Healthcare News

RSS

Several state legislatures debate abortion restrictions

State legislatures around the country are looking at a variety of measures dealing with abortion.

9 Jun 2011

Obama administration launches new program to spur health IT innovation

The initiative, announced Wednesday, uses prizes and challenges to encourage accelerated research and development activities in the health IT sector.

9 Jun 2011

Deadline extended for ACO pioneer program

The new deadline is Aug. 19. Meanwhile, in other policy-related news, the White House pushed back against study findings released earlier this week by McKinsey & Co. that as many as 30 percent of companies may stop offering health insurance to their employees and said the president's healthcare plan "will reduce costs overall."

9 Jun 2011

Tips for preventing outdoor home-related injury: AANS

The nail-gun neck injury and treatment incurred by a 25-year-old carpenter described in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine article might read like an oddity, but nail guns are actually a common form of penetrating low-velocity injury. What made this case unique was that the patient incurred a penetrating wound to the cervical spine by a barbed nail lodged in close proximity to the right vertebral artery.

9 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 9, 2011

Today's headlines include reports from yesterday's action in an Atlanta courtroom where oral arguments were held in an appeal related to the multi-state challenge to the health law.

9 Jun 2011

Claims and counterclaims over BPA health risks

Despite years of scientific studies, reports, lawsuits, congressional inquiries, claims and counterclaims, the question of whether bisphenol A (BPA) poses health threats to people lacks a definitive answer, according to a package of articles on the controversial substance in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS's weekly newsmagazine.

9 Jun 2011

Make antiretroviral therapy 'cornerstone' of HIV prevention

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention and multiple signatories in a statement call on governments, advocates and researchers to act on the evidence from HPTN 052 and make antiretroviral therapy a cornerstone of the set of proven strategies we have to prevent and treat HIV.

9 Jun 2011

Leadership Reads Initiative to minimize teen alcohol consumption and drug use

The incidence of alcohol poisoning, alcohol-related violence, and alcohol-impaired driving is increasing at an alarming rate among teens. If teens start to drink early, they are six times more likely to develop alcohol dependence.

9 Jun 2011

VOA News examines debate over U.N. Women funding levels

VOA News examines advocates' concerns over funding levels for U.N. Women. "The mandate of U.N. Women is large, and some supporters are concerned that its starting budget of $500 million dollars is not enough to promote women and gender equality around the world, especially at the country level.

9 Jun 2011

UNICEF representative highlights humanitarian challenges in Yemen

Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF's representative in Yemen, said the country is facing humanitarian challenges and is "absolutely in dire need of humanitarian assistance," Reuters reports.

9 Jun 2011

Number of new E. coli cases abating but more deaths expected

"Germany reported two more deaths and 300 more E. coli cases Wednesday, but its health minister insisted that new infections were dropping, giving some hope that the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak was abating," Associated Press reports.

9 Jun 2011

Health law's independent payment board draws new opposition

Politico reports on the Independent Payment Advisory Board's growing unpopularity and CQ HealthBeat details the complexities that will be involved in the overhaul's expansion of health coverage for children and families. In the background, politics come into play as part of the run up to 2012.

9 Jun 2011

Study finds lifelong difference in health-related quality of life between rich and poor

"We can't buy our way out of ageing," says Nancy Ross, a McGill geography professor. "As we get older we start to have vision problems, maybe some hearing loss, maybe lose some mobility - ageing is a kind of a social equalizer."

9 Jun 2011

A big day for the multi-state challenge to the health law

Florida already leads a lawsuit challenging the federal health care law, but state officials are going a step further and ignoring the law almost entirely — rejecting millions of federal dollars to provide health care for retirees, seniors, children and people with disabilities.

9 Jun 2011

PEPFAR, UNAIDS to announce new plan for preventing MTCT of HIV

At the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, PEPFAR "will join with UNAIDS and other partners in releasing a new global action plan for the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV/AIDS. The U.S. will also place additional resources into helping move towards eliminating pediatric HIV," according to a State Department press release.

9 Jun 2011

National survey finds women more likely to see doctor on regular basis than men

A national survey found that women were three times more likely to see a doctor on a regular basis than men. Even though men on average die younger than women and have higher mortality rates for heart disease, cancer, stroke and AIDS, trying to get a man to a doctor can be harder than pulling teeth. So, why do men hate it so?.

9 Jun 2011

Blue Shield of California will cap earnings

Health insurer Blue Shield of California, under fire for a series of recent rate hikes and the pay of its chief executive, plans to cut this year's premiums by 2.5% for many of its 3.3 million policyholders as part of a new initiative to hold down costs.

9 Jun 2011

Torrential rains trigger flooding, mudslides, additional cholera cases in Haiti

"At least 20 people have died due to torrential downpours in Haiti, authorities said Tuesday, and aid agencies are scrambling to respond to a resurgence of cholera triggered by the heavy rain," CNN reports.

9 Jun 2011

Massachusetts 'pay for performance' health care program finds no signs of racial, ethnic disparities

Massachusetts' innovative use of "pay-for-performance" bonuses to try to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the case of Medicaid patients has turned up no evidence of the problem at any of the state's 66 acute-care hospitals, according to a new study that raises questions about the effectiveness of the state's novel approach.

9 Jun 2011

Costs, insurance company regulations can make physical therapy a pain

Rebecca Neusteter fell off her bike and shattered her knee. ... She pays $140 out of pocket for each weekly physical therapy session. ... Scott Ward, the president of the American Physical Therapy Association says insurance company regulations and policies essentially force physical therapists to see as many patients as they can. ... Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, says it's a dilemma caused by the rising cost of care in the U.S.

9 Jun 2011