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Public plan - or something like it - still on the table in health reform debate

Some news outlets looked beyond the Senate Finance Committee vote on health reform to what may be in the final package considered by the full Senate.

12 Oct 2009

New law lets injured or ill college students keep parents' health insurance

A new federal law took effect Friday, allowing seriously ill or injured college students to keep their parents' insurance for up to a year while they take time off from school.

12 Oct 2009

CBO: Medical malpractice reform would save $54 billion over 10 years

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that reforming some aspects of medical malpractice law would reduce the federal deficit by $54 billion over a decade.

12 Oct 2009

Critical moments ahead for health reform legislation

News outlets looked ahead as the President and Capitol Hill lawmakers prepare for Tuesday's vote in the Senate Finance Committee on health overhaul legislation.

12 Oct 2009

Dems get boost from another Republican supporting health reform

Former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Thomas Scully is the latest Republican to throw his support behind health care reform.

12 Oct 2009

Streamwood Behavioral Hospital implements initiatives to improve patient services

Using the findings and research generated by three professional operations surveys, the leadership of Streamwood Behavioral Hospital announced today they will initiate improvements to bring its patient service programs to a "gold standard" of care.

12 Oct 2009

Study shows acute care surgery service can provide efficient emergency care

A new study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that the establishment of an acute care surgery service can help surgeons at academic medical centers provide more timely care to the growing number of patients who are transferred from the emergency room or smaller hospitals and who require an immediate operation.

12 Oct 2009

News media examine health reform roles of Snowe, Voinovich, Gregg

Newspapers focus on a few of the major players in health care reform: Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine; George Voinovich, R-Ohio; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; and Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

9 Oct 2009

Nursing homes and adult care centers deal with mental health issues

Families with mentally ill members have "mixed feelings" about a New York court decision on adult homes. Meanwhile, Illinois officials admit to errors in mixing mentally ill criminals with seniors in nursing homes.

9 Oct 2009

Haiti, Dominican Republic leaders aim to eradicate malaria, lymphatic filariasis by 2020, funding unclear

Leaders from Haiti and the Dominican Republic "agreed Thursday to cooperate in a campaign aimed at eradicating the last vestiges of malaria from the islands of the Caribbean by 2020," but funding sources for the estimated $250 million effort are "uncertain," the Associated Press reports.

9 Oct 2009

House Dems seek health bill support from liberals, women, and even Republicans

House Democrats are enjoying a feeling of momentum on health care, despite divisions within their own party, and rigid partisan battle lines. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told The Hill, "I'm encouraged that we're as far along as we have come and I think we're going to make it." Another senior lawmaker said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "has held dozens of meetings to assuage the concerns of liberal and centrist Democratic colleagues" (Bolton and Young, 10/8).

9 Oct 2009

Caring for Alzheimer's patients proves costly

Newsday reports that the high cost of caring for Alzheimer's patients "can easily deplete even the deepest bank account. Because the disease lasts so long - anywhere from two to 20 years, depending on the stage at diagnosis - and because the type of care needed often falls beyond the scope of government health care programs, families find themselves scrambling to find the money needed to maintain care for their loved one."

9 Oct 2009

Clinical trial reveals cholera vaccine is safe, offers protection for up to 2 years

A clinical trial of an Indian-made "modified killed-whole-cell" oral cholera vaccine "that meets WHO standards" has found that the vaccine is safe and effective in children living in parts of India where the disease is endemic, Reuters reports. The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Lancet, hope to soon introduce the vaccine into other cholera endemic settings.

9 Oct 2009

Lawmakers renew demands for public option in health bill

Senate and House Democrats are renewing their calls for a strong government-run public option in their respective chambers.

9 Oct 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet comment examines an Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) program to help countries procure subsidized artemisinin-based combination treatments (ACTs).

9 Oct 2009

The 'Turbocharged' health IT industry

Allscripts, the Chicago-based electronic medical records company, has more than doubled its profits since last year, Forbes reports in a special report. Its stock doubled, too, and it attracted nearly 50 percent more business. It's been a "sweet year" for Glen Tullman, the company's chief. That's due in part to a $19 billion infusion into the health information technology industry from the federal stimulus package.

9 Oct 2009

PFCD releases the updated comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform bill

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released an updated comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform legislation to reflect the amended Senate Finance Committee proposal. The amended "Chairman's Mark" includes numerous provisions to prevent and manage chronic disease, the top cost driver in health care, as do the two other major pieces of health reform legislation under consideration in Congress.

9 Oct 2009

Scidev.Net examines African Network for Drugs and Diagnosis Innovation

SciDev.Net examines a recent conference in Cape Town, South Africa, where almost "300 researchers and health policymakers from across the continent" came together and approved a 2010-2015 business plan for the the African Network for Drugs and Diagnosis Innovation (ANDI).

9 Oct 2009

Senate Finance Committee plans Tuesday vote as lawmakers crunch numbers

The New York Times reports Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that the Finance Committee will vote on a proposed health care reform bill.

9 Oct 2009

VOA News examines U.S. global health funding

VOA News examines how the recession will be a factor in U.S. funding decisions about PEPFAR and other global health initiatives. According to VOA, the Obama administration's proposed funding for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in 2010 is "higher than the current fiscal year. However, the proposed increase is lower than in some years past."

9 Oct 2009