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Roundup: Municipal bonds rise as states make budget cuts; Calif. psych workers seek more security

Florida is firing 1,300 workers. New York is cutting education funding and freezing public employee wages for three years. Arizona is slashing Medicaid coverage. And municipal bondholders are having their best year since President George H.W. Bush was in the White House.

7 Jul 2011

Waiting times at NSW emergency departments - live updates on website

Health Minister Jillian Skinner launched the website emergencywait.com.au yesterday that tracks NSW emergency departments. The state government said its new website was about providing open, honest and transparent information to the public. A website that would be welcome but more resources are needed first to reduce waiting times said opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald.

7 Jul 2011

Study finds large state disparities in progress against colorectal cancer mortality rates

Improvements in colorectal cancer mortality rates are concentrated in the northern part of the United States, while southern states continue to fall behind, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

7 Jul 2011

Conference to explore interface between medicine, arts and humanities

The University of Leicester is hosting a conference to be addressed by Jed Mercurio, author of Bodies and creator of the TV series Cardiac Arrest.

7 Jul 2011

Vouchers and Health Equity Funds work well for poor: Research

In rich countries, the government can fund the health system directly, or subsidise the health costs of its inhabitants through the social security system. People then only pay a small lump sum. But in low and mid-income countries, the government doesn't have the money for (almost) free healthcare.

7 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 7, 2011

Today's news highlights include reports about signs of progress in the debt-reduction talks and details of a new study that finds Medicaid makes a big difference in people's lives.

7 Jul 2011

Sen. Rubio defends foreign aid in video response to constituent letter

"Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio is becoming an increasingly critical and hawkish voice on the Obama administration's foreign policy, but he is actually a supporter of U.S. foreign assistance programs and made the case for maintaining this funding to his constituents last week," Foreign Policy's "The Cable" blog writes.

7 Jul 2011

Obama calls GOP and Dem leaders to White House for deficit talks

President Obama stepped up pressure on Congressional Republicans on Tuesday to agree to a broad deficit-cutting deal, pledging to put popular entitlement programs like Medicare on the table in return for Republican acquiescence to some higher taxes.

7 Jul 2011

Data fusion of three vital signs may predict serious illness in children

The research will be presented today at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Academic Primary Care, hosted this year by the Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol. The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research.

7 Jul 2011

Puerto Rico reports first cholera case linked to outbreak in Dominican Republic

Puerto Rico has reported its first case of cholera imported by a recent traveler to the island of Hispaniola, where a cholera outbreak began in October, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

7 Jul 2011

Some states slow in implementing health insurance exchanges

The Hill reports that the delays taking place in many states could put their legislatures at risk of handing over this aspect of the health overhaul to the federal government. Meanwhile, in a pair of articles, Politico revisits key political messages of the reform debate — "repeal and replace" as well as "death panels."

7 Jul 2011

Efforts to reduce Medicaid costs leave docs, hospitals feeling pinch

In an effort to contain health care costs, dozens of states are reducing Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. A report from a University of Kansas researcher, though, finds a "glaring need" for more preventive services and patient education and argues these steps are ways to control Medicaid spending.

7 Jul 2011

Medicare coverage, pricey cancer drugs and the 'rationing' issue

As health care costs play an ever-increasing role in Washington's budget drama, Medicare officials announced last week they will continue to pay for two extremely expensive cancer treatments despite lingering questions about their effectiveness. At a cost of about $88,000 per year, the cancer-fighting Avastin will still be available to eligible senior citizens for breast cancer treatment.

7 Jul 2011

U.N. Women report examines women's access to justice worldwide

"More than half of working women in the world, 600 million, are trapped in insecure jobs without legal protection, according to the first flagship report of the new agency U.N. Women. A similar number do not have even basic protection against domestic violence, it finds, while sexual assault has become a hallmark of modern conflict," the Guardian reports.

7 Jul 2011

Malaria-carrying mosquitoes becoming increasingly resistant to pyrethroid insecticides

Mosquitoes that carry malaria are increasingly becoming resistant to pyrethroid insecticides, which are the only insecticides approved by the WHO to treat bed nets and are the most effective and cost efficient for indoor spraying, Nature News reports.

7 Jul 2011

EU to provide $14.5M for emergency food aid to North Korea

"Responding to the growing threat of a humanitarian crisis in North Korea, the European Union announced on Monday that it will provide about $14.5 million in emergency aid to feed more than some 650,000 North Koreans," the New York Times reports.

7 Jul 2011

Current prevention strategies may not be very effective at reducing in-hospital falls

While falls are a common cause of injury, particularly in older, hospitalized patients, some may not be as preventable as once thought. According to a new literature review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, many of the risks that frequently cause falls are not adequately addressed with the fall prevention initiatives used in healthcare facilities.

7 Jul 2011

Rate review issue faces key vote in Calif.; veto in Conn.

A bill that would allow state officials to reject rate increases proposed by health insurers is under intense lobbying pressure as it faces a key committee vote this week. Groups representing insurers, doctors and hospitals are trying to have the California bill weakened or killed, although for different reasons.

7 Jul 2011

Gates Foundation releases interactive malaria infographic

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has released a new infographic "to raise awareness about its campaign to end malaria," Mashable reports.

7 Jul 2011

New data compares gender effect on survival after abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

New data in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, the official publication of the Society for Vascular Surgery, compares the effects of gender on long-term survival in different types of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair.

7 Jul 2011