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New campaign offers information and resources on seasonal and H1N1 flu prevention

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) says “Get the facts, not the flu,” in a new campaign that launches today at azblue.com/Flu. The flu campaign offers its members, employer groups and Arizona residents information and resources on seasonal and H1N1 flu prevention and immunization.

30 Oct 2009

A step-by-step program: Cognitive behavior workbook for weight loss

Three McMaster University experts have developed a successful weight management tool in the form of a workbook which uses cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to achieve lasting weight loss, with the goal being health - physical health, psychological healthy and a healthy relationship with food and the body instead of an obsession with numbers.

30 Oct 2009

NIH launches randomized trail to determine whether lower BP goal cuts the risk of heart and kidney diseases

The National Institutes of Health is launching a large multicenter randomized clinical trial to determine whether maintaining blood pressure levels lower than current recommendations further reduces the risk of cardiovascular and kidney diseases, or age-related cognitive decline.

30 Oct 2009

Pelosi unveils $894 billion House health overhaul bill; expands coverage to 36 million Americans

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday morning unveiled a House health care reform plan that is expected to cost about $894 billion and "provide insurance to up to 36 million people by broadly expanding Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for the poor, and by offering subsidies to moderate-income Americans to buy insurance either from private carriers or a new government-run plan," the The New York Times reports.

29 Oct 2009

UNFPA maternal health conferences wrap up

Two United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) conferences this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, gathered "international policymakers, government ministers, and lawmakers" to address the half a million maternal deaths annually, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports. Although the U.N. "hopes to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015," this Millennium Development Goal target "has seen the least progress in recent years," the news organization writes.

29 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health news: Sudan food aid; Congolese refugees; Ntds in U.S.

David Deng Athorbei, South Sudan's finance minister, "said he was trying to track down hundreds of millions of dollars worth of missing grain deliveries, at the heart of what could be a massive case of mismanagement or corruption," Reuters reports.

29 Oct 2009

Obama administration hits reset button in wake of flu vaccine shortage

Obama administration officials are working to control the H1N1 flu message after shortages have forced many to wait for the swine flu vaccine.

29 Oct 2009

GSK will ensure experimental malaria vaccine is affordable, CEO says

GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty said Wednesday the company would ensure that if an experimental malaria vaccine works, it would be priced reasonably, Reuters reports. "The vaccine, called Mosquirix [or RTS,S] and the first malaria shot to make it to final-stage trials, is creating a buzz ahead of a conference of 1,500 malaria experts in Nairobi next week," writes Reuters.

29 Oct 2009

New reports detail hits taken by Medicaid programs in state budget cuts

State Medicaid and other health programs have fallen under the axe or been moved onto the chopping block this week.

29 Oct 2009

Iowa medical home provides lessons for health care reform

The Associated Press looks at what benefits medical homes may bring to health care by looking at one in Iowa: "A thousand miles from the health care debate in Washington, Dr. Don Klitgaard and his colleagues are carrying out their own reform in a small Iowa community."

29 Oct 2009

Senators who support the public option hope resistant moderates will 'come around'

"Democratic Senators in favor of including a public insurance option in health care reform expect resistant moderates … to come around once they see the details of the final legislation," Roll Call reports. Centrists such as Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., have suggested that they may not support reform with a public option. "Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) said Wednesday that moderates are likely to climb on board once they read the final bill" (Drucker, 10/28).

29 Oct 2009

Insurers brace for increase in COBRA claims

The nation's ailing economy continues to affect insurance companies, which could also face a wave of costly COBRA claims as policyholders rush to get treatment before government subsidies expire.

29 Oct 2009

Shocked by re-emergence of public option, business groups push back

Business leaders who thought they had dodged a bullet when the Senate Finance Committee decided against offering a government-run public option as part of their health bill are pushing back after the plan's re-emergence.

29 Oct 2009

Current, former Mass. Governors agree: Feds should do more than their states' model to address costs

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, and former Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, both say that federal health reform plans should do more to address rising costs than their state's initiative.

29 Oct 2009

Centrist-Liberal Senate rift broader than just public option

Though the question of whether Democratic leaders would include a public option in the Senate's health reform bill has held the spotlight, a variety of other big issues also remain unresolved, The Hill reports.

29 Oct 2009

A look at the public insurance options -- What exists and who would have access under proposed reforms

One news outlet studies the practical meaning of public insurance option by examining some of the approaches that are already in existence. Meanwhile, another examines the number of people who would have access to the public plan. And a former insurance executive takes issue with the industry's current stance.

29 Oct 2009

Lawmakers try to weed out fraud and waste

Lawmakers target Medicare and Medicaid fraud to generate greater savings in health care reform while doctors worry about efforts to cut waste.

29 Oct 2009

China's health care system is also in disarray

The Washington Post reports: "China's health-care system is in disarray, a side effect of the market reforms that have spurred private enterprise and rapid growth since 1980. Before then, state-owned companies offered cradle-to-grave care, part of a system based on danwei, or work units, that provided health, education, pensions and other benefits. But as the economy has grown more diverse, an increasing number of Chinese have had to fend for themselves, with only a porous government insurance program to help."

29 Oct 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

The federal government could treat Indian Country, at least for health programs, as the 51st state. This seems to me a practical application of the nation-to-nation relationship (Mark Trahant, 10/29).

29 Oct 2009

Health bills present formidable challenges to numbers crunchers

The House Democratic leadership is expected to unveil its health-overhaul legislation Thursday, the Associated Press reports. The next step will be for the merged bill - consolidated from three separate committee reports - to go to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate, before lawmakers vote. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid is awaiting the CBO's analysis of his bill, before taking it to the floor (10/29).

29 Oct 2009