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Various State Legislatures consider insurance exchanges, HMO audits, mental health care

A selection of health policy news from Iowa, Oregon, California, Oregon, Maryland, Connecticut, Kansas and Texas.

14 Mar 2012

The two sides of pain

"Pain is both a curse and a blessing", says Jürgen Sandkühler, Head of the Department of Neurophysiology at the Centre for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna ahead of the international "Brain Awareness Week", being held from the 12th to the 16th of March. On the one hand, pain has an important protective function for humans.

14 Mar 2012

Misconception that syphilis has 'disappeared' presents major impediment to preventing infant deaths

In this Globe and Mail opinion piece, columnist Andre Picard examines the efforts of a new group, the Global Congenital Syphilis Partnership -- which includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Save The Children, the CDC, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and the WHO -- to "make screening for syphilis a routine part of pregnancy care with the goal of eliminating congenital syphilis."

14 Mar 2012

GOP fissures likely to emerge with efforts to revamp budget deal, Medicare

House Republicans appear divided over whether to push for deeper spending cuts in the 2013 budget plan than those agreed upon during last year's debt ceiling deal. Democrats and Republicans are also preparing for a Medicare fight. Meanwhile, some GOP senators have requested a hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss revised cost estimates for the health law.

14 Mar 2012

Over 125,000 NYU Langone patients now use new biometric identification system

Launched just nine months ago, more than 125,000 patients at NYU Langone Medical Center are now using PatientSecure, a cutting-edge biometric identification system.

13 Mar 2012

Recent studies aim to find better treatment for children with speech problems

Recent studies by a UT Dallas researcher aim at finding better ways to diagnose young children with language impairments.

13 Mar 2012

Two scientists receive The Brain Prize 2012 for pioneering work on hearing and deafness

The Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation announced today that The Brain Prize 2012 is jointly awarded to Christine Petit and Karen Steel.

12 Mar 2012

New drug approval pathway to encourage development of critically needed, lifesaving antibiotics

Congress will consider a new drug approval pathway to encourage development of critically needed, lifesaving antibiotics as part of a strategy to address the public health crisis of antibiotic resistance. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) proposed the new pathway, the "Special Population Limited Medical Use (SPLMU)" mechanism, to provide an important new approval option for companies interested in developing drugs to treat patients with serious infections where few or no treatment options exist.

10 Mar 2012

Kansas considers Medicaid changes; California advocates worry about their own overhaul

The Kansas legislature is considering changes to the state's Medicaid program including exempting long-term care services from some planned reforms.

10 Mar 2012

IPAB repeal progresses in the House

On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation that would eliminate the health law's Independent Payment Advisory Board. The bill could be considered by the full House as early as the week of March 19, and it could attract some Democratic support.

10 Mar 2012

Concerns about aging in good health

Do men harbour concerns about aging in good health? Do they confide these concerns to their physicians? Are men's concerns the same as women's? The answers to these questions can be found in a large cross-sectional survey of 2325 Canadian men, aged 55 to 97 years old, led by Dr. Cara Tannenbaum, Geriatrician and the Michel Saucier Endowed Chair in Geriatric Pharmacology, Health and Aging at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM) which is affiliated with the Université de Montréal.

10 Mar 2012

Longer looks: Santorum's pro-government record; Electronic health records and lawsuits

If elected president, Santorum vows, he will end the "tyranny" of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Yet as an up-and-coming congressman in the early 1990s, Santorum took a much different line. Then-;like now-;health care was one of the nation's most divisive issues. In 1993, Republicans were up in arms about a health care reform bill spearheaded by Hillary Clinton and pushed by President Bill Clinton.

9 Mar 2012

State legislatures take on ultrasound mandate costs, employee health plans, Medicaid reform, malpractice

Democrats in the state Senate have sent Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell a list of conditions they want addressed before allowing a new state budget necessary to fund state services and operations to pass. … They want the state to pay for the ultrasound exams now mandated for women seeking abortions under a bill McDonnell signed Wednesday. ... And they want Medicaid eligibility restored for about 4,500 nursing home residents.

9 Mar 2012

Biologists identify how and where the brain processes FM sweeps

In both animals and humans, vocal signals used for communication contain a wide array of different sounds that are determined by the vibrational frequencies of vocal cords. For example, the pitch of someone's voice, and how it changes as they are speaking, depends on a complex series of varying frequencies. Knowing how the brain sorts out these different frequencies-which are called frequency-modulated (FM) sweeps-is believed to be essential to understanding many hearing-related behaviors, like speech.

9 Mar 2012

Doctor associated with MMR vaccine and autism link wins High Court appeal

Professor John Walker-Smith had been found guilty of professional misconduct following claims he took part in unapproved research that suggested links between the vaccine, bowel disease and autism. Professor Walker-Smith lost his license to practice in May 2010 along with Dr Andrew Wakefield, who led the research. A General Medical Council’s ‘fitness to practice’ panel found both men guilty of misconduct over the way the work was conducted after 217 days of deliberation – the longest disciplinary case in the body’s 150- year history.

8 Mar 2012

Deafness penetrates more rapidly and deeply into the brain than previously thought

Portions of a songbird's brain that control how it sings have been shown to decay within 24 hours of the animal losing its hearing.

8 Mar 2012

Roundup: Calif. county mum on probe of Medicaid managed care firm; Suit alleges substandard care for Ariz. prisoners

A Ventura County commission is trying to keep secret the details of a state-ordered investigation into the management and claims procedures of a healthcare plan designed to serve the county's neediest residents. Complaints about alleged late payments and poor management prompted the Department of Health Care Services to request that auditors step in and examine the plan's financial condition and claims practices. Gold Coast Health Plan was launched last year to switch an estimated 110,000 Ventura County Medi-Cal beneficiaries into an HMO-style healthcare plan.

8 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 7, 2012

Reporting for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with The Washington Post, Susan Jaffe writes: "In the latest effort to enlist seniors in the fight against Medicare fraud, federal officials have overhauled Medicare billing statements to make it easier to find bogus charges without a magnifying glass."

7 Mar 2012

Despite controversy, report says young Catholic women support birth control use

According to the report by the Guttmacher Institute, these women perceive the recent debate surrounding contraception coverage as a political one. Meanwhile, analysis continues about Rush Limbaugh's comments on the subject.

7 Mar 2012

Obama birth control rule draws calls for action in House of Representatives

CQ HealthBeat reports that at least one House lawmaker is pushing to move a bill that is considered the companion to the Blunt amendment, which would have expanded exemptions to the Obama administration rule and was defeated late last week by the full Senate.

6 Mar 2012

Hearing News and Research

Various State Legislatures consider insurance exchanges, HMO audits, mental health care

The two sides of pain

Misconception that syphilis has 'disappeared' presents major impediment to preventing infant deaths

GOP fissures likely to emerge with efforts to revamp budget deal, Medicare

Over 125,000 NYU Langone patients now use new biometric identification system

Recent studies aim to find better treatment for children with speech problems

Two scientists receive The Brain Prize 2012 for pioneering work on hearing and deafness

New drug approval pathway to encourage development of critically needed, lifesaving antibiotics

Kansas considers Medicaid changes; California advocates worry about their own overhaul

IPAB repeal progresses in the House

Concerns about aging in good health

Longer looks: Santorum's pro-government record; Electronic health records and lawsuits

State legislatures take on ultrasound mandate costs, employee health plans, Medicaid reform, malpractice

Biologists identify how and where the brain processes FM sweeps

Doctor associated with MMR vaccine and autism link wins High Court appeal

Deafness penetrates more rapidly and deeply into the brain than previously thought

Roundup: Calif. county mum on probe of Medicaid managed care firm; Suit alleges substandard care for Ariz. prisoners

First Edition: March 7, 2012

Despite controversy, report says young Catholic women support birth control use

Obama birth control rule draws calls for action in House of Representatives

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