Health News E-Clips

An electronic healthcare news link service provided by UHA,

Utah Hospitals and Health Systems Association

 

 

 

Friday, May 15, 2009

 

Utah Healthcare Headlines

Utahns may now be treated for STDs without seeing a doctor (Salt Lake Tribune, May 13, 2009) It is now easier to get your partner treated for the sexually transmitted disease you gave him -- or that he gave you.

 

Utah has 72 confirmed H1N1 swine flu cases (Salt Lake Tribune, May 13, 2009) There are now 72 confirmed cases of the H1N1 swine flu in Utah, up five from Monday, according to the Utah Department of Health.

 

Health care (Editorial, Salt Lake Tribune, May 13, 2009) The prospect of national health-care reform has focused the public relations machine of the medical-industrial complex to a wondrous degree.

 

Fixing healthcare complex, costly (Davis County Clipper, May 13, 2009) Complex relationships, resource consumption and utilization verses payments make fixing the current healthcare situation not so simple. According to Rand Kerr, current CEO of Lakeview Hospital, the Obama administration has a problem on its hands as far as the healthcare system is concerned.

 

Matheson bill to fight 'superbugs' (Deseret News, May 15, 2009) Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, reintroduced Wednesday a bill designed to organize a national fight against antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," such as new strains of staph.

 

Health insurance (Opinion, Salt Lake Tribune, May 15, 2009) My husband I have been self-paying members in an Intermountain Healthcare plan for several years.

 

Barton named chief medical officer (Midvale Journal, May 15, 2009) Scott Barton, M.D., has been named chief medical officer of Molina Healthcare of Utah’s health plan.

 

CHIPped Away (City Weekly, May 14, 2009) Children’s health advocates have been overjoyed to hear of the overhaul of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a reauthorization to the federal/state 80/20 partnership allowing greater coverage for low-income children with mental-health issues as well as children of legal immigrants.

 

Lawsuit attacks patenting of human genes (Salt Lake Tribune, May 14, 2009) A lawsuit naming the University of Utah and a Salt Lake City company has launched a major assault on the U.S. government's grants of patents for human genes, arguing the practice denies women with breast and ovarian cancer the benefit of new tests and possible treatments.

 

Utah study links atrial fibrillation to Alzheimer's (Salt Lake Tribune, May 15, 2009) Utah researchers have found a link between a common form of heart disorder and the most common type of dementia, raising questions about the possibility that treating the heart could prevent Alzheimer’s.

 

 

 

 

 

National Healthcare Headlines

Health Care Leaders Say Obama Overstated Their Promise to Control Costs (Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2009) Hospitals and insurance companies said Thursday that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise earlier this week to reduce the growth of health spending. (Registration required)

 

Obama Calls for Urgency in Passing Health-Care Bill (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) President Barack Obama pressed lawmakers to send him a health-care bill before the end of the year, saying overhaul is needed to bolster the federal budget and make care more affordable for consumers and businesses.

 

Democrats to Develop Plan to Sell Health Care (New York Times, May 14, 2009) Alarmed at Republican attacks on President Obama’s health care proposals, Senate Democrats huddled Wednesday with White House officials to formulate a response. (Registration required)

 

A Long Battle Ahead For Health-Care Czar (Washington Post, May 14, 2009) Nancy-Ann DeParle was dubious. She had not even settled into her job as White House health czar when the nation's big insurance companies made her an offer. (Registration required)

 

Health Costs Are the Real Deficit Threat  (Opinion, Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2009) This week confirmed two important facts -- that health-care costs are the key to our fiscal future, and that even doctors and hospitals agree that substantial efficiency improvements are possible in how medicine is practiced.

 

Drug Makers' Lobbying Bets Rise National Health-Care Debate Spurs 36% Increase in Industry Spending (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) The drug industry, already the biggest-spending lobby in Washington, is placing an even bigger bet on the influence game.

 

Obama Taps NYC Health Commissioner to Head CDC (Washington Post, May 15, 2009) New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, known for his aggressive and sometimes controversial efforts to limit smoking and consumption of trans fats in the nation's largest metropolis, has been chosen by President Obama to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House said this morning. (Registration required)

 

Social Security and Medicare face shortfalls (Salt Lake Tribune, May 13, 2009) The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives.

 

Health Care, a Lesson in Pain (New York Times, May 13, 2009) The events of the last few weeks have raised the odds that a health care overhaul will really happen this year. (Registration required)

 

Staff Shortages in Labs May Put Patients at Risk (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) The swine-flu outbreak has focused a spotlight on a looming risk for hospitals and their patients: a shortage of technicians to run critical lab tests.

 

Lilly CEO: Industry Against Public Health Insurance Plan (Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2009) Chief Executive John Lechleiter on Thursday reiterated the pharmaceutical industry's opposition to a public health care plan but gave few details about proposals pharmaceutical companies are willing to bring to the table.

 

Idea on Hill: Taxing Health Benefits (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) The idea of taxing employee health-care benefits to raise money for an overhaul of the health system is gaining strength in Congress, although it drew criticism from Barack Obama when he was campaigning for president.

  • Senators weigh tax hikes to pay for health care (Washington Post, May 13, 2009) Senators are considering limiting _ but not eliminating _ the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits to help pay for President Barack Obama's plan to provide coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans.
  • Senate Panel Debates Cap On Tax Exclusion For Health Care (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) The issue of whether and how to tax health insurance benefits drew a strong reaction Tuesday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, with divisions on the issue beginning to emerge along state lines.
  • Should Health Benefits Be Taxed? (Economix, New York Times, May 15, 2009) There are many third rails in the politics of health reform, but probably none with quite the high voltage of one proposal: the idea of taxing part, or all, of the health-insurance premiums paid by employers on behalf of their employees.

 

Reminders on Health Reform (New York Times, May 13, 2009) Lawmakers who were paying attention got two powerful reminders this week of the critical need for them to pass the strongest possible reforms to bring down health costs and cover the unconscionable number of Americans — more than 45 million — who remain uninsured. (Registration required)

 

Obama says single-payer health care not practical (Washington Post, May 14, 2009) President Barack Obama says if he were building the health care system from scratch, a single-payer system would be the best approach. But he says his goal is to improve the current system. (Registration required)

 

Health insurance from Uncle Sam gets a look (Daily Herald, May 15, 2009) Look out Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare. Senators are meeting behind closed doors to consider whether the federal government should jump into the health insurance business. Also found at Salt Lake Tribune, May 15, 2009.

 

What's Elevated, Health-Care Provider? (Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2009) The indecipherable language of government has actually become dangerous to the well-being of the nation. As the federal government claims ever greater powers, its language has become vague to the point of meaningless and meaningless to the point of menacing.

 

Losing Control (Opinion, Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2009) With all the talk of swine flu, universal health insurance and computerizing medical records, you'd think epidemics and inadequate medical care were the major threats to public health in this country. But an important new study on preventable deaths will quickly disabuse you of that notion. Read the report and you'll likely conclude that the biggest premature killer of Americans is . . . Americans.

 

Proposal would require all to have health coverage (Daily Herald, May 14, 2009) House Democrats are crafting a plan that would require all Americans to carry health insurance and would help families making less than $88,000 pay the premiums. Employers, too, would have to help foot the bill. Also found in Deseret News, May 14, 2009)

  • Senators Open to Compromise on Healthcare Revamp (New York Times, May 15, 2009) Senators leading the debate on revamping the U.S. healthcare system held out hope on Thursday of bipartisan compromise on even the most contentious issue of broadening the government role in providing medical coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. (Registration required)

 

Health pioneer may get Obama post (Boston Globe, May 15, 2009) Dr. Paul Farmer, the global health crusader who has crafted lifesaving projects from Haiti to Rwanda, has told colleagues privately that he is mulling a possible appointment by the Obama administration to coordinate the United States' growing overseas health initiatives. (Registration required)

 

Senate's health cuts stir outrage (Boston Globe, May 15, 2009) The state Senate's plan to cut 28,000 legal immigrant residents from Commonwealth Care coverage, the crown jewel of the state's 2006 health insurance overhaul, is discriminatory and shortsighted, advocates for the immigrant community say. (Registration required)

 

In patients' hunt for care, doctor database 'a place to start' (USA Today, May 15, 2009) Unless you've had heart trouble in Schenectady, N.Y., you've probably never heard of cardiologist Steven Weitz. But he has made a difference in this leafy town of 60,000 on the Mohawk River.

 

Cheerios' Health Claims Break Rules, FDA Says (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) The Food and Drug Administration slapped General Mills Inc. with a warning over its Cheerios cereal, saying the box's claims about heart benefits contain "serious violations" of federal law.

 

Colon Scans Not Covered (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) In a final decision released Tuesday afternoon, the federal agency that runs Medicare said that it would not provide any payments for so-called "virtual" colonoscopies.

 

New Test Aids Prognosis for Colon-Cancer Patients (Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2009) A California company has developed a genetic test that can predict whether patients treated for early-stage colon cancer are likely to suffer a recurrence of the disease, the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

 

Cancer Patients Challenge the Patenting of a Gene (New York Times, May 13, 2009) When Genae Girard received a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2006, she knew she would be facing medical challenges and high expenses. But she did not expect to run into patent problems. (Registration required)

 

Base Slayings Spur Probe of Mental Health Care (Washington Post, May 13, 2009) The U.S. military said Tuesday that it is launching a probe to identify shortcomings in mental health treatment for troops deployed in war zones, after a soldier allegedly killed five fellow service members at a base clinic in Baghdad on Monday. (Registration required)

Flu Treatment Urged for Pregnant Women (Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2009) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that pregnant women with flu-like symptoms should be treated with antiviral drugs Tamiflu or Relenza to guard against serious complications of H1N1 influenza.

 

Study links formaldehyde to more common cancers (USA Today, May 13, 2009) New research raises additional concerns about the harmful effects of formaldehyde, a common chemical found in everything from plywood to nail polish, car exhaust and cigarette smoke.

 

USA in middle of world trend of births to unmarried women (USA Today, May 13, 2009) The percentage of births to unmarried mothers is increasing worldwide, according to a new federal report that shows a universal upward trend over the last 25 years.

 

Switched at Birth, Women Find New Identity (New York Times, May 14, 2009) They are calling themselves “twisters.” After all, the standard terms of family and relationships seem insufficient to describe the recently discovered connection between Kay Rene Qualls and DeeAnn Shafer. (Registration required)

 

What a Little Vitamin A Could Do(Op-Ed, New York Times, May 15, 2009) I’m bouncing across West Africa in the back of a Land Cruiser with the winner of my “win-a-trip” contest, Paul Bowers, a student at the University of South Carolina, talking about wonky ways to tackle global poverty — such as vitamin A capsules. (Registration required)

 

Buying Health Insurance Begins With Homework (New York Times, May 15, 2009) Oh, the glory of being your own boss: the freedom, the creativity, the jeans-only dress code. And then there’s the dreary stuff — like finding and paying for your own health insurance. (Registration required)

 

Free Lipitor, Viagra, other drugs for jobless (Salt Lake Tribune, May 15, 2009) Pfizer Inc. says it will provide 70 of its most widely prescribed prescription drugs -- including Lipitor and Viagra -- for free to people who have lost their jobs and health insurance. Also found at KSL.com, Daily Herald and New York Times.

  • Jobless can get free medicines (Boston Globe, May 15, 2009) The recession might be a little less painful for some Americans who won't lose their prescription medications if they lose their jobs. (Registration required)