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Illinois quickly begins implementing new law to end violence in nursing homes; N.J. reverses cuts in AIDS drug program

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday signed a law establishing new nursing home safety measures "aimed at ending chronic violence in the facilities. Work already has begun on hiring dozens of additional nursing home inspectors, as well as writing rules that will increase licensing fees and nursing staff levels in the homes. State authorities also say they are tackling one of the thorniest issues: finding ways to fund the law's multifaceted provisions even as Illinois faces a $13 billion budget deficit" (Jackson and Marx, 7/29).

31 Jul 2010

Feeding Our Future program serves 12,400 summer lunches to Denver children at risk of hunger

Leveraging a $20,000 "Feeding Our Future" grant from the Sodexo Foundation, St. Anthony Central Hospital, along with volunteers from Sodexo and the Food Bank of the Rockies, serves 12,400 summer lunches to Denver children at risk of hunger. Sodexo's Feeding Our Future program provides school children who rely on free and reduced-price meals during the academic year with nutritious lunches during the summer break.

31 Jul 2010

WHO expert: Faster MDR-TB test should be made available to vulnerable populations

A new diagnostic tool that shortens the diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) from eight weeks to two hours should be made available to vulnerable populations according to a WHO expert, Reuters reports.

31 Jul 2010

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ranked in 100 "Best Places to Work in IT"

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been selected as one of the top work environments for technology specialists in the United States by Computerworld, a leading national publication devoted to information technology. The award recognizes dynamic work environments in which IT professionals support new technologies and contribute to projects that are critical to the business goals of an organization.

31 Jul 2010

Team to execute research strategies surrounding oil spill health outcomes

While oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, experts are far from finished working to anticipate, outline and minimize the disaster's potential health risks, says a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health researcher actively involved in helping the federal government deal with repercussions from the April 20 accident.

31 Jul 2010

Innovative health care effort in Chicago reports successes and disappointments

"An initiative designed to transform health care on Chicago's South Side ... has linked 5,600 people to a 'medical home' since 2005, University of Chicago executives said Thursday," The Chicago Tribune reported.

31 Jul 2010

Health care sector to lead sources of employment in upcoming decade

"In the coming decade, the health care and social assistance sector will be one of the leading sources of employment. It is going to be one of the most vital sectors in the economy and it is going to be a place of job growth," said Ithaca College sociologist Stephen Sweet. Since women make up a whopping 80 percent of the workforce in the health care industry, allowances will have to be made for their lifestyle needs.

31 Jul 2010

As COBRA subsidies run out, thousands of laid off workers feel the pinch of health costs

The Christian Science Monitor: A continuation of the subsidy for health insurance for newly laid-off workers was not included in the six-month extension of unemployment insurance that recently became law. "That means that as of June 1, thousands of workers are either paying out most of their unemployment checks for health coverage under 'COBRA,' or just not getting covered."

31 Jul 2010

Louisiana's Medicaid rate cuts kick in Aug. 1; Other states seek health program assistance, make tough choices to balance budgets

"The rates paid to many of the private health providers in Louisiana's Medicaid program will fall Sunday to trim spending by $168 million in the program that provides care to the poor, elderly and disabled. The latest cuts to private hospitals, home- and community-based care providers, doctors and specialty service providers are the final piece of balancing this year's $6.5 billion Medicaid budget. Department of Health and Hospitals Undersecretary Jerry Phillips said Medicaid funding was cut by $277 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year that began July 1."

31 Jul 2010

Poll: Many Americans not sure of provisions of new healthcare legislation

Not sure what's in—and not in—the new healthcare legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama in March? You're not alone. More than 2,100 adults were given a list of 18 reform items and asked to identify what's included and what's not included in the law. Only four items were correctly identified by the majority of those polled.

31 Jul 2010

Senate panel votes to end drug industry's practice of 'pay-to-delay' generics

The Associated Press: "In a defeat for the powerful drug lobby, a Senate panel approved legislation to prohibit drug companies from paying generic drug makers to delay bringing less costly products to market. … The measure would ban a 'pay-to-delay' practice — opposed by the [Federal Trade Commission] in a series of lawsuits brought since 2001 — in which brand-name drug companies and generic drug makers both profit. Brand-name drug makers get higher prices while the generic companies are paid to stay out of the market."

31 Jul 2010

Sodium Working Group recommends reducing sodium intake among Canadians

The federally-mandated Sodium Working Group has released the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada. The three-pronged strategy contains six over-arching and 27 specific recommendations for a population health strategy for reducing sodium intake among Canadians.

31 Jul 2010

High-risk health insurance pool rules bar abortions, limit patient costs

"Elective abortions will be prohibited and people with pre-existing conditions will be able to get comprehensive benefits without paying any more than healthy people, under new federal regulations for high-risk health insurance pools released today by the Obama administration" (Galewitz, 7/30).

31 Jul 2010

Nashville hospitals cut costs to keep up revenues, despite fewer patients

"Over the past year and a half, keeping costs in check has helped the large hospital chains based in the Nashville area to increase quarterly earnings, even when seeing fewer patients come through their doors," The Tennessean reports. "The recent second quarter was no different. Cost controls fueled an 18 percent increase in net income at Franklin-based Community Health Systems, despite a decline in the number of patients. HCA Inc. saw fewer inpatient visits, and higher interest expense kept its pre-tax profits flat.

31 Jul 2010

Florida judge blocks state constitutional amendment on federal health law

A Leon County circuit judge today blocked a proposed [state] constitutional amendment that targets the federal health-reform law, saying Florida Republican lawmakers included wording in the proposal that would mislead voters. Judge James O. Shelfer said the proposal --- dubbed by lawmakers as the 'Health Care Freedom' amendment --- should not go on the November ballot. He described wording in a ballot summary as 'manifestly misleading.'

31 Jul 2010

Circuit Court Judge removes Amendment 9 from November ballot

Today, Circuit Court Judge James Shelfer removed Amendment 9—modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act now proposed in 42 states—from the November ballot. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is expected to appeal to Florida's Supreme Court.

31 Jul 2010

HealthSouth plans new rehabilitation hospital in northwest Houston

HealthSouth Corporation today announced plans to begin construction of a new 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in the Cypress area of northwest Houston in the fourth quarter. In connection with such plans, HealthSouth has signed a contract to purchase a 6-acre tract of land from an affiliate of Caldwell Companies, based in Houston. The land is located on the northeast corner of Highway 290 and FM 1960 in Houston.

31 Jul 2010

Blumenthal defends hew health IT rules to Utah leaders

David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "defended the administration's new plans against critics who say the watered-down rules miss an opportunity to lower costs and improve patient care," The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

31 Jul 2010

Abortion rights supporters, children's groups, GOP pushing back on various health law provisions

"Elective abortions will be prohibited and people with pre-existing conditions will be able to get comprehensive benefits without paying any more than healthy people, under new federal regulations for high-risk health insurance pools released ... by the Obama administration," according to Kaiser Health News.

31 Jul 2010

The House fails to pass aid measure for sick 9/11 responders

The Associated Press: "A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House on Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts." The measure failed to draw the necessary two-thirds majority. Democrats had opted for this procedural route rather than a simple majority because it blocked potential GOP amendments.

31 Jul 2010