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Sebelius meets with insurance execs, challenges them to be transparent

Reuters: During a meeting today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pressed the CEOs of some of the nation's largest health insurers about increases in insurance premiums. "The meeting added more uncertainty for an industry that has already become Democrats' top target in their bid to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, and shares of health insurers continued to fall in late-morning trading."

5 Mar 2010

The White House full court press on health care

Reuters: President Obama is holding "two meetings with Democratic legislators at the White House on Thursday as he pushes for a vote this month on his healthcare overall plan." The first, which was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EST, "is expected to include 11 left-leaning members and leaders of minority groups in the House of Representatives, a White House spokesman said." The second meeting "is with leaders of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist Democrats. Seven U.S. representatives are expected to attend that meeting" (Zengerle, 3/4).

5 Mar 2010

Some small businesses see burden in 'Cadillac' tax

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, in collaboration with NPR, writes about this proposed tax. It could make it more difficult for small businesses to purchase health coverage.

5 Mar 2010

Sebelius takes on health insurers

The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones: When health insurance executives meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the White House Thursday to discuss premiums, they will "face a regulator who is well-versed in the complexities of the industry." Sebelius, whose resume includes a stretch as a state insurance commissioner, "is taking aim at rising premium rates as she joins President Barack Obama's push for an overhaul of the nation's health-coverage laws.

5 Mar 2010

Toxicologists, environmental health scientists to discuss on safeguarding public health at SOT meeting

The government's leading toxicologists and environmental health scientists will share their latest scientific accomplishments, offer continuing education courses, discuss funding and training opportunities, receive input on future research priorities, and more, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting.

5 Mar 2010

Dermatologist addresses common parasitic infestations and latest treatment options at Academy Annual Meeting

If simply the thought of bedbugs, scabies and head lice makes you feel a little itchy, imagine how those affected by these common infestations feel when they learn what has been creeping around them and causing symptoms such as intense itching, red bite marks or irritated scalps.

5 Mar 2010

Obama pushes reconciliation, action on health care overhaul

In his White House speech Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama outlined his updated health overhaul plan and endorsed a legislative maneuver meant to move the congressional efforts on health care reform forward.

4 Mar 2010

Political heat tests the President's calm composure

The Washington Post: For a president "who so famously rejects drama," recent times have marked "one of the wildest policitcal stretches in recent memory." President Obama has said during yesterday's White House speech that, at stake in this legislative struggle is the nation's ability not only to solve health care problems, but "our ability to solve any problem."

4 Mar 2010

New Jersey hospital offers luxury with health, wellness

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on Virtua Health system's newly opened Health and Wellness Center in New Jersey, and calls it "the new face of luxury." The center was a $31 million investment by the non-profit group and it is expected to do well. "While many New Jersey hospitals grapple with barely-there operating margins and a national slowdown in construction, Virtua is growing.

4 Mar 2010

AMA enters health IT partnerships

The American Medical Association has made deals with computer retailer Dell, and Ingenix, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, to "help physicians adopt and implement electronic health records", the Chicago Tribune reports.

4 Mar 2010

Federal court rejects California Medicaid cuts

The San Francisco Chronicle: "A federal appeals court barred California on Wednesday from lowering Medi-Cal payments to doctors and hospitals by 5 percent and from cutting in-home care workers' wages by nearly 20 percent, saying the state's budget crisis doesn't justify violating federal laws that protect the poor and disabled.

4 Mar 2010

Washington State cracks down on prescription fraud with new paper and ink

The Seattle Post Intelligencer/Everett Herald: "Patients who get written prescriptions will see changes this summer aimed at curbing fraud. Come July 1, prescriptions will be printed on tamper-resistant paper with Mission Impossible-like ink that changes color when rubbed with a finger.

4 Mar 2010

Democrats now see a homestretch for health overhaul plan

President Barack Obama will take to the road next week for a push in America's heartland on health care reform.

4 Mar 2010

PHC opens ten-bed adolescent unit at SHBI in Nevada

PHC, Inc., d/b/a Pioneer Behavioral Health, a leading provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, announced today that it opened a ten-bed adolescent unit at its Seven Hills Behavioral Institute (SHBI) in Henderson, Nevada.

4 Mar 2010

Sesame Workshop and AmeriChoice to develop bilingual education outreach program

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, and AmeriChoice, the UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company that provides health benefits for state and public programs, are partnering to develop a bilingual education outreach program aimed at helping low-income families make food choices that are affordable, nutritional and set the foundation for lifelong healthy habits.

4 Mar 2010

DVT Awareness In Motion: Educational program on the importance of preventative care for DVT

The Coalition to Prevent Deep-Vein Thrombosis moves into action with the seventh national DVT Awareness Month by introducing DVT Awareness In Motion, a educational program designed to drive dialogue about the importance of preventative care for DVT via simple movements – that can be done anywhere and anytime.

4 Mar 2010

Testimony emphasizes that health reform bills eliminate prostate cancer screening

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Congressman Edolphus Towns, will hold a hearing entitled: "Prostate Cancer: New Questions About Screening and Treatment."

4 Mar 2010

MediBid.com announces strategic partnership with Bumrungrad International

MediBid.com – The Marketplace for Medicine – today announced a strategic partnership with Bumrungrad International that will give patients using the MediBid.com portal access to the facility's world-class physicians on the growing list of US and international doctors and facilities joining MediBid including Perfection Makeover and Laser Center in Cancun, Mexico and Madras Joint Replacement in Chennai, India.

4 Mar 2010

Anesthesiologists and health care responders' experience during Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan

The 2008 earthquake in the Sichuan province of China was among the deadliest in history, killing an estimated 69,000 individuals and leaving millions displaced. Anesthesiologists are critically important medical responders to such disasters, as they have the skills required to resuscitate and stabilize patients while their injuries are surgically treated.

4 Mar 2010

Valley Presbyterian Hospital announces opening of premier Amputation Prevention Center

Valley Presbyterian Hospital is proud to announce the planned red-carpet grand-opening on March 17th of its premier Amputation Prevention Center (APC), an integrated limb-preservation center that is one of the nation’s only facilities of its kind.

4 Mar 2010