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Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was challenged on the health law he signed while governor of Massachusetts, with his rivals pressing its similarities to the 2010 federal overhaul signed by President Barack Obama.
Insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by as much as $3.1 billion in 2010 because the government miscalculated how sick beneficiaries were, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office that was made public by congressional Democrats.
States are grappling with mental health issues including a redesign of a program in Iowa, increased coverage for the mentally ill in California and a first aid pilot program in Pennsylvania.
A single-payer health plan failed by two votes in the California State Senate Thursday.
In this post in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog, guest blogger Christian Lienhardt, senior scientific adviser at the Stop TB Partnership and WHO, "discusses the International Roadmap for Tuberculosis (TB) Research, a framework outlining priority areas for investment in TB research." He writes, "The tools available for TB control are old, lack effectiveness, and are not readily accessible in many settings," adding, "Fortunately there is hope, thanks to notable progress in the development of new tools for TB control over the last decade," such as "the recent introduction of Xpert MTB/RIF -- a DNA-based molecular assay that can diagnose TB and the presence of rifampicin-resistance in 100 minutes" (1/26).
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
In this post on USAID's "IMPACTblog," Christina Lau, USAID health officer for Central Asia, discusses tackling tuberculosis (TB) in migrant populations, writing, "Most migrants are unable to access the health care system because they are undocumented laborers, who lack proper identification documents required for health care treatment, and who fear deportation if their documentation status becomes known." She notes, "USAID is working in coalition with government and international partners in order to improve access to TB services and treatment for this crucial population" (1/26).
IRIN reports that Cote d'Ivoire is abandoning its free health care for all scheme after a period of nine months, noting, "Theft, poor management and rising costs have made the service -- introduced by President Alassane Ouattara's government at the end of civil conflict to ease a dire public health situation -- unaffordable." According to the news service, "As of February, the free service will only be available to mothers and their children," meaning "free care for deliveries and free treatment for diseases affecting children under six years old."
The Associated Press explores the difficulties involved in being a long-distance caregiver for aging parents and how demographic trends fuel these challenges.
This summer, WellPoint, the nation's second largest health insurer, will begin paying more for primary care.
A selection of health care news from Texas, California, New York, Maine, Maryland, Georgia and Virginia.
The American Medical Association opposes implementation of the coding system known as ICD-10, saying it would require physician offices to deal with an estimated 68,000 insurance codes -- five times more than the current 13,000.
Politico reports on the continuing Medicare policy collaboration between Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Paul Ryan, D-Wis.
At yesterday's 'Summit,' officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services advanced the notion that finding new ways to improve quality of care is also the best way to address high health care costs.
Part of the rationale for not addressing the provision in the Republican repeal strategy is to avoid giving the Supreme Court justices a reason not to strike it down.
This week's studies come from the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, the Archives of Internal Medicine, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Avelere Health and the Government Accountability Office.
"Two groundbreaking initiatives, aimed at realistically achieving the once-unthinkable goal of ending new HIV infections among children by the end of 2015, were launched simultaneously at the World Economic Forum's [WEF] Annual Conference in Davos" on Friday, according to a Business Leadership Council press release. "The Business Leadership Council for a Generation Born HIV Free was launched together with a Social Media Syndicate that is designed to reach billions of people around the world ... The Syndicate will evolve to focus on other U.N. Health Millennium Development Goals over the coming months," the press release states (1/27). "The Social Media Syndicate will coordinate the most influential, individual publishers on the Social Web to share messages and actions needed to welcome a 'Generation Born HIV Free' and to achieve all the health-related Millennium Development Goals," according to a press statement from UNAIDS and PEPFAR (1/27).
When sanitation systems are available and used, the odds of contracting one of a group of diseases, known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH), is cut in half, according to a systemic review and meta-analysis published this week in PLoS Medicine, Examiner.com reports (Herriman, 1/25). "One billion of the world's people experience a diminished ability to work, learn, and thrive as a result of infection by these parasites -- roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. The resulting losses in quality of life and productivity can trap people in a cycle of poverty and stigma and diminish their ability to care for themselves and their families," the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog writes.
Speaking at an event organized by the Every Woman Every Child initiative on Thursday, "Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [called on] business leaders attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, to increase their investment in women's education and health to ensure their well-being and encourage their participation in the world economy," the U.N. News Centre reports. "'The business community can help. Your partnership is crucial in preventing unnecessary suffering for women and girls everywhere,' Mr. Ban said, adding that despite recent progress, much remains to be done," the news service notes.
Business and political leaders meeting in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday agreed that the focus on the global financial crisis "won't matter unless people have one basic thing: Enough food to eat," the Associated Press reports. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) "estimates there are at least 925 million undernourished people in the world -- almost one in seven," the AP notes. FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said, "The problem is not the supply side. ... The problem is the access -- they don't have the money to buy it or they don't have the water and land they need if they are subsistence farmers," according to the news service (Heilprin, 1/26).
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