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Survey finds health care costs a key issue in presidential campaign

Healthcare and the national deficit tied as the second-most important issue after job creation in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, a new survey said. Forty-two percent of the 1,000 adults nationwide surveyed by PwC's Health Research Institute said they would prefer lower healthcare costs over an economic rebound. Nearly half said they made the decision to not seek healthcare or pay for medication at least once in the past year because of how much that care cost.

18 Nov 2011

ACAAI president available to comment on School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act

Dr. Stanley Fineman, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, (ACAAI) is available to comment on the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, a federal bill introduced today that will help make epinephrine available in schools for the immediate treatment of anaphylactic reactions to food or other allergens.

18 Nov 2011

Case challenging vets' mental health care goes back to appeals court

A federal appeals court on Wednesday put on hold its ruling that ordered a dramatic overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, because it wants to reconsider the earlier decision.

18 Nov 2011

Important clues to prevention and management of delirium are being ignored

Important clues to the prevention and management of delirium, a condition affecting an estimated 7 million hospitalized Americans, are being ignored, according to a study from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine.

18 Nov 2011

Study: Health insurance premiums soar in all 50 states

A new study confirmed a national trend in employer-sponsored coverage -- higher costs for skimpier benefits.

18 Nov 2011

Greening of vacant urban land may affect health and safety of nearby residents

Greening of vacant urban land may affect the health and safety of nearby residents, according to a study published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology this week.

18 Nov 2011

Schwartz presses super committee to advance her 'doc fix' proposal

The plan, advanced by Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., would prevent a 27.4 percent cut in Medicare physician payments from kicking in Jan. 1, phase out the current outdated formula and transition to a new one. Though some physician groups are lining up behind her approach, the American Medical Association has not yet "on board."

18 Nov 2011

Smoking can negatively impact surgical outcomes

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) strongly supports the Great American Smokeout because smoking can negatively impact surgical outcomes.

18 Nov 2011

Medicaid expansion will be key part of Supreme Court's health law consideration

The high court's announcement that it would review the law was not a surprise, but the specific issues it will examine have triggered some shockwaves. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court attention to the health law also has moved the issue of the overhaul back to the forefront of many campaigns.

18 Nov 2011

UK to offer master's degree in music therapy

The University of Kentucky will be the first higher education institution in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to offer a graduate degree in music therapy. The program, housed at the UK School of Music, was officially approved by the state's Council on Postsecondary Education earlier in November and will start accepting graduate students in the spring of 2012.

18 Nov 2011

Medicaid officials struggle with surge in long-term care needs

The company's naming of David J. McNichols comes as a consulting firm for the state is evaluating the current system of delivering care to Medicaid and PeachCare beneficiaries in Georgia. WellCare has part of that multibillion-dollar business, along with two other managed care companies. The state pays the three firms a total of more than $2.5 billion a year to serve the Medicaid and PeachCare populations.

18 Nov 2011

CMS delays Florida MLR decision; Conn. exchange board under fire

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials have given themselves 30 more days to decide on Florida's request to slow the phase-in of a requirement that insurers spend a minimum of 80 percent of each premium dollar on expenses related to improving the quality of health care.

18 Nov 2011

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia opens Center for Acute Respiratory Failure

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has officially opened the Center for Acute Respiratory Failure, which offers, among other services, expertise in using lung bypass technology to help adult patients whose lungs are rapidly shutting down.

18 Nov 2011

Multi-drug resistant bacteria widespread in Europe, report says

Multi-drug resistant bacteria "are increasing their grip in Europe with rates of drug resistance in one type of bacteria reaching 50 percent in the worst-hit countries, health officials said Thursday," Reuters reports.

18 Nov 2011

Flying Start NHS increases clinical skills development, confidence in newly qualified practitioners

Newly qualified nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who took part in an online course during their first year of employment reported increased clinical skills development and confidence. However the survey on the Flying Start NHS programme, published in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing, found that mentors needed more training and time to provide support.

18 Nov 2011

Doctors, aid workers warn of disease threats to displaced persons in Somalia

Inter Press Service examines how doctors and aid workers in and around Mogadishu, Somalia, "are warning that famine victims in internally displaced camps have become vulnerable to contagious diseases like cholera and measles, as conditions here are ripe for an outbreak."

18 Nov 2011

Kenya readies to step up fight against trachoma

AllAfrica.com reports on trachoma -- a chronic bacterial infection spread by direct contact with eye, nose and throat secretions from others who are infected -- in Kenya, profiling Kajiado County where the disease has reached the blinding stage in 3.4 percent of patients, "making it a serious public health problem in that region and many other similarly remote areas with little access to health care and screening."

18 Nov 2011

University of Haifa leads new computerized medical information systems research project

University of Haifa leads a new international computerized medical information systems research project, funded by the EU with total budget of €6 million.

18 Nov 2011

Future research critical to ending AIDS epidemic

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention and a founding member of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, writing in The Hill's "Congress Blog," welcomes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's November 8 announcement of "an additional $60 million for implementation of a combination of prevention strategies in four sub-Saharan African countries and evaluation of their impact," adding that "this funding can only be viewed as a down payment on the work that needs to be done."

18 Nov 2011

Report by aid watchdog group finds many international donors lack transparency

IRIN examines the results of a report by the aid watchdog group Publish What You Fund that examines "whether donors publish information about their budgets, their allocation and procurement policies, or audit reports on their own performance" and "finds that most international aid donors are still not open enough about their aid programs, and some offer no information at all."

18 Nov 2011