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Employer-sponsored family health insurance premiums increase 41% from 2003 to 2009

Premiums for employer-sponsored family health insurance increased an average of 41 percent across states from 2003 to 2009, more than three times faster than median incomes, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. Yet, insurance is buying less. The report found that deductibles per person rose 77 percent, on average. Higher premiums plus higher out-of-pocket costs are putting working families' budgets under stress across the country.

2 Dec 2010

Booster dose needed to protect preterm infants against invasive pneumococcal disease

A new study suggests that preterm infants may not be fully protected against invasitve pneumococcal disease under the current United Kingdom immunization schedule. The findings are reported in the November issue of the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

2 Dec 2010

Improved support may reduce health care cost in children with diabetes

Managing diabetes in a child requires a careful balance of insulin, diet, and exercise. Buying essential medical supplies, such as needles and testing strips, adds a financial burden to families. According to a new study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics, the resulting food insecurity that arises from the financial burden of diabetes management increases a child's risk of being hospitalized due to complications from diabetes.

2 Dec 2010

Regular, low-cost preventive medication can protect people with HIV from TB

Children and adults living with HIV can be protected from one of their deadliest threats - tuberculosis (TB) - with a regular, low-cost preventive medication according to new guidelines launched today by the WHO. Of the nearly two million AIDS-related deaths each year, a quarter of them are associated with TB.

2 Dec 2010

IPC acquires Senior Care of Colorado

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc., a leading national hospitalist physician group practice company, announced today that it has acquired Senior Care of Colorado, PC (SCOC) headquartered in Aurora, Colorado. SCOC provides geriatric care at more than 200 facilities in the Denver metro area. SCOC has an annualized volume of more than 200,000 patient encounters. This acquisition represents an expansion of operations for IPC in Colorado, where the company has provided acute care hospitalist services since 2003.

2 Dec 2010

Supreme Court considers overcrowding's effect on Cal. prison health care

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering an order requiring California prisons to release 40,000 inmates because overcrowding has limited prisoners' access to health care.

2 Dec 2010

Deficit panel delays vote; Curbing Medicare spending part of proposal

Over the next ten years, 30 million more seniors will pour into Medicare, which already eats up 12 percent of the federal budget and 20 percent of all health spending, NPR reports. That has deficit hawks worried. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director, says, "If you look past the next eight to 10 years, Medicare is the deficit problem… And there's simply no way we can address our fiscal problems without coming to terms with Medicare's future."

2 Dec 2010

Sleep HealthCenters enters agreement with U.S. HealthWorks to provide sleep medicine services

Sleep HealthCenters has entered into an agreement with U.S. HealthWorks to provide sleep medicine services as part of their occupational medicine programs.

2 Dec 2010

Va. federal judge rejects Liberty University's challenge to health reform law

The Washington Post: "A federal judge in Virginia ruled Tuesday that the new health-care overhaul law is constitutional, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Liberty University in Lynchburg that had challenged the statute." The lawsuit argued that Congress does not have the authority to require employers to offer health insurance and "was also filed on behalf of two individuals who object to the law's requirements that all individuals purchase insurance by 2014 or face a fine."

2 Dec 2010

Report analyzes global health funding trends, predicts lower funding growth

A report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) finds that the recent global economic downturn "hasn't quelled generous government and private donors from giving record amounts to improve global health," but the analysis also revealed "that growth in funding is beginning to taper off, cut by more than half between 2008 and 2010," the Seattle Times' "The Business of Giving" blog reports (Heim, 11/30).

2 Dec 2010

Republicans fight over energy and commerce gavel as they sharpen congressional agenda

Republicans are fighting over the gavel to head the Energy and Commerce committee as their agenda's outline becomes sharper in anticipation of the new session of Congress.

2 Dec 2010

States struggle with significant financial budget strains, especially in Medicaid; Others position for innovative coverage efforts

Bloomberg: "U.S. states expect 'significant challenges' balancing budgets in the next two years, after closing $230 billion in gaps since 2009, as U.S. stimulus aid drops and tax receipts recover from the recession, a study said. While state spending is set to rise for the current fiscal year compared with 2010, after two straight annual declines, governments will face renewed pressure in 2012, according to the study released today by the National Governors Association. The budget period begins in July in 46 states.

2 Dec 2010

Mindray launches V Series patient monitoring system

Mindray Medical International Limited, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices worldwide, today introduced the Mindray V Series patient monitoring system, an all new scalable platform that focuses on the clarity and continuity of data at a single point of care. The V Series solution is the result of research focused on identifying the unique challenges of critical care and other high acuity environments.

From Mindray 2 Dec 2010

Medical groups weigh in on health reform, pay freeze

News outlets report on how new treatment models impact care, as well as political developments and positions among medical organizations.

2 Dec 2010

State officials weigh in on health overhaul challenge

Legal Newsline: "In recent weeks, more than a dozen amicus briefs have been filed in the multi-state lawsuit against President Barack Obama's federal health care package. … A total of 20 states are suing the federal government to stop implementation of Obama's health care law. ... Others, including Kansas, are talking about joining the fight."

2 Dec 2010

U.N. says PMTCT of HIV is achievable; efforts must target millions currently 'falling through the cracks'

A generation of babies could be born free of AIDS if the international community stepped up efforts to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and social protection, the United Nations said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

2 Dec 2010

Food safety bill passes in Senate

Reuters: "The Senate passed the largest overhaul of the U.S. food safety system in decades on Tuesday, a response to massive recalls such as last summer's recall of half a billion eggs in a salmonella outbreak. The Senate voted 73-25 to pass the bill. The House of Representatives backed a different version in July 2009.

2 Dec 2010

U.N. launches largest ever annual aid appeal, asking for $7.4B in 2011

In its annual appeal, the U.N. on Tuesday asked governments and private donors for a record $7.4 billion next year to provide 50 million people worldwide with food, clothing and other urgent humanitarian aid, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

2 Dec 2010

UIC receives HHS grant to expand family medicine residency program

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine has received a $1.92 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand its family medicine residency program.

2 Dec 2010

CTRC-AACR Symposium to discuss new findings from breast cancer clinical trial

More than 9,000 people from more than 90 countries will gather Dec. 8-12, 2010, at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, for the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

2 Dec 2010