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Insurers' stocks bruised by reform efforts despite earnings

Despite strong performance on earnings sheets, stocks for companies like UnitedHealth Group have faltered amid uncertainty about the future shape of American health care, BusinessWeek reports. The flagging stocks don't reflect "the firms' profits, sales, or anything specific to UnitedHealth or its competitors. Rather, it's the health-care reform debate coming out of Washington."

22 Oct 2009

U.S. Congress extends Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, HIV care providers applaud move

Medical providers on the front lines of HIV care applaud the U.S. Congress for extending the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, helping to ensure that more than half a million low-income, uninsured, or underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS have access to lifesaving care.

22 Oct 2009

House lawmakers laud new CBO score of $871 billion, including a public option

A government-run public insurance option is in the House Democrats' health overhaul measure which the Congressional Budget Office has "scored" at $871 billion over 10 years.

22 Oct 2009

White House offer on malpractice finds takers; Obama tells Dems to 'focus'

Since President Obama proposed using $25 million to test new ways to handle malpractice lawsuits, suitors have been lining up, the The Asssociated Press reports. One leading idea is to appoint expert panels to sort fact from fiction in malpractice claims.

22 Oct 2009

Independent panel to rein in health costs gaining support

"As Congress grapples with how to rein in the high cost of healthcare in America, the option of outsourcing hard decisions to a new, independent commission is gaining momentum," the Christian Science Monitor reports.

22 Oct 2009

FAO plans broad reforms for World Food Security committee

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Committee on World Food Security (CFS) agreed Tuesday to "wide-ranging" reforms in an effort to make the committee the most "comprehensive international and intergovernmental platform dealing with food security and nutrition," Xinhua reports (10/20). "The CFS reforms are designed to focus the Committee's vision and role on the global coordination of efforts to eliminate hunger and ensure food security for all," according to an FAO press release (10/20).

22 Oct 2009

Excise tax in Senate health care bill violates Obama's tax pledge

Americans for Tax Reform noted today that the Senate health care bill (S. 1796) indeed uses the term "excise tax" to describe the excise tax levied on Americans who do not purchase health insurance. If signed into law, the tax would break President Barack Obama's "firm pledge" not to raise "any form" of taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year.

22 Oct 2009

Harry Reid faces public option dilemma

The Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid is facing intensifying pressure from liberal lawmakers to revive a proposed government insurance plan before health-care reform legislation reaches the Senate floor, amid signs that moderate Democrats may be warming to the idea." Although the Senate Finance Committee rejected two versions of this mechanism, "the idea has gained momentum in recent weeks as Democrats look to ensure that the policies Americans would be required to buy would be affordable."

22 Oct 2009

Opinion: Fighting world hunger; U.S. leadership on global issues

In a USA Today column, writer DeWayne Wickham examines the connection between hunger and global security. "Helping poor countries feed their hungry masses is not just a grand humanitarian gesture; it is good diplomacy — a refreshing change from the jingoism and dollar diplomacy of previous administrations," he writes.

22 Oct 2009

Funding cuts continue to plague state health programs

State health agencies and Medicaid programs continue to take hits from spending cuts. A new program in Florida may be backfiring against some health workers with criminal records, while a novel health benefits program in Houston hopes to lower the number of uninsured.

22 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Nigeria Global Fund grant; Pakistani refugees; Guinea violence

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria awarded Nigeria a $669 million Round 8 grant for health system strengthening over five years, This Day/allAfrica.com reports. "During the grant signing ceremony in Abuja yesterday, Chairman of the occasion and former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, disclosed that the [The Global Fund] had spent $15.6 billion in 140 countries worldwide especially in Africa to support large scale prevention treatment and care programmes against these diseases.

22 Oct 2009

EU policies threaten developing countries drug supplies, report says

A report, released Tuesday, from Oxfam International and Health Action International says the EU is putting big drug companies' interests ahead of "millions of people" in developing countries who do not have access to essential medicines, Agence France-Presse reports (10/20).

22 Oct 2009

Lake Health opens TriPoint Medical Center in Concord Township

Lake Health, formerly Lake Hospital System, today is celebrating the grand opening of its $155 million TriPoint Medical Center in Concord Township. A state-of-the-art digital hospital, TriPoint Medical Center is redefining the health care experience for patients, families and the community.

22 Oct 2009

CWRU establishes collaborative research center to address common health issues in urban neighborhoods

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine proudly announces the establishment of the CWRU Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods (PRCHN), a collaborative research center to address common health issues faced in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods in and around Greater Cleveland.

22 Oct 2009

Advocates urge action now on Medicare doctor payment bill

Kaiser Health News staff writer Chris Weaver reports on developments surrounding efforts in the Senate regarding legislation on Medicare payments to physicians. "Legislation to 'fix' Medicare's physician payment formula has stalled in the Senate, just days after Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced his intent to fast-track the measure.

22 Oct 2009

Right at Home adds its first Master Franchise in the United Kingdom

Right at Home, Inc., a leading provider of in-home companion and personal care assistance has begun its international expansion with the addition of its first Master Franchise in the United Kingdom, announced Allen Hager, founder and president of Right at Home.

21 Oct 2009

PCPCC summit to discuss the national implications for patient centered medical home

National policy to change the shape of health care will be the center of discussion among the national's advocates of a primary care-based model poised to transform health care delivery. The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) Third Annual Summit will feature a keynote address from Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) concerning the national implications for the patient centered medical home (PCMH), a fundamentally improved model for providing health care.

21 Oct 2009

Health Impact Project to promote the use of health impact assessments

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) today announced the launch of the Health Impact Project, a national initiative designed to promote the use of health impact assessments (HIAs) as a decision-making tool for policymakers.

21 Oct 2009

Explainers and studies on health insurance

The Associated Press examines why the United States is "the only wealthy industrialized nation that does not have universal health coverage.

21 Oct 2009

OR Benchmarks Collaborative names the 2009 Top Performers

Faced with today’s unrelenting financial demands and quality of care challenges, leading hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers are turning to comparative healthcare benchmarks to help them improve operating room (OR) performance. Six of these trailblazers have been recognized by one such service, the OR Benchmarks® Collaborative (ORBC), as 2009 Top Performers that have used ORBC data to achieve significant results.

21 Oct 2009