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House passes measure to boost veterans medical benefits

The Los Angeles Times: "The House voted 419 to 0 on Wednesday to approve new benefits and financial support for the primary live-in caregivers of seriously wounded veterans who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure, which would cost about $1.7 billion over five years, is part of comprehensive legislation that would permit the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand its assistance to family members of veterans generally." The bill calls for rates on a par with "commercial rates for home caregivers" (Tan, 4/21).

23 Apr 2010

Despite federal help, states struggle to move people out of nursing homes

23 Apr 2010

Drug use theft among Doctors and Nurses

Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) revealed in a recent report that there has been a constant theft and abuse of restricted drugs by healthcare staff including physicians and nurses.

23 Apr 2010

Florida's Health Care Freedom Act receives approval

Today, Florida's Health Care Freedom Act (HJR 37/SJR 72), sponsored by Florida Representative Scott Plakon and Florida Senator Carey Baker, passed the House and Senate and will appear on the November ballot. And yesterday, Mississippi Representatives Alex Monsour and Steven Palazzo received preliminary approval to place the Health Care Freedom Act on the 2011 or 2012 ballot.

23 Apr 2010

Cisco uses telemedicine in Southern Calif. and Southwest to lower costs

Cisco is using its HealthPresence telemedicine system in new programs in Southern California and the Southwest to "compete with other major tech companies, including Intel, IBM and General Electric, in the growing market for health-care products and services," The San Jose Mercury News/The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reports.

23 Apr 2010

Miss. lawmakers want voters to have say on health coverage mandate

Two Republican lawmakers in Mississippi want voters there to have the final say on whether purchasing health insurance should be required as mandated by the new federal health reform law. State Reps. Alex Monsour and Steven Palazzo are proposing a ballot initiative to ask voters the question.

23 Apr 2010

Study: California's nursing-ratio law saves patients' lives

News outlets report on a study suggesting that California's mandatory nursing-ratio law saves patient lives.

23 Apr 2010

Sebelius says HHS will not seek more money this year to implement health overhaul

"The Obama administration does not plan to seek additional money in next year's Health and Human Services Department budget to implement the new U.S. healthcare reform law, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday," Reuters reports. "Testifying before a House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee, Sebelius said the $911 billion HHS budget request for fiscal year 2011, which begins Oct. 1, remains the same even after Congress passed the healthcare overhaul," which "included $1 billion" for implementation by HHS.

23 Apr 2010

Report: Wellpoint targets breast cancer patients with policy rescissions

Reuters, in an exclusive report about the insurance industry practice of rescission: "That tens of thousands of Americans lost their health insurance shortly after being diagnosed with life-threatening, expensive medical conditions has been well documented by law enforcement agencies, state regulators and a congressional committee. Insurance companies have used the practice.

23 Apr 2010

Democrats, GOP continue to trade barbs over health reform, plan next moves

Politico: Democrats are following a call from President Barack Obama in daring Republicans to try to repeal the health care reform law. "And they started with what Democrats hope will become one of the most popular features of the overhaul plan, a provision that allow young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26.

23 Apr 2010

CBO estimate: 4 million could pay health insurance penalty by 2016

The Associated Press: "Nearly 4 million Americans will have to pay a penalty if they fail to get health insurance when that element of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law kicks in, according to congressional projections released Thursday." According to a Congressional Budget Office report, the average penalty in 2016 will be slightly more than $1,000 and the majority of people who pay the fine will be middle class.

23 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 22, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with USA Today, writes about the Money Follows The Person program: "Richard Hasselbach and Deborah Kadlec met in a nursing home and dreamed of a life together outside its walls. Their health conditions made living on their own a challenge: Hasselbach, 63, is disabled from a stroke and lost a leg to a blocked artery. Kadlec, 52, has multiple sclerosis. They both use wheelchairs and need help with chores such as bathing, cooking and remembering to take their medicines.

22 Apr 2010

FDA announces draft guidance expanding transparency, disclosure in conflict of interest waivers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced draft guidance that would expand transparency and disclosure when the agency grants a conflict of interest waiver to permit an individual's participation at an FDA advisory committee meeting.

22 Apr 2010

Halo Benefits introduces new pharmacy prescription card that offers discounts to consumers

Halo Benefits, Inc., a subsidiary of Halo Companies, Inc., announced today that it now offers HaloRx, a pharmacy prescription card that offers discounts to consumers. The new discount card is offered now at a time when the cost of prescription drugs is at a record high. "We are excited about the opportunity to offer more affordable options to consumers with medication needs.

22 Apr 2010

Life sciences companies shifting away from traditional document management systems to emerging ECC solutions

Virtify, Inc., today announced the availability of a new IDC Health Insights study titled "Managing Paper at Its Roots: Extending Beyond Document Management to Enterprise Content Compliance." The new IDC Health Insights study, which was commissioned by Virtify, shows a growing trend in the life sciences industry away from traditional document management systems to emerging Enterprise Content Compliance (ECC) solutions.

22 Apr 2010

Los Angeles slum housing health crisis

Over three hundred community members, stakeholders, and public health workers joined Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas for a People's Hearing on Slum Housing and the unveiling of a position paper documenting the health crisis related to slum housing in Los Angeles.

22 Apr 2010

RCPSG's Faculty of Travel Medicine selects Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease as official journal

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, in partnership with the Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, announces that Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease has been chosen to become the official journal of RCPSG's Faculty of Travel Medicine.

22 Apr 2010

Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium is now 'Symposium on Early Alzheimer's Disease'

This year, the Miami Beach symposium kicked off on a rainy Friday with a new name and a new focus on biomarkers. For seven years, the meeting has been called the Mild Cognitive Impairment Symposium, but that changed this year to the Symposium on Early Alzheimer's Disease. The change comes as a nod to a recent and dramatic shift in how Alzheimer disease is perceived, and what researchers increasingly see as the most promising angle of attack for future therapeutics.

22 Apr 2010

Need for better understanding potential dangers of prescription painkillers

In response to a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine called "Hospitalizations for Poisoning by Prescription Opioids, Sedatives, and Tranquilizers," the Waismann Method of Opiate Detoxification is urging Americans to take measures to better understand and recognize the potential dangers and addictive nature of prescription painkillers.

22 Apr 2010

Americans struggling to understand effect of health reform law

The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll fielded since the passage of health reform last month finds that 8 in 10 Americans know that President Obama signed the legislation into law. But 55 percent say they are confused about the law and more than half (56%) say they don't yet have enough information to understand how it will affect them personally.

22 Apr 2010