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Bachmann's parting shot: Repeal health law

News outlets noted that as she announced she was leaving the GOP presidential race, Rep. Michele Bachmann continued to criticize the Affordable Care Act

5 Jan 2012

CMS acknowledges clinical improvement linked with use of Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System

Boston Scientific Corporation announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that administers the Medicare program, has acknowledged the substantial clinical improvement associated with the use of the Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System to perform bronchial thermoplasty for the management of severe asthma.

5 Jan 2012

Health insurance fee draws GOP attacks

The health care law tacks on a fee of $1 per year to private insurance plans. The money will fund comparative effectiveness research - studies into which treatments work best for particular conditions. The Senate Republican Policy Committee contrasted the fee with Obama's opposition, during the 2008 campaign, to taxing employer-based health benefits.

5 Jan 2012

MCW professor to receive American Association of Anatomists' Basmajian Award

The American Association of Anatomists' 2012 Basmajian Award will be presented on April 24 to Todd Hoagland, associate professor in the department of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

5 Jan 2012

HHS issues initial set of 26 Medicaid quality measures

HHS has issued a final notice containing an initial set of 26 quality measures for Medicaid-eligible adults. The measures, which cover areas such as prevention, care coordination and chronic disease management, will be used for quality reporting.

5 Jan 2012

Researchers estimate cost and impact of disabilities on finances of disabled people

A team of researchers have for the first time estimated the cost and impact of disabilities on the finances of disabled people. According to data, 90% of the population with a serious disability in Spain is in a state of moderate poverty and 56% lives in a state of extreme poverty.

5 Jan 2012

Study: Drug research often suppressed

Drug research, even from clinical trials sponsored by the federal government, routinely is suppressed, harming patients and increasing health care costs, according to new data highlighting an ethical controversy that continues to plague the field of medicine.

5 Jan 2012

U.S. addressing short-, long-term needs in Horn of Africa

"As the United States entered the traditional season of giving and renewal last month, President Barack Obama announced that the United States was increasing its emergency aid to the Horn of Africa region by $113 million," a VOA editorial states adding, "The new monies will be used for food, health, shelter, water and other needs."

5 Jan 2012

Romney wins GOP Iowa caucus by eight votes

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney edged out rival Rick Santorum by a margin so slim it is viewed by many as a tie. News outlets review the political dynamics behind the vote tally, and highlight how the outcome reflects the ongoing GOP ideological divide as well as what might happen next.

5 Jan 2012

Industry report finds nursing homes losing money as states cut Medicaid

Also, California officials prepare to appeal federal court decision striking down cuts to some providers, and Wisconsin announces that its shortfall is less than expected.

5 Jan 2012

Congress returns to 'same old health fights' in 2012

Congress starts 2012 facing the same old health policy fights, including the GOP push to pay for a more permanent Medicare "doc fix" with cuts to health law programs or Medicare. Meanwhile, Politico Pro reports on how House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp, R-Mich., has been pivotal in Republican efforts to undermine the health overhaul law.

5 Jan 2012

Sri Lankan Presidential Task Force against dengue seeing success

"Sri Lanka is making progress in the battle against mosquito-borne dengue fever, say health officials," IRIN reports.

5 Jan 2012

Increased number of Somali women reporting being raped, sexually abused

In the wake of "decades of conflict" and famine, Somalia "faces yet another widespread terror: an alarming increase in rapes and sexual abuse of women and girls," the New York Times reports.

5 Jan 2012

New center for advanced emergency response to inaugurate on Jan. 6 at RUMC

The doors to the new, state-of-the-art emergency center at 1653 W. Congress Parkway will be the first to "open in the new hospital building at Rush University Medical Center at 6 a.m. CT on Friday, Jan. 6. Rush's current emergency department will close early Friday morning when the department goes on bypass during the move to the new facility.

5 Jan 2012

Hospital stocks fall after analyst prediction of tough times

A new report from Citigroup Global Markets forecasts difficult times ahead for hospitals and other related businesses that rely on government spending.

5 Jan 2012

School nurses are among the casualties of tough fiscal times

In a pair of stories, NPR reports on how tight budgets are playing out with staff reductions for full-time school nurses and how hospitals and medical schools are marketing themselves.

5 Jan 2012

Michigan opts not to appeal feds' MLR rule

The state was one of 13 seeking an exemption from the health law's medical-loss ratio requirement that insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care. Others, however, get a 30-day extension. Also in the news, the Department of Health and Human Services named 73 advisers to work with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

5 Jan 2012

ACP's Medical Home Builder 2.0 tool available free to PCMH practices

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) today announced that it has joined with the American College of Physicians (ACP) to make available the ACP's Medical Home Builder- 2.0 (MHB 2.0) tool to participating CareFirst Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) practices.

5 Jan 2012

ACS report shows decline in overall cancer death rates

The American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report shows that between 2004 and 2008, overall cancer incidence rates declined by 0.6% per year in men and were stable in women, while cancer death rates decreased by 1.8% per year in men and by 1.6% per year in women.

5 Jan 2012

Hypothermia rarely used in the U.S. hospitals to reduce heart attack cases

Therapeutic hypothermia has been proven to reduce mortality and improve neurologic outcomes after a heart attack, yet it was rarely used in a sample of more than 26,000 patients, according to a study published in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

5 Jan 2012