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KHN column: Individual mandate would impose taxes on low-wage workers

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Michael Cannon writes: "In their attempt to expand health insurance coverage, House and Senate Democrats are poised to make the American dream less accessible to low-income Americans by hitting them with higher implicit tax rates than even multi-millionaires face"

18 Jan 2010

Health IT Roundup: Problems with privacy, access to records highlighted in news reports

"Despite a federal law requiring hospitals and doctors to release medical records to patients who ask for them, patients are reporting they have a hard time accessing" those records and that can lead to serious complications.

18 Jan 2010

Research suggests mail-order pharmacies are associated with better medication adherence

Buying medicine by mail may encourage patients to stick to their doctor-prescribed medication regimen, new research suggests.

18 Jan 2010

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Journal of the American Medical Association: Funding of US Biomedical Research, 2003-2008 - After doubling in a decade, the rate of increase in biomedical research in the U.S. has slowed since 2005, and the level of funding from the National Institutes of Health and industry appears to have decreased by 2 percent in 2008, after adjusting for inflation, the authors of this study report.

18 Jan 2010

Healthcare professionals fail to advise patients on their fitness to drive, researchers say

Researchers from the University's Warwick Medical School have found many healthcare professionals are failing to tell patients with certain conditions such as diabetes or visual impairment if they are not fit to drive.

18 Jan 2010

As health reform win seems close, Reid struggling in Nevada re-election bid

The Wall Street Journal: "In the nation's capital, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on the brink of pushing through a national health program that Democrats rank alongside the creation of Social Security and Medicare.

18 Jan 2010

Obama signals interest in reducing the protections for biologic drugs

Lobbyists for generic biologic drugmakers are fighting to undercut a provision in the proposed health overhaul that would protect brand-name pharmaceutical companies from lower-cost, generic competition over new products for 12 years, the Associated Press reports. The generic companies have friends in high places: "White House officials and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, are trying to reduce the curbs against competition to 10 years or less" (Fram, 1/14).

18 Jan 2010

Also in global health news: Anti-gay bill; Bush Institute TV show; funds for HIV programs in Kenya; EU aid commitments

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday publicly acknowledged the need to address the impact an anti-gay bill before the Ugandan parliament could have on foreign policy, Agence France-Presse reports (1/12).

18 Jan 2010

Majority of healthcare professionals fail to advise patients about their fitness to drive

Many healthcare professionals are failing to advise people with medical conditions that could affect their ability to drive whether they should get behind the wheel, according to research from the University of Warwick.

18 Jan 2010

Chamber of Commerce says health fight over -- but sees room to maneuver

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports on the Chamber's latest take on the next steps in health reform. "Despite unleashing a new round of TV spots last week that blasts congressional Democrats' health overhaul, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce acknowledged at a media briefing Tuesday that the fight is just about over.

18 Jan 2010

Republicans hint at strategy to defeat health bill

Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., speaks as Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and John Fleming, R-La., listen during a news conference. Shadegg held the news conference to discuss the costs of health care reform.

18 Jan 2010

Health care fraud is big business

Health care fraud has become a multi-billion dollar industry - up to $100 billion a year, according to estimates - for scammers and organized crime gangs, CNNMoney reports. In recent months health care identity theft has topped the list of crimes, a con in which criminals to tap real patient information to rack up fake charges.

18 Jan 2010

Minnesota County says state plan to cover costs of health care for the needy is unfair

In Minnesota, Hennepin County officials are saying a plan to charge counties extra to "cover health care for their neediest residents would have an unfair impact on the state's largest county and biggest public hospital."

18 Jan 2010

Geisinger CEO wins 2010 TRUST Award

The Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA), has selected Glenn D. Steele Jr., MD, PhD president and chief executive officer of Geisinger Health System, as the recipient of the 2010 TRUST Award.

18 Jan 2010

Federal survey shows more than 6.7 million children in the United States have no health insurance

A recent federal survey of children's health shows more than 6.7 million children in the United States don't have health insurance, and nearly 1 in 4 insured children lack adequate insurance coverage.

18 Jan 2010

Atlantic examines drug-resistant TB control worldwide

The Atlantic examines the emergence of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis around the world, with a look at the situation in South Africa. "[T]he resurgence of tuberculosis is not limited to South Africa. India and China have the largest numbers of tuberculosis cases, and multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been found in nearly every country, with XDR [extensively drug resistant]-TB in at least 57 countries," according to the article.

18 Jan 2010

Mass. Senate election could play role in health reform endgame

The Associated Press: "Like a roller-coaster ride on its last twisting turns, President Barack Obama's campaign to remake health care is barreling into final days of breathless suspense and headlong momentum." President Obama and other Democrats are focusing this weekend on "an unpredictable Senate race in Massachusetts, while senior White House and congressional staffers" hurry to complete work on the health bill's "cost and coverage options."

18 Jan 2010

'Cadillac' tax deal in the works

"Unions tentatively struck a deal Tuesday to exempt collectively bargained healthcare plans from a tax on high-cost plans expected to be used to help raise revenue for the healthcare overhaul," CongressDaily reports.

18 Jan 2010

Republicans decry Dems' deal with labor

Democrats' breakthrough deal with labor groups on the health overhaul yesterday is now attracting criticism as a handout to special interests, FOX News reports.

18 Jan 2010

Sen. Feingold asks Democratic leaders to remove special deals from health bill

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on Thursday called on Democratic leaders to strip special deals awarded to his colleagues from the final, negotiated health care reform package, although he stopped short of saying he would vote against the bill if his demands were not met.

18 Jan 2010

Healthcare News

KHN column: Individual mandate would impose taxes on low-wage workers

Health IT Roundup: Problems with privacy, access to records highlighted in news reports

Research suggests mail-order pharmacies are associated with better medication adherence

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Healthcare professionals fail to advise patients on their fitness to drive, researchers say

As health reform win seems close, Reid struggling in Nevada re-election bid

Obama signals interest in reducing the protections for biologic drugs

Also in global health news: Anti-gay bill; Bush Institute TV show; funds for HIV programs in Kenya; EU aid commitments

Majority of healthcare professionals fail to advise patients about their fitness to drive

Chamber of Commerce says health fight over -- but sees room to maneuver

Republicans hint at strategy to defeat health bill

Health care fraud is big business

Minnesota County says state plan to cover costs of health care for the needy is unfair

Geisinger CEO wins 2010 TRUST Award

Federal survey shows more than 6.7 million children in the United States have no health insurance

Atlantic examines drug-resistant TB control worldwide

Mass. Senate election could play role in health reform endgame

'Cadillac' tax deal in the works

Republicans decry Dems' deal with labor

Sen. Feingold asks Democratic leaders to remove special deals from health bill

How microRNA is transforming science: From discovery to diagnostics

Advancing benzodiazepine detection

The Surgeon-Scientist Pioneering Regenerative Engineering

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