Healthcare News

RSS

Obama seeks health reform support from small businesses

Roll Call: "The White House is aggressively courting the small-business community, believing that some on GOP-friendly Main Street can be enlisted in the fight for health care reform and that assistance to mom-and-pop shops is vital to chipping away at the unemployment rate. ... White House officials were on the phone to the [U.S. Chamber of Commerce] and the GOP-leaning National Federation of Independent Business on Friday asking them to provide a group of small-business owners for Obama to talk with at the White House on Thursday."

28 Oct 2009

WFP to launch 4-month food voucher text message pilot program for Iraqi refugees

The World Food Programme (WFP) Tuesday announced that it is launching a pilot program to send food vouchers via mobile phone text messages to Iraqi refugees in Syria, Agence France-Presse reports (10/27). This program is "the first of its kind in the world to use mobile phone technology," according to a WPF press release (10/27).

28 Oct 2009

Gates Foundation praises U.S. global health investments, calls for 15-year goal of cutting child deaths worldwide by nearly half

As part of a "major push to convince the United States to maintain government spending on worldwide health initiatives, despite the financial crisis and a soaring U.S. budget deficit," the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is urging U.S. policymakers to commit to cutting "the number of child deaths each year, from 9 million to 5 million" by 2025, CNN reports (Evans, 10/28).

28 Oct 2009

AHIP, Chamber of Commerce ramp up opposition to health reform

Insurers and the Chamber of Commerce are stepping up lobbying against a health care overhaul with new television ads.

28 Oct 2009

House leaders seek to unify Dems on public option, unveil bill

House Democratic leaders are planning to unveil their version of the health care overhaul that will include a more tempered public insurance plan in which the federal government would negotiate prices with doctors and hospitals, Roll Call reports.

28 Oct 2009

Nevada case raises question of pharmacies' liability in drug abuse accidents

A Nevada case causes concern for pharmacies about possible liability for actions taken by customers who may abuse drugs. The Wall Street Journal reports on the case of Patricia Copening, who pleaded guilty to reckless driving after her car swerved off a highway and struck and killed a 21-year-old and injured a 33-year-old.

28 Oct 2009

Centrist Democrats are cool to Reid's plan for public option

With his announcement regarding support for the public option, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plans to move health legislation to the Senate floor face big challenges.

28 Oct 2009

Cuomo announces new database to guide insurers' prices, unveil doctors fees

A new database operated by a New York nonprofit will help insurers determine their rates for out-of-network care and give consumers a heads-up on what to expect their policy to pay when they seek such care, the New York Times reports. The program, which will be operated by the new nonprofit FAIR Health with support from Syracuse University and other states universities, was announced Tuesday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose office investigated the insurance industry's existing out-of-network pricing system (Abelson, 10/27).

28 Oct 2009

Newspaper investigates dangerous mix of nursing homes and psychotropic drugs

Illinois nursing home patients often receive psychotropic drugs without cause, which poses various health dangers and even death, the Chicago Tribune reports as part of its Compromised Care series.

28 Oct 2009

WHO identifies five major causes of premature death

Targeting the five major causes of premature death could increase global life expectancy by almost five years, the WHO said Tuesday, Reuters reports. According to a WHO's Global Health Risks report, which looked at 24 major health risks, "[p]oor childhood nutrition, unsafe sex, alcohol, bad sanitation and hygiene, and high blood pressure are to blame for around a quarter of the 60 million premature deaths around the world each year," the news service writes.

28 Oct 2009

Rove, Dean trade one-liners on health reform, Senators offer their take

Former Democratic Party head Howard Dean joined former Bush adviser Karl Rove for a debate on health care reform in Pennsylvania Tuesday night while other Senators are offering their take on the public option's role in a health care overhaul.

28 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Germany HIV/AIDS grant; Sumatra water situation; India's unlicensed doctors; land ownership, food security

The Organisation for the Coordination of the Struggle Against Epidemics in Central Africa (OCEAC) on Tuesday announced that the German government has granted $34 million to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in central Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Oct 2009

States face unpopular cuts in health spending

State governments, especially New York's, are facing budget gaps that officials hope to close with cuts to health spending. But, their constituents are resisting the proposed changes that could result in fewer services.

28 Oct 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

The tax I proposed — and the one most economists favor — would force employees to treat as income the value of health-care benefits they receive from their employer (Fred Hiatt, 10/27).

28 Oct 2009

MMR Information Systems' MMRPro enables digitizing patient records without major makeovers

MMR Information Systems' MMRPro, which enables doctors who do not have an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to digitize and store paper records through a secure Web-based portal, is envisioned as the bridge between fully paper-based medical offices and the adoption of computerized medical records to qualify for stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

28 Oct 2009

Substantial state and regional variation exist in geographic access to burn centers

Although nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population lives within 2 hours by ground or helicopter transport to a verified burn center, there is substantial state and regional variation in geographic access to these centers, according to a study in the October 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Oct 2009

California Center for Advanced Dental Studies to complete 14 hands on programs by end of 2009

By the end of the year, the California Center for Advanced Dental Studies (CCADS) will have completed 14 hands on programs in 2009, making it one of the youngest post-graduate dental education organizations to complete such a feat. This is just CCADS' second year operating under its current model where full scholarships are granted, allowing dentists to attend a comprehensive hands-on program series.

28 Oct 2009

Pay for health care needs tax free: OptumHealth video explains all

OptumHealth Inc., a UnitedHealth Group company, has produced a short video that explains how health savings accounts (HSAs) can help people save and pay for health care needs – tax-free. The video was produced to help people who are making important health care plan decisions during this year’s open enrollment season.

28 Oct 2009

Conference to caution Congress on the ill effects of pending Medicare cuts to be organized

A new national coalition of small long-term care businesses that provide vital services to the nation's skilled nursing facilities, will join with Maine nursing home providers and frontline caregivers for a Capitol Hill press conference to caution against deep Medicare cuts included in current healthcare reform legislation.

28 Oct 2009

Customers in all 353 of Florida Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite locations to receive Health Cards

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. (WINN) today announced that it has partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) to offer its customers Health Cards in all 353 of its Florida Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite locations.

28 Oct 2009

Healthcare News

Obama seeks health reform support from small businesses

WFP to launch 4-month food voucher text message pilot program for Iraqi refugees

Gates Foundation praises U.S. global health investments, calls for 15-year goal of cutting child deaths worldwide by nearly half

AHIP, Chamber of Commerce ramp up opposition to health reform

House leaders seek to unify Dems on public option, unveil bill

Nevada case raises question of pharmacies' liability in drug abuse accidents

Centrist Democrats are cool to Reid's plan for public option

Cuomo announces new database to guide insurers' prices, unveil doctors fees

Newspaper investigates dangerous mix of nursing homes and psychotropic drugs

WHO identifies five major causes of premature death

Rove, Dean trade one-liners on health reform, Senators offer their take

Also in Global Health News: Germany HIV/AIDS grant; Sumatra water situation; India's unlicensed doctors; land ownership, food security

States face unpopular cuts in health spending

Today's opinions and editorials

MMR Information Systems' MMRPro enables digitizing patient records without major makeovers

Substantial state and regional variation exist in geographic access to burn centers

California Center for Advanced Dental Studies to complete 14 hands on programs by end of 2009

Pay for health care needs tax free: OptumHealth video explains all

Conference to caution Congress on the ill effects of pending Medicare cuts to be organized

Customers in all 353 of Florida Winn-Dixie and Save-Rite locations to receive Health Cards

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

Exploring the Future of Neuroscience Drug Discovery

Genomic conservation in Thailand's mangroves

Latest News