Medical News

RSS

Key Senate panel struggles to reach consensus

"The Senate Finance Committee, which is seeking a bipartisan compromise, has failed to reach an agreement" on health care reform, Bloomberg reports, "even as two House committees and a Senate panel cleared their versions of the legislation with only Democratic approval."

20 Jul 2009

House face-off looms over sweeping health bill

House Democrats, who last week touted their health overhaul bill after it passed two of three committees have fight on their hands this week.

20 Jul 2009

Obama readies stronger hand on health reform, plans meetings with players

The next two weeks of a health reform fight may prove pivotal for President Barack Obama's image and his ability to use his popularity to get things done, The Washington Post reports.

20 Jul 2009

Taking positions: Some docs, businesses cheer while others oppose effort

As advocacy groups with a stake in health reform take positions in the health reform debate, their battle lines don't necessarily observe the boundaries of a given sector, industry or professional affiliation. "Business is far from unified in its lobbying efforts for health-care reform," McClatchy/Chicago Tribune reports. "The disparity dilutes its power and may contribute to a plan no faction wants -- or no plan at all."

20 Jul 2009

Obama administration silent on San Francisco health insurance ordinance

"As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider a restaurant group's challenge to San Francisco's health coverage ordinance, one voice is noticeably silent: the Obama administration's," The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

20 Jul 2009

Insurers join public debate with new ad campaign

The insurance industry so far has "stayed at the bargaining table and held its fire in the ad wars," but "now, the industry is speaking up, not with an attack but with a seven-figure, national cable TV ad buy starting Monday in favor of affordable bipartisan health reform that can cover everyone," Politico reports.

20 Jul 2009

Small businesses, doctors voice concerns about health reform

"Small business is suddenly playing a big role in negotiations over health care," NPR reports. "Supporters and opponents of various plans to overhaul the system are all trying to paint themselves as champions of mom and pop entrepreneurs."

20 Jul 2009

One doctor's view: Electronic medical records work well

In an essay in the Los Angeles Times, Rahul Parikh writes about his own experience at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Northern California where they implemented an electronic medical record system in 2006.

20 Jul 2009

Advocates push to end Medicare's two year wait for disabled

There are 1.8 million disabled Americans who wait two-years to enroll in Medicare. Many say that waiting period can be devastating.

20 Jul 2009

Americans living with no insurance, or less insurance, during recession

Decisions about forgoing care because of the cost for the long-term uninsured have been a way of life, "but for a sizable group, being without a job and insurance is a new, deeply distressing condition," The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

20 Jul 2009

California budget could force seniors to nursing homes, drive up costs

NPR reports that California's $26.3 billion budget deficit is marginalizing seniors who rely on California state-provided health care and service to help them manage their lives.

20 Jul 2009

Efforts to 'fix' Medicare payments at center of reform

The Wall Street Journal reports: "A plan to end a program that would cut government payments to doctors is emerging as the flash point in the debate over whether President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul the health system would increase the federal budget deficit.

20 Jul 2009

Health overhaul issues fill the Sunday talk shows

The Associated Press reports: "President Barack Obama's advisers are urging critics of their health care overhaul to wait for Congress to finish writing legislation before issuing verdicts. They also signaled they are willing to wait longer than their White House-imposed August deadline for action if it means they can sway wary lawmakers.

20 Jul 2009

Governors question Medicaid expansion while some states do more with CHIP

The New York Times reports that "The nation's governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern Sunday about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them.

20 Jul 2009

Babies and toddlers have double the risk of head injuries

Australian researchers have revealed that babies and toddlers have double the risk of head injuries than children of any other age and they have called for parents to exercise more vigilance.

20 Jul 2009

Help is on the way for shy, anxious drinkers

In life today alcohol plays an enormous part in many people's social activities and is often an essential part of a night out with friends.

20 Jul 2009

Clinton says U.S. will work with India to address health challenges, hunger

The U.S. will work to address the health challenges facing India among other countries and will aim to improve maternal and child health care services through comprehensive dialogue, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday after visiting a Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) trade outlet in Mumbai, India, PTI/Yahoo! News reports.

20 Jul 2009

South Africa launches HIV/AIDS vaccine trial

"The first clinical trial of an HIV/AIDS vaccine designed and developed in South Africa was launched in Cape Town" Monday, the SAPA/The Times reports.

20 Jul 2009

MSM HIV infection rates in some African countries significantly higher than general population rates, study says

HIV infection rates among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in "some African countries are 10 times that of the general male population, and stigma, poor access to treatment or testing are to blame," according to a Lancet study published online on Monday, AFP/China Post reports.

20 Jul 2009

IAS Conference begins, report says economic crisis forcing Africans living with HIV/AIDS off life-saving medications

At a news conference opening the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention on Sunday in Cape Town, South Africa, Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, expressed disappointment that the "G8 ignored the HIV-AIDS issue at its annual summit this month," which was "just four years after pledging at the 2005 Gleneagles [G8] summit to fight for universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010," the Globe and Mail reports.

20 Jul 2009