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Gov. Patrick signs new law to stiffen penalties for assault on nurses and other health care workers

Surrounded by registered nurses and legislators, Governor Deval Patrick today signed a law that will stiffen the penalties for those who assault nurses and other health care workers, one of a series of measures the state's nurses are proposing to address the growing problem of workplace violence in health care settings. The vote follows unanimous votes to approve the measure in both houses of the legislature.

3 Jul 2010

U.N. to formally establish new 'gender entity'

The U.N. General Assembly will move to formally adopt a new "gender entity" on Friday called "U.N. Women" that will fold the U.N.'s four existing women's entities - UNIFEM, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women and INSTRAW - into one, Inter Press Service reports.

3 Jul 2010

Recent releases in global health

Looking ahead to AIDS 2010 which will be held in Vienna, Austria, July 18-23, a Lancet editorial writes that 2010 marks "the deadline set by global leaders to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care. Sadly, the world will not meet these ambitious goals." However, the latest issue of the Lancet "offers some new insights to progress," the editorial notes.

3 Jul 2010

Home-health companies' stock takes hit as SEC investigates their Medicare reimbursement

Amedisys and Almost Family, two home health care companies, said Thursday that they are the focus of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into their Medicare reimbursement practices, one month after the U.S. Senate began its own inquiry. "The investigation is related to the SEC probe, which revolves around whether the companies pushed patients into extra, sometimes unnecessary, home-health care visits in order to hit a threshold level that secured them thousands more in reimbursements from the government's health-care program."

3 Jul 2010

Insurers continue seeking wary regulator's approval for rate hikes

For most Massachusetts insurers, a standoff with regulators over premium rate increase was left unresolved Thursday evening. Rate caps were maintained — freezing premiums at 2009 rates — for 137 health insurance plans.

3 Jul 2010

RNAO's Pride Parade march to be held in Toronto

A group of nurses joined by friends and family will march in this Sunday's Pride Parade in Toronto. The nurses are members of the RNAO and its Rainbow Nursing Interest Group.

3 Jul 2010

State Roundup: Florida to investigate WellCare; Calif. budget cuts; Computer system helps states find Medicaid savings

Nextgov: "A 17-year-old computer data matching system designed to prevent welfare recipients from drawing benefits in more than one state at a time is now helping cash-strapped states save millions of dollars -- but not as originally intended.

3 Jul 2010

American Airlines Credit Union donates $50,000 from golf tournament to Children's Miracle Network

AA Credit Union proudly presented the Children's Miracle Network with a $50,000 donation as a result of the 14th Annual American Airlines Federal Credit Union Golf Tournament, which took place May 14 at the Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine, Texas. The total donation will be split between Cook Children's Medical Center and Children's Medical Center Dallas.

3 Jul 2010

Lawmakers urge health insurers to enforce new Mental Parity Act

The Hill: "Health plans that say mental illnesses can't be treated like physical ailments are relying on an 'outdated argument' without merit that does not reflect 'three decades of scientific research,' 52 House members wrote in a recent letter to regulators. The comments come as a landmark law requiring parity in how health plans cover physical and mental illness went into effect Thursday.

3 Jul 2010

Positive reviews of health overhaul implementation so far but potential stumbling blocks lie ahead

The New York Times notes an uptick in support for the health overhaul in polls as parts of the law begin to take effect, as well as some positive reviews - even from conservatives - about the administration's performance in implementing the measures. Stuart Butler, a vice president of the Heritage Foundation, for instance, said, "I give them an A for effort. But there are land mines down the road because the law is fundamentally flawed." The latest poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 48 percent hold a favorable view of the new law, while 41 percent oppose it.

3 Jul 2010

FDA issues consumer update on safety alerts

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued safety alerts about a number of products.

3 Jul 2010

Ninth Circuit rules in favor of ACLJ in multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood affiliates

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled in favor of the American Center for Law and Justice's (ACLJ) client in a multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood (PP) affiliates in California. ACLJ attorneys are representing a former employee of the PP affiliate in Los Angeles, who is now a federal whistleblower. A federal district court in California had dismissed the case, but the Ninth Circuit's ruling, dated yesterday, reinstates the lawsuit.

3 Jul 2010

Consumers examine government's new health care website, health insurers critical

News outlets continue to report on the federal government's new health care website, healthcare.gov, launched Thursday.

3 Jul 2010

Medical biller develops special ranking system for insurers

Jonathan Bush recognized that getting paid in health care is a problem, NPR's Planet Money blog reports: "Say the patient is covered by Blue Cross. Which Blue Cross? Did she need a referral? What's the right billing code?" So he left the birthing center business to get "into a different part of the health-care business: He launched athenahealth, a company that handles billing for doctors' offices."

3 Jul 2010

VA to develop fully automated, online system for handling disability compensation claims

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today plans to develop a fully automated, online system for handling Veterans' disability compensation claims. More than a simple digitization of existing paper-based claims, the new system is part of VA's modernization of the end-to-end processing workflow. Automation will substantially reduce processing time and increase accuracy while simplifying the way that Veterans interact with the claims process.

3 Jul 2010

Insurer stocks drop; Drugmakers shed 35,000 jobs

News outlets report on a drop in health insurance stocks and the elimination of 35,000 jobs in the drug industry this year.

3 Jul 2010

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital issues public safety warning about dangers of swimming pools

A strong public safety warning about the dangers of swimming pools comes in the wake of 19 drownings or near-drownings treated by doctors at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt since May 27.

3 Jul 2010

WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool version 3.1 launched

The WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX-) has today been launched in version 3.1., featuring eight new country models and accessible in six additional languages.

3 Jul 2010

States anxiously hoping for extra Medicaid funds extension

Kaiser Health News: "Democrats are leaving Washington for their July 4th recess without passing key parts of their health agenda. Among the provisions being left for when Congress returns from a week-long break: enhanced Medicaid aid for states and a subsidy to help the laid off afford to keep their former employer's health insurance.

3 Jul 2010

Nissay Information Technology and IBM Japan to build cloud development and test environment

Nissay Information Technology and IBM Japan today announced they will jointly build a cloud-based development and test environment to create mission critical Web systems for Nippon Life Insurance (NISSAY). The project launched in May 2010, with the test and development environment expected to go live in September 2010.

3 Jul 2010

Healthcare News

Gov. Patrick signs new law to stiffen penalties for assault on nurses and other health care workers

U.N. to formally establish new 'gender entity'

Recent releases in global health

Home-health companies' stock takes hit as SEC investigates their Medicare reimbursement

Insurers continue seeking wary regulator's approval for rate hikes

RNAO's Pride Parade march to be held in Toronto

State Roundup: Florida to investigate WellCare; Calif. budget cuts; Computer system helps states find Medicaid savings

American Airlines Credit Union donates $50,000 from golf tournament to Children's Miracle Network

Lawmakers urge health insurers to enforce new Mental Parity Act

Positive reviews of health overhaul implementation so far but potential stumbling blocks lie ahead

FDA issues consumer update on safety alerts

Ninth Circuit rules in favor of ACLJ in multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood affiliates

Consumers examine government's new health care website, health insurers critical

Medical biller develops special ranking system for insurers

VA to develop fully automated, online system for handling disability compensation claims

Insurer stocks drop; Drugmakers shed 35,000 jobs

Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital issues public safety warning about dangers of swimming pools

WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool version 3.1 launched

States anxiously hoping for extra Medicaid funds extension

Nissay Information Technology and IBM Japan to build cloud development and test environment

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

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