Health News from Medical News Today
Latest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT), the leading international professional society dedicated to research, education and clinical excellence in cardiovascular computed tomography (CT), has named Dr. Raman Dusaj and Dr. Thomas Smith the recipients of the fourth annual Young Investigator Award. The Young Investigator Award was announced at SCCT's 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting in Las Vegas...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced two key steps in the process of partnering with states and other stakeholders to begin establishing health insurance Exchanges. HHS announced the availability of up to $1 million in grants per state to help states begin work to establish Exchanges and published a request for comment calling for public input as HHS develops standards for the Exchanges...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
More than 200 swimmers took to the shores of Lake Michigan for the annual Swim Across America (SAA) fundraiser earlier this month. The event raised money for cancer research, prevention and treatment at Loyola University Health System's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center (CBCC). "Participants challenged themselves in the water and on dry land, as they raised funds for a worthy cause," said Swim Across America Event Director Sue Hopkinson. "This event brought the total funds raised for Loyola through Swim Across America events to approximately 1 million dollars...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) on Wednesday became the fourth Republican senator to announce her support for Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court, the New York Times' "The Caucus" reports. Snowe said Kagan met the standard she uses for evaluating judicial nominations by displaying "strong intellect, respect for the rule of law and [an] understanding of the important but limited role of the Supreme Court that I believe is required of any justice" (Becker, "The Caucus," New York Times, 7/28)...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
In a letter sent on Wednesday, 13 Republican senators asked HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for assurances that the new high-risk insurance pools will not provide coverage for abortion services, CQ HealthBeat reports. The insurance pools set up under the federal health reform law (PL 111-148) aim to provide coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. The issue of abortion coverage in the program emerged earlier this month after reports that some states' proposals to run the pools could allow abortions to be covered...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
The group Alaskans Against Government Mandates -- which opposes a ballot initiative that would require parental notification for state minors seeking abortions -- has reported collecting five times the money disclosed by Alaskans for Parental Rights, which supports the initiative, the AP/Anchorage Daily News reports. The proposed initiative would provide only limited exceptions to the parental notification rule, such as cases in which a girl has been abused by a parent. It also would make it a felony for physicians to "knowingly violate" the rule, according to ballot language...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
United General Practice Australia (UGPA) - the coalition of the peak groups representing Australia 's general practitioners - commends the Government on its investment and focus on general practice nurses, but is calling on the Government to ensure that the Budget proposal does not disadvantage practices that already employ nurses, and to consult with GP representatives over implementation. UGPA members welcomed the Federal Government's 2010-11 Budget initiative to improve access for patients to general practice nurses across Australia through the provision of an additional $390...
30 Jul 2010 at 7:00am
Thirty million women will benefit from the new health reform law over the next decade, either through new or strengthened insurance coverage, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. In the first analysis of its kind, the authors report that the law will stabilize and reverse the growing exposure to health costs that women now experience by subsidizing health insurance for up to 15 million currently uninsured women, and strengthening existing coverage for 14...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
Health insurers have started to back down "on their decision to pull out of the child-only coverage market after the Obama administration addressed their concerns about the potential damage to their bottom lines," The Hill reports. "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday clarified regulations mandating that insurance plans agree to cover sick children. HHS made it clear that plans are free to set up specific enrollment periods for their insurance plans if allowed under state laws. ...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
Forbes: CVS Caremark, the drug retailer and pharmacy benefit management firm, announced a new agreement with Aetna to help constrain drug costs. "The deal encompasses approximately $9.5 billion in annual drug spending relating to approximately 9.7 million lives. CVS expects significant long-term financial benefits from this strategic relationship" (7/28). The Street: The 12-year deal helped mask a weak performance in second quarter earnings for CVS. "CVS Caremark ... missed second-quarter expectations, lowering its outlook. But a massive deal with health insurer Aetna...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
The Wall Street Journal: "Insured Americans are using fewer medical services, raising questions about whether patients are consuming less health care as they pick up a greater share of the costs. The drop in usage is showing up as health-care companies report financial results. Insurers, lab-testing companies, hospitals and doctor-billing concerns say that patient visits, drug prescriptions and procedures were down in the second quarter from year-ago levels. Others say that consumers are beginning to forgo elective procedures like knee replacements. ...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
U.S. News & World Report: Regulators are accusing the Tennessee-based American Trade Association of bilking consumers out of $14 million by selling fake health insurance to 26,000 households in all 50 states. The scams happened "over a span of 16 months, according to court documents. More than a few of those dollars appear to have been spent on personal items such as cars, real estate, and loan payments, says Leslie Newman, Tennessee's insurance commissioner. At least 12 other states have taken action to stop the entities from operating...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
The New York Times: "In an unusual move, a state government is developing regulations meant to stop doctors from prescribing higher doses of powerful - and often dangerous - pain killers for patients who are not benefiting from them. The effort, in Washington State, represents the most sweeping attempt yet to stem what some experts see as the excessive use of prescribed narcotics, and it is being closely watched by medical professionals elsewhere...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
In Haiti, A Lesson For U.S. Health Care The New York Times In February, a month after Haiti's earthquake, I went down to Port-au-Prince as part of a team that was helping to reactivate cardiac care in the city's public hospital. For several months since, I have observed how the earthquake and its aftermath profoundly changed Haiti's health care system. Over that time, I have come to the unorthodox conclusion that Haiti's tragic experience may show us a way to improve health care in the United States (James Wilentz, 7/28)...
30 Jul 2010 at 6:00am
This year "India has reported the lowest number of polio cases in [the] January-June period ... in a decade," PTI/ZeeTV reports. Twenty-four cases were detected between January and June this year, compared to 151 in the corresponding 2009 period, and 317 in January-June 2008 (7/29). According to LiveMint.com, for the first time in "the history of India's fight against polio," the two states that had 97% of polio cases in 2009 - Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP) - have not diagnosed any new cases of Type 1 polio in nearly eight months, according to the article...
