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Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states.

Novel anti-rejection protocol should allow major improvement efficacy and quality of life after intestinal and multivisceral transplants

Transplant researchers at the University of Pittsburgh's Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute have dramatically improved intestinal transplant graft survival, and reduced rejection and infection rates by successfully using a novel immunosuppression minimization protocol, thus improving patients' overall quality of life and avoiding the use of several anti-rejection drugs, which can cause serious infections and major complications.

13 Dec 2004

Prescription drug cost increases continuing to outpace inflation

A new report released today by AARP found the annual rate of manufacturers' price increases for the 197 brand name prescription drugs most commonly used by older Americans more than tripled the rate of inflation over the 12-month period ending on September 30, 2004.

6 Dec 2004

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance. Half of the estimated 460,000 women and men who need lifesaving antiretroviral drugs are not getting them, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.

29 Nov 2004

Motorcycle-related injuries have been on the rise since 1997

Motorcycle-related injuries and deaths have been on the rise since 1997, and urban teaching hospitals are bearing the brunt of caring for those injured, according to a new nationwide study.

24 Nov 2004

Medicare to reimburse preventive cholesterol screening

As the nation's leading cardiologists gather for the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2004, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has announced the 2005 Physician Fee Schedule, which guarantees access to preventive cholesterol screenings for 39 million Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.

9 Nov 2004

New York redistributes existing flu vaccine supplies

New York State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., has announced the New York State Department of Health has begun distribution of its current supply of flu vaccine to help address the needs of local health departments and children served by a federal vaccination program.

4 Nov 2004

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has announced progress toward expanding the nation's supply of vaccines for flu season

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified about 5 million doses of influenza vaccine from foreign manufacturers; HHS has been able to recoup an additional 300,000 doses of the injectable vaccine originally bought for federal employees and the military; and a major pneumonia vaccine manufacturer plans to triple its production.

29 Oct 2004

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children, as do uninsured or Medicaid-insured children, compared to children covered by private insurance, according to a study in the October 27 issue of JAMA.

28 Oct 2004

Arizona will receive 22,500 additional doses of flu vaccine

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano announced today that Arizona will receive 22,500 additional doses of flu vaccine as early as Wednesday, and will distribute the vaccine to local health departments in the next week.

25 Oct 2004

Call for disclosure of the prices of the most commonly-used prescription drugs over the Internet

In an effort to continue to protect Michigan’s seniors and vulnerable citizens without drug insurance coverage, Attorney General Mike Cox is pushing for disclosure of the prices of the most commonly-used prescription drugs over the Internet to increase consumer awareness and assist buyers with informed choices.

25 Oct 2004

Changes in reimbursement have reduced length of stay for patients receiving inpatient medical rehabilitation

Although medical rehabilitation patients are spending less time as inpatients at facilities, their functional outcomes have not declined. However, the death rate following discharge has increased nearly 4 percent from 1994 to 2001, according to a study in the October 13 issue of JAMA.

12 Oct 2004

Indiana health officials are appealing to health care providers to limit use of this year’s diminished supply of flu vaccine

Indiana State health officials are appealing to health care providers to limit use of this year’s diminished supply of flu vaccine to immunizing people at high risk from complications of influenza.

6 Oct 2004

Women in New York City continue to receive mammograms at much lower levels than those outside the downstate region

Women in New York City continue to receive mammograms at much lower levels than those outside the downstate region, while Kings County (Brooklyn) still has the lowest county-specific mammography rate, according to IPRO's second annual "snapshot" of mammography usage in New York State.

5 Oct 2004

Black and Hispanic patients experience marked delays in heart attack treatment compared with whites

Black and Hispanic patients experience marked delays in heart attack treatment compared with whites, Yale researchers report in an article published in the October 6 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

5 Oct 2004

Home nurse visits after childbirth reduce healthcare costs

Home nurse visits after childbirth reduce healthcare costs and greatly limit the number of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for infants, a Penn State Children's Hospital study suggests.

4 Oct 2004

Black men in the United States are significantly less likely to be screened for prostate cancer

Although black men in the United States are more likely than white men to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and have a two-fold greater risk of dying from it, they are significantly less likely to be screened for prostate cancer

29 Sep 2004

Draft Medicare plan to cover implantable defibrillators

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today proposed to expand coverage of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), a move expected to save thousands of lives a year.

29 Sep 2004

Elderly African American men are less likely to get tested for prostate cancer

Elderly African American men are less likely to get tested for prostate cancer than elderly white men, according to an article in the September 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Sep 2004

One-third to buy cheaper Canadian drugs, 100 million find insurance coverage cut or costlier

Faced with a double-barreled crisis of shrinking health care coverage and fast-rising medical costs, two out of three American adults (67 percent) now think health care coverage should be a “guarantee” as in Canada, Britain and other nations.

16 Sep 2004

HHS enhances Medicare drug card program to help seniors

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced new measures to help seniors get the lowest price possible for their medicines by allowing them -- for the first time -- to compare prices for similar drugs used to treat common diseases such as high cholesterol or blood pressure.

15 Sep 2004