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State roundup: Budget battles continue in statehouses

Massachusetts labor leaders have given up their full-throated battle to protect certain collective bargaining rights amid an increasing likelihood that the Legislature will empower local governments to raise the health insurance costs of teachers, firefighters, and other municipal employees.

27 May 2011

DHF receives two Telly Awards for diabetes awareness video Big Blue Test

Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF) announced today that it is the recipient of two Telly Awards for the diabetes awareness video Big Blue Test.

27 May 2011

Opinion: Bipartisan consensus on medical research

"Good health makes good politics," Michael Castle, a former Republican Congressman from Delaware, and Kaitlin Christenson, director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, write in a Roll Call opinion piece that makes a case for widespread support of medical research that aims to improve global health.

27 May 2011

Opinion: How universities can advance global health

"I am glad to see that U.S. research universities, too, now all seem to boast programs in global health. But claiming to have programs in global health is not the same thing as creating programs that can make a difference to populations facing poverty and ill health," Paul Farmer, chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and founding director of Partners In Health, writes in the Harvard Crimson.

27 May 2011

Americans happy with Medicaid as it is

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released on Wednesday, more than half of Americans do not want Medicaid funding cut and are skeptical of changing how the federal government funds the healthcare program for the poor.

26 May 2011

Geisinger reports positive results with computer-assisted and NLC-driven intelligent workflow solution

Geisinger Health System, widely recognized for its implementation of innovative care models, is among the first healthcare organizations in the nation to deploy advanced technology that combines a Computer-Assisted Coding application with Natural Language Comprehension™ (NLC) in order to improve clinical documentation and coding accuracy.

26 May 2011

First Edition: May 26, 2011

"If 60 Plus' goal was to inoculate Corwin from attacks on the Medicare issue, the effort failed badly. Corwin was beaten soundly by Democratic opponent Kathy Hochul, partly because of voter fears about House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's proposal to sharply transform Medicare".

26 May 2011

CNA launches National Expert Commission on health system improvement

The Canadian Nurses Association today officially launched its National Expert Commission on health system improvement, entitled The Health of Our Nation — The Future of Our Health System.

26 May 2011

Music therapy enhances quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia

University of Granada researchers have proven that music therapy combined with other relax techniques based on guided imagery reduces significantly pain, depression and anxiety, and improves sleep among patients suffering from fibromyalgia.

26 May 2011

Tips for building strong and healthy bones

Most of us think of our bone structure as a solid, static mass that is hard and unchanging. The fact is our skeletal structure is replaced approximately every ten years.

26 May 2011

New book on 'Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, and Fear'

Severe anxiety can leave its sufferers paralyzed with debilitating worry, uncontrollable fear and clinical depression. Although anxiety is the most common mental health problem in the U.S., many affected by anxiety don't know how to treat their problem or even how to seek help.

26 May 2011

Disputes over ACO rule, IPAB, MLR, health law continue

Some hot topics -- the IPAB, the medical-loss ratio rule and the health law's impact on employer-sponsored health care -- also claim headlines today. Meanwhile, MinnPost analyzes executive orders - including a controversial one on health care - by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, now a GOP presidential candidate.

26 May 2011

GSK partners with NGOs to support health care workers in LDCs

Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports that GlaxoSmithKline announced Tuesday it has partnered with three non-governmental organizations to address the shortage of primary health care providers in least developed countries.

26 May 2011

Many young adults couldn't afford needed health care: New Commonwealth Fund report

Young adults ages 19-29 are struggling to get the health care they need more than almost any other age group, demonstrating the need for Affordable Care Act provisions, some already in place, that will expand health insurance and make it more affordable, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.

26 May 2011

PBS' NewHour examines health insurance for 'urban poor' in Pakistan

PBS' NewsHour special correspondent Saima Mohsin on Monday reported from Pakistan on "an innovative health insurance plan for the urban poor." In Pakistan, 99 percent of the country's low-income population does not have health insurance, and this plan, called Naya Jeevan, "hopes to change that.

26 May 2011

Ryan budget, with Medicare and Medicaid overhaul, rejected by Senate

With five Republicans joining Democrats in opposition, the Senate easily rejected a House-passed budget plan Wednesday calling for deep cuts in domestic appropriations and major restructuring of Medicare, the government-backed healthcare program for the elderly.

26 May 2011

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Three days before the start of a Vatican conference focusing on "the centrality of care" in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, on Tuesday printed a piece by Spanish theologian Juan Jose Perez-Soba arguing that married couples with one HIV-positive partner "should abstain from sex, because intercourse performed with a condom is, 'from the moral point of view, not a fully conjugal act,'" RNS/Beliefnet News reports.

26 May 2011

Dems win upset in NY special election; Medicare viewed as game-changing issue

Democrats claimed a victory Tuesday, winning a congressional seat in one of New York's most conservative districts. The win is considered by many as a blow to the GOP plan to overhaul Medicare. It's also likely to add to Republican intra-party strains surrounding the issue.

26 May 2011

IPS examines access to medicine in Malawi

"Health experts say an inadequate number of nurses and pharmacists is among the leading factors denying people access to medicines in Malawi," Inter Press Service writes in an article examining medication shortages in rural Malawi.

26 May 2011

Studies find antibiotics overused for children with asthma, urinary tract infections

Two new studies led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have found some antibiotics may be overused for children with asthma and urinary tract infections.

26 May 2011