Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

First Edition: November 4, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest on the efforts to address the problems with healthcare.gov, as well as the continuing controversy surrounding President Barack Obama's promise that Americans could keep their health coverage if they liked it juxtaposed with the news of recent policy cancellations.

4 Nov 2013

Thomas Jefferson University's Department of Medicine named Comprehensive Hypertension Center

The Department of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University has been named a Comprehensive Hypertension Center by the American Society of Hypertension (ASH). Jefferson is one of only five in the country to earn top recognition for its advanced diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of complex hypertension and associated disorders.

4 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Policies being canceled were once considered substandard; that insurance 'was working for people'

The weirdest thing about the ongoing conniption about the cancellation of people's health insurance plans -- supposedly as a result of Obamacare -- is the notion that these are plans people liked, even loved. When did that happen? It wasn't so long ago -- months, even weeks -- when the health insurance companies were being roundly cursed for their ruthless mistreatment of individual health plan customers. Constant rate hikes. Cancellations after policyholders got sick. Endless hoops to jump through to file a claim or appeal a rejection (Michael Hiltzik, 10/31).

4 Nov 2013

Professor receives March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for research on maternal-fetal nutrition

A researcher who showed that what a woman consumes during pregnancy may increase her baby's risk of developing a birth defect will receive the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievements in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.

4 Nov 2013

Health law policy issues: Abortion and maternity coverage raising GOP concerns

As if the rollout of the federal health law didn't have enough problems, abortion is back in the spotlight. How the various health plans in the exchanges would or would not pay for abortion was one of the very last issues settled before the bill was passed in 2010. Now abortion's invisibility on the federal HealthCare.gov website has some people pretty upset (Rovner, 11/1).

4 Nov 2013

Firearm injuries in the U.S. cost more than $16 billion in hospital resources

Firearm injuries in the U.S. cost more than $16 billion in hospital resources between 2000 and 2008, according to new research released today at the American Public Health Association's 141st Annual Meeting in Boston.

4 Nov 2013

Polyphor, Roche agree to develop and commercialize antibiotic for bacterial infections

Polyphor Ltd, a privately held pharmaceutical company, and Roche announced today that they have entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement to develop and commercialize Polyphor's investigational macrocycle antibiotic, POL7080, for patients suffering from bacterial infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

4 Nov 2013

Insurers seek to explain the factors behind wave of health plan cancellations

The top trade group for health insurers, among others, is attempting to explain the "why" behind these recent developments.

4 Nov 2013

Research roundup: States struggling with Medicaid expansion "complex issues"

We conducted a secondary analysis of data (2005 to 2010) from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. ... Comparisons were made between 2 groups to reflect likely movements in insurance status after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act implementation: (1) the uninsured who will be Medicaid eligible afterward versus Medicaid insured, and (2) the uninsured who will be Medicaid ineligible afterward versus the privately insured. ...

4 Nov 2013

As Healthcare.gov falters, navigators and marketing efforts forced to the sidelines

Navigators, who had planned to be working hard on online enrollments by now, are forced to try paper insurance applications or trying to answer consumers' questions about why they can't enroll. At the same time, a marketing blitz planned by health law advocates is on hold until the website works better.

4 Nov 2013

Romney says Obama's 'fundamental dishonesty' is undermining second term

Former GOP presidential candidate says Obama did not learn the lessons of the Massachusetts' health overhaul.

4 Nov 2013

A central health law question: Who is getting covered? Who is getting canceled?

The Associated Press reports that some of the newly insured will now become the faces of healthcare.gov, while The New York Times tells three stories about people who won't be able to keep their coverage.

4 Nov 2013

Stop L.A. Corruption: A new awareness campaign that highlights failures of LA County

Health and public policy advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will unveil 'Stop L.A. Corruption,' a new advocacy and awareness campaign highlighting the profound failures of Los Angeles County and its key elected and appointed officials in carrying out their sworn duties to serve and protect the nearly 10 million residents of the County.

4 Nov 2013

Most uninsured signing up on health website are going to Medicaid

The Washington Post reports that nine out of 10 new enrollees are in Medicaid. Meanwhile, White House documents turned over to investigators in the House show only six people enrolled on the day the troubled website launched.

4 Nov 2013

Healthcare-associated infections are less likely to occur in favorable critical care work environments

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are less likely to occur in favorable critical care work environments, according to a study of more than 3,200 nurses in the November issue of American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC).

4 Nov 2013

Heart failure patients may benefit from advanced treatment by heart specialists

New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that patients with heart failure have high mortality and often are undertreated. According to a study, published in the scientific periodical JACC, many more of these patients would benefit from advanced treatment by heart specialists - something that could be decided by a simple evaluation of five common risk factors for early death due to heart failure.

4 Nov 2013

Details emerge about key fixers in 'tech surge' to address website issues

News outlets report that the administration's so-called "tech surge" has been somewhat mysterious, but it's becoming clear that the administration has enlisted engineers from a number of major companies.

4 Nov 2013

Appeals court rules against health law's contraception rule

News outlets covered the blow to the Obama administration's requirement that insurance policies include free coverage for women's birth control.

4 Nov 2013

New IRS rule gives consumers a break on FSA accounts

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service will allow Flexible Spending Account holders to carry over as much as $500 from one year to the next without a penalty.

3 Nov 2013

COMS OPAL Award program recognizes top performers on a national basis

COMS Interactive, also known as Clinical Outcomes Management Systems, has launched the Outcomes Performance Achievement Leader (OPAL) Award program. The program is an extension of the company's focus on improving health care and clinical outcomes in the long-term care marketplace by leveraging Daylight IQ™, the COMS' flagship Disease Management Product Suite.

31 Oct 2013