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Roundup: Fla. lawmakers to vote today on Medicaid changes; Calif. court expands deadline for tobacco suits

With a sponsor calling it the "most significant transformational change" since Florida's Medicaid program started, lawmakers will vote Friday on a long-awaited proposal to shift almost all beneficiaries into managed-care plans.

7 May 2011

Viewpoints: Will GOP back away from Medicaid plan too?; exchanges geared to politics, not health

All but seven House Republicans voted for a budget plan last month that would eliminate Medicare's guarantee to the elderly. It was always bad policy. But now that the vote has proved to be wildly unpopular, the party is suddenly running in the opposite direction.

7 May 2011

Tufts Health Plan now covers SBi's STAR total ankle replacement system

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) announced today that effective July 1, 2011, Tufts Health Plan, covering approximately 742,000 members in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is revising its reimbursement policy to cover SBi's STAR™ total ankle replacement system. The decision means that 98 percent of all privately-insured lives in Massachusetts will have access to total ankle replacement.

7 May 2011

Ryan blames politics for preventing overarching agreement to reduce the debt

Examples of how the politics of Medicare have picked up momentum since Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., advanced his proposal to revamp the proposal can be seen in a range of developments — including a letter from Democratic lawmakers to President Barack Obama, comments for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and even a tightening special election for a New York congressional seat.

7 May 2011

VA and DoD produce new collaboration guidebook on clinical health research

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have produced a new 56-page guidebook to spur more collaboration between the agencies on clinical health research.

7 May 2011

CCF awards $500,000 grant to Cedars-Sinai for new kids program

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has received a $500,000 grant from the California Community Foundation that will help support the hospital's COACH for Kids and Their Families- program.

7 May 2011

Also in Global Health News: WHO highlights health care-associated infections; Niger food shortages, health care workers; Latin American food security

The WHO on Thursday highlighted the importance of hand washing and other efforts to prevent health care-associated infections (HAIs), which affect millions of people annually, with developing countries carrying the greatest burden of such infections, CIDRAP News reports.

7 May 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

"In 25 countries across Asia, from Kazakhstan to Papua New Guinea, we work to support the success of emerging economies and help address the challenges of hunger and poverty. We do this not just by extending a helping hand, but sharing the hope of the American Dream to people around the world - the mother who eats less so her children can eat more, the girl who risks her life to get an education, the entrepreneur who beats the odds to create a small business that employs his neighbors," Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator, writes in a post on the agency's "Impact blog".

7 May 2011

Study examines patient-physician gender concordance in weight-related counseling

A study published in the June 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined the association between patient-physician gender concordance and weight-related counseling in obese individuals.

6 May 2011

First Edition: May 6, 2011

Today's headlines indicate that the GOP may be rethinking its plans to revamp Medicare -- especially as a new round of debt accord talks begin between Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders.

6 May 2011

Clinicians must address limited health literacy of patients with kidney disease

Many patients on dialysis may not understand medical information critical to their wellbeing, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

6 May 2011

Workload, time constraints hold nurses to lead global fight against non-communicable diseases

Nurses want to lead in the global fight against the further spread of non-communicable diseases but workload and time constraints are holding them back, according to a major new survey by the International Council of Nurses and Pfizer.

6 May 2011

House passes restrictive abortion measure, includes limits on insurance policies that cover abortions

In other House action, the chamber also approved another bill related to stripping funds from the health law. This one targeted money for a program in last year's health care law providing for construction of school-based health clinics.

6 May 2011

'Confluence of circumstances' resulted in Haitian cholera outbreak, U.N.-appointed panel says

Haiti's cholera outbreak, which started last October, "was caused by a South Asian strain that contaminated a river where tens of thousands of people wash, bath, drink and play," a report from an independent U.N.-appointed panel said on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.

6 May 2011

FDA clears Solta Medical's new Clear + Brilliant laser aesthetic skin treatment

Solta Medical, Inc., the pioneer in fractional resurfacing and non-invasive skin tightening and a global market leader in aesthetic skin treatments today announced it has received FDA 510(k) clearance of its new Clear + Brilliant laser aesthetic treatment, which will officially launch at the World Congress of Dermatology in Seoul, Korea on May 25, 2011.

6 May 2011

New rules regarding hospice stays respond to patients with unpredictable illnesses like Alzheimer's and heart failure

New government rules — enforcement kicked in last month — require hospices to send doctors or nurse practitioners for face-to-face visits with Medicare patients who have been on hospice more than six months to certify that the patients are really sick enough to need the program.

6 May 2011

26 states ask court to uphold Florida federal judge's decision to overturn health overhaul

More than two dozen states challenging the health care overhaul urged a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to strike down the Obama administration's landmark law, arguing it far exceeds the federal government's powers. The motion, filed on behalf of 26 states, urges the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to uphold a Florida federal judge's ruling that the overhaul's core requirement is unconstitutional.

6 May 2011

New project to explore European diet and healthy ageing

People are living longer. Rising living standards, improved lifestyle and better education, as well as greater access to quality healthcare services has meant that we can expect to reach 78 years of age, an increase of six years compared to the 1980s. However, data also shows that Europeans live to just over 60 years without being limited in their day-to-day activities by ill-health or disabilities.

6 May 2011

Longer looks: States creating health compacts; IPAB under fire; is GOP redefining rape?

In late April, Colorado and Oklahoma became the latest states to vote on whether to join an interstate agreement with like-minded legislatures to put health care decisions more firmly into the hands of state governments.

6 May 2011

CJASN: Only few US medical students adopt nephrology as a career

Kidney disease affects 1 in 9 US adults, and by 2020 more than 750,000 Americans will be on dialysis or awaiting kidney transplant. Despite this growing health problem, every year fewer US medical students adopt nephrology as a career, according to a review appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

6 May 2011

Healthcare News

Roundup: Fla. lawmakers to vote today on Medicaid changes; Calif. court expands deadline for tobacco suits

Viewpoints: Will GOP back away from Medicaid plan too?; exchanges geared to politics, not health

Tufts Health Plan now covers SBi's STAR total ankle replacement system

Ryan blames politics for preventing overarching agreement to reduce the debt

VA and DoD produce new collaboration guidebook on clinical health research

CCF awards $500,000 grant to Cedars-Sinai for new kids program

Also in Global Health News: WHO highlights health care-associated infections; Niger food shortages, health care workers; Latin American food security

Recent releases in Global Health

Study examines patient-physician gender concordance in weight-related counseling

First Edition: May 6, 2011

Clinicians must address limited health literacy of patients with kidney disease

Workload, time constraints hold nurses to lead global fight against non-communicable diseases

House passes restrictive abortion measure, includes limits on insurance policies that cover abortions

'Confluence of circumstances' resulted in Haitian cholera outbreak, U.N.-appointed panel says

FDA clears Solta Medical's new Clear + Brilliant laser aesthetic skin treatment

New rules regarding hospice stays respond to patients with unpredictable illnesses like Alzheimer's and heart failure

26 states ask court to uphold Florida federal judge's decision to overturn health overhaul

New project to explore European diet and healthy ageing

Longer looks: States creating health compacts; IPAB under fire; is GOP redefining rape?

CJASN: Only few US medical students adopt nephrology as a career

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

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