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Report says drugmakers failing to give Medicaid adequate price data

Drug manufacturers often flout a federal law that requires them to provide the government with pricing data needed to calculate discounts on medications prescribed for poor people under Medicaid, federal investigators say in a new report.

4 Oct 2010

Research Roundups: Racial Disparities at end of life; stopping medicine mistakes; Grand Junction, Colorado's Cost Lessons

Racial Disparities In The Outcomes Of Communication On Medical Care Received Near Death Black patients receive more life prolonging measures and less comfort-directed care at the end of life (EOL) than white patients, such as increased rates of resuscitation, intensive care unit hospitalization, and feeding tube use at the EOL, write the authors of this study that examined whether differences in patient-physician communication contribute to these differences.

4 Oct 2010

FEHBP premiums to increase by 7.2 percent

Federal employees will see their health insurance premiums increase at a far higher rate than their pay next year, but less than many private sector workers. The Office of Personnel Management announced Friday that the average incrdase for Federal Employee Health Benefits Program enrollees will be 7.2 percent.

4 Oct 2010

Sebelius tells seniors that 'outrageous claims' have clouded impressions of new law

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius went to Florida Friday in her campaign to rally support for the new health law. She targeted senior citizens, a crucial voting bloc that polls find is not warming to the bill.

4 Oct 2010

Feds, states begin work to set up online insurance exchanges

Federal health officials took an early step Thursday towards creating online health insurance marketplaces in the states. The Obama administration awarded 49 grants Thursday to states and the District of Columbia to plan for new health insurance exchanges designed to help Americans shop for health plans beginning in 2014.

4 Oct 2010

HHS consumer website adds new features; health law provisions affecting open season

HealthCare.Gov, the consumer health care insurance website run by the federal government, unveiled a slew of new features this morning. Consumers can find pricing information for 4,400 individual and family health plans offered by more than 225 insurance carriers, Plan information will be updated monthly, said Todd Park, HHS chief technology officer.

4 Oct 2010

Socioeconomic status impacts colorectal cancer incidence

People living in economically deprived neighborhoods were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage, non-localized colorectal cancer, even after researchers controlled for known colorectal cancer risk factors, according to data presented at the Third American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, being held Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.

4 Oct 2010

Efforts against drug-resistant malaria along Thai-Cambodian border show progress, but more 'aggressive' approach needed, health officials say

Efforts to prevent the spread of drug-resistant malaria along the border between Cambodia and Thailand are showing signs of progress, but additional work is needed to contain the new strain, health officials said on Friday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

4 Oct 2010

Sebelius talks health reform, Rahm and campaign contributions

The Christian Science Monitor reports on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' talk at a Monitor sponsored breakfast for reporters Thursday.

4 Oct 2010

BMC researchers receive grants to study effectiveness of integrative medicine in underserved patients

Two Boston Medical Center (BMC) researchers have each been awarded grants from the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to study the effectiveness of integrative medicine in underserved patients.

4 Oct 2010

Consumers should pay attention to changes in health plans during enrollment season

As enrollment packets for insurance benefits begin to land on workers' desks or arrive in the mail, pay attention. This is not the year to simply renew last year's choices without studying the options. The first baby steps of the nation's health care overhaul have taken effect.

4 Oct 2010

UTHealth receives funds for teen pregnancy prevention program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $15 million of its $155-million total package to a team led by Susan Tortolero, Ph.D., director of the UTHealth Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research.

3 Oct 2010

Record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year, straining state budgets

Associated Press: "A record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year, as the recession wiped out jobs and workplace health coverage. A report released Thursday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found that enrollment in the safety-net medical insurance program jumped to more than 48 million — a record 15.7 percent share of the U.S. population.

1 Oct 2010

Selling insurance across state lines: Still a partisan fight

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Lexie Verdon report: "When Republican House leaders recently unveiled their 'Pledge To America,' they revived an idea long popular with conservatives: legislation that would allow consumers to buy health insurance across state lines so that residents of a state with expensive health plans could find cheaper options elsewhere" (Galewitz and Verdon, 9/30).

1 Oct 2010

Bloomberg analysis finds 'doughnut hole' deal to cost drugmakers less than 1% of profits

News outlets report how closing the Medicare 'Doughnut Hole' affects drugmakers and seniors.

1 Oct 2010

Insurer jumps ship, but is the health law to blame?

The New York Times: The Principal Financial Group of Iowa will stop selling health insurance plans - which currently cover about 840,000 people who get coverage from employers - as provisions of the health overhaul take effect. "Principal's decision closely tracks moves by other insurers that have indicated in recent weeks that they plan to drop out of certain segments of the market, like the business of selling child-only policies.

1 Oct 2010

Bipartisan deficit commission unlikely to make big Medicare changes

National Journal: "For all of the attention surrounding President Obama's bipartisan commission on deficit reduction, the country's biggest cost centers — health care in general and Medicare specifically — will likely remain unscathed when the panel offers its recommendations in December.

1 Oct 2010

Health insurance prices, restrictions now on federal consumer website

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jessica Marcy talked with Todd Park, the chief technology officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Karen Pollitz, who heads the consumer support division at HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, about the detailed health plan cost and benefits information unveiled today on Healthcare.gov.

1 Oct 2010

Political cartoon: 'Don't Worry'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Don't Worry" by Chip Bok.

1 Oct 2010

Med schools say doctor shortage to worsen under new health law

The new health law will worsen the physician shortage as newly insured patients seek care, according to a new report from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

1 Oct 2010

Healthcare News

Report says drugmakers failing to give Medicaid adequate price data

Research Roundups: Racial Disparities at end of life; stopping medicine mistakes; Grand Junction, Colorado's Cost Lessons

FEHBP premiums to increase by 7.2 percent

Sebelius tells seniors that 'outrageous claims' have clouded impressions of new law

Feds, states begin work to set up online insurance exchanges

HHS consumer website adds new features; health law provisions affecting open season

Socioeconomic status impacts colorectal cancer incidence

Efforts against drug-resistant malaria along Thai-Cambodian border show progress, but more 'aggressive' approach needed, health officials say

Sebelius talks health reform, Rahm and campaign contributions

BMC researchers receive grants to study effectiveness of integrative medicine in underserved patients

Consumers should pay attention to changes in health plans during enrollment season

UTHealth receives funds for teen pregnancy prevention program

Record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year, straining state budgets

Selling insurance across state lines: Still a partisan fight

Bloomberg analysis finds 'doughnut hole' deal to cost drugmakers less than 1% of profits

Insurer jumps ship, but is the health law to blame?

Bipartisan deficit commission unlikely to make big Medicare changes

Health insurance prices, restrictions now on federal consumer website

Political cartoon: 'Don't Worry'

Med schools say doctor shortage to worsen under new health law

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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