grants, which totaled about $2.3 million, were intended to help Kansas plan and develop a health insurance purchasing exchange and to educate consumers about the exchange.

13 Feb 2012

Bishops, GOP candidates push back against Obama's contraception compromise

News outlets reported on the buzz generated by President Barack Obama's announcement yesterday of a compromise on the administration's requirement that most health plans provide birth control access for free.

13 Feb 2012

ICN Food List for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome patients

When one cup of coffee, tea or cranberry juice can trigger days of pain and/or bladder discomfort, interstitial cystitis, overactive bladder and other urology patients often develop an unhealthy fear of food. A new iPhone and iPad application, (ICN Food List) seeks to change that by giving patients an easy to use food list and database that they can use while shopping and eating out at restaurants.

13 Feb 2012

Examining malaria data methodologies

In this post in the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Felix Lam, a malaria research analyst, examine the discrepancies between the WHO's estimated number of malaria deaths worldwide and the data recently released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

13 Feb 2012

Health plans must provide consumer-friendly health plan summaries by this fall

Moving to implement one of the new consumer protections in the health law, the Obama administration issued regulations Thursday requiring insurers to describe costs and benefits in clear, standardized language.

13 Feb 2012

State roundup: Fraud crackdowns, searching for more doctors, immigrant health care

Illinois Democrats running state government have waited more than a year to win federal approval for a new plan to fight fraud in the health program for 2.7 million of the state's poorest residents. Facing increasing Republican pressure to put reforms in place, this week Quinn's team told the Obama administration that Illinois will wait no longer.

13 Feb 2012

Researchers complete systematic review of three major orthopaedic journals

In a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers completed a systematic review of three major orthopaedic journals - the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American and British editions) and the Journal of Arthroplasty (JOA) - for all articles related to metal-on-metal total hip replacement between October 1999 and May 2011.

13 Feb 2012

Catholics choosing sides in contraception battle as bishops lead fight again Obama administration

When after much internal debate the Obama administration finally announced its decision to require religiously affiliated hospitals and universities to cover birth control in their insurance plans, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops were fully prepared for battle. Seven months earlier, they had started laying the groundwork ... the birth control mandate, issued on Jan. 20, was their Pearl Harbor.

13 Feb 2012

RUMC sponsors Nutritional Medicine workshop

Rush University Medical Center is sponsoring a Nutritional Medicine workshop March 15 to 16, 2012, that features internationally-renowned faculty who are leaders in research in nutritional medicine.

13 Feb 2012

Lew defends adminstration on contraception, McConnell calls for president to 'back down'

The Republican battle against the President Obama's new birth-control mandate will continue until the policy is reversed, the top GOP senator warned Sunday. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Obama's rule requiring employer-based healthcare plans – even those sponsored by faith-based groups – to cover contraception infringes on the religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

13 Feb 2012