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Sebelius: Employers should quickly offer coverage to workers' children up to age 26

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Thursday urged employers to extend health insurance to children of their employees up to age 26 before a provision in the new law requiring them to do so takes effect later this year, The New York Times reports. Many insurers have already made the change, but many employers have demurred.

29 May 2010

NANDA-I announces recipients of 2010 awards

NANDA International (NANDA-I), an international association of nursing professionals, has announced the recipients of its 2010 NANDA-I awards. The awards were presented at the May 2010 NANDA-I / AENTDE Congress in Madrid, Spain, to recognize outstanding contributions to NANDA-I and standardized nursing language in the areas of clinical practice, nursing education, administration, informatics and research.

29 May 2010

UCSF studies describe wide reach of tobacco industry and its influence on national health care reform

Three new UCSF studies describe the wide reach of the tobacco industry and its influence on young people, military veterans and national health care reform. The analyses will be published in a special July edition of the American Journal of Public Health titled "Modeling to Advance Tobacco Control Policy."

29 May 2010

Safety rules lag in biotech industry

The New York Times reports that safety rules for biotechnology workers sometimes expose them to dangerous pathogens. "Whether handling deadly pathogens for biowarfare research, harnessing viruses to do humankind's bidding or genetically transforming cells to give them powers not found in nature, the estimated 232,000 employees in the nation's most sophisticated biotechnology labs work amid imponderable hazards. And some critics say the modern biolab often has fewer federal safety regulations than a typical blue-collar factory."

29 May 2010

Jobs bill: Dems keep 'doc fix' but jettison COBRA benefits, extra state Medicaid funding

House Democrats, under pressure from fiscal conservatives to cut spending, have dropped from a jobs bill both a COBRA subsidy extension to help newly laid-off pay for health coverage as well as more federal aid to boost state Medicaid budgets, The Associated Press reports. Although several programs covered by the bill will expire during the congressional recess that begins this weekend, final action isn't expected because even if House members reach agreement on the measure, it must still go to the Senate, which has not scheduled any votes today.

29 May 2010

Obama's National Security Strategy released, includes global health, food security priorities

"The Obama administration on Thursday released a sweeping statement of its national security goals," the Los Angeles Times reports. The 52-page document "calls for the United States to strengthen international institutions, to heed treaties and norms, and to build stronger ties to allies, including to the emerging powers of India, Brazil and China.

29 May 2010

FDA may seek criminal penalties against J & J for faulty recall of children's Tylenol, other medicines

The Wall Street Journal: "The Food and Drug Administration said it is weighing whether to seek criminal penalties against the Johnson & Johnson unit that made children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter kids' medicines recalled last month. Joshua Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner, told lawmakers at a hearing Thursday that J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit had a 'pattern of noncompliance' with good manufacturing practices.

29 May 2010

MU awarded $6.8M to help patients benefit from use of health information technology

Considered one the great advances of modern medicine, electronic health records can provide a patient's entire medical history and a wealth of other information at the click of a button. They also have the potential to save countless lives and billions of dollars. Now, the University of Missouri has a two-year, $6.8 million cooperative agreement to help patients throughout the state benefit from increased use of this health information technology.

29 May 2010

Republicans criticize CMS brochure on Medicare improvements

As the secretary of health and human services explains it, the government has an obligation to spread the word about the new health-care law. To that end, the department spent millions of dollars printing a glossy brochure and mailing it this week to 40 million Medicare beneficiaries detailing what Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called 'the facts.'

29 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Leading Edge article examines the history of the global efforts to control polio and the challenges associated with targets to globally eradicate the disease. "The eradication of polio seems imminent, but with so few cases, there is a temptation to think an acceptable level of infection has been achieved. Not so.

29 May 2010

Text of brochure mailed to Medicare beneficiaries

The federal government sent a brochure to more than 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, "Medicare and the New Health Care Law - What It Means for You," which is generating political controversy.

29 May 2010

Health law implementation deadlines missed, GOP offers repeal bill

Politico reports that the Obama administration has missed a health reform law deadline to set up a task force on breast cancer and another on health care in Alaska.

29 May 2010

Medicare 'doughnut hole' rebate checks are in mail, Obama adminstration announces

Senior citizens who hit the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare's drug benefit will begin getting $250 rebate checks in two weeks, the Obama administration announced Thursday — providing one of the first tangible benefits of the recently enacted healthcare law. The rebates, designed in part to bolster support for the controversial law, are the first steps in a decade-long phase-out of the unpopular gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage.

29 May 2010

Today's Opinions: Never-events, Medicare 'propaganda' and drug copays

According to the Labor Department, overall inflation has averaged about 2.5 percent annually, and prescription drug prices have gone up about 3.6 percent each year, over that time frame. Co-pays, though, have increased four times faster than inflation (Peter J. Pitts, 5/28).

29 May 2010

Sebelius urges employers to quickly cover young adults

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports on a press conference yesterday in which Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius detailed how federal officials are working to get "self-insured employers — who provide health coverage for millions of Americans — to keep young adults up to age 26 on their parents' plans before the new law requires them to do so" (Carey, 5/28).

29 May 2010

Health law having effect on managed-care firms, medical suppliers

Managed-care firms may be positioned for a rebound on the stock market, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Over the past two years, the Standard & Poor's 500 managed-care index has fallen about 19%, weighed down by the health overhaul bill, weak economy and specific industry issues.

29 May 2010

First Edition: May 28, 2010

Today's health policy headlines focus on efforts by federal officials to get more insurance plans to move early on coverage for young adults as well as congressional Democrats' struggle to pass legislation to extend the COBRA benefit subsidy and to prevent a scheduled cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

28 May 2010

Fire safety experts announce statewide program to prevent camp fire injuries, forest fires

Accompanied by Smokey the Bear, burn and fire safety experts today announced a statewide program to prevent camp fire injuries and forest fires. The median age of camp fire victims is two years old and many injuries happen long after the fire is thought to be extinguished. Experts say most of the incidents are predictable and preventable.

28 May 2010

Effective infant vaccination against pneumonia needed in sub-Saharan Africa

Researchers at the University of Warwick, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya, have found that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) appears to be the predominant virus detected among infants and children hospitalized in Kenya with severe pneumonia, according to a study in the May 26 issue of JAMA. The contribution to this severe disease by an individual pathogen stresses the need for effective infant vaccination.

28 May 2010

DaVita provides hurricane hotline to help dialysis patients find clinics, schedule treatments during emergencies

DaVita Inc., a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, announced today that the company will provide a hurricane hotline (1-800-400-8331) that is activated 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help dialysis patients find open clinics and schedule treatments during emergencies such as hurricanes and other natural disasters.

28 May 2010

Healthcare News

Sebelius: Employers should quickly offer coverage to workers' children up to age 26

NANDA-I announces recipients of 2010 awards

UCSF studies describe wide reach of tobacco industry and its influence on national health care reform

Safety rules lag in biotech industry

Jobs bill: Dems keep 'doc fix' but jettison COBRA benefits, extra state Medicaid funding

Obama's National Security Strategy released, includes global health, food security priorities

FDA may seek criminal penalties against J & J for faulty recall of children's Tylenol, other medicines

MU awarded $6.8M to help patients benefit from use of health information technology

Republicans criticize CMS brochure on Medicare improvements

Recent releases in Global Health

Text of brochure mailed to Medicare beneficiaries

Health law implementation deadlines missed, GOP offers repeal bill

Medicare 'doughnut hole' rebate checks are in mail, Obama adminstration announces

Today's Opinions: Never-events, Medicare 'propaganda' and drug copays

Sebelius urges employers to quickly cover young adults

Health law having effect on managed-care firms, medical suppliers

First Edition: May 28, 2010

Fire safety experts announce statewide program to prevent camp fire injuries, forest fires

Effective infant vaccination against pneumonia needed in sub-Saharan Africa

DaVita provides hurricane hotline to help dialysis patients find clinics, schedule treatments during emergencies

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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