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Integrating palliative care for dementia into primary care

Greg A. Sachs, M.D., has received an award from the National Palliative Care Research Center to conduct a study aimed at improving quality of life and decreasing suffering for older adults and their family caregivers. The award is one of only two pilot project support grants funded by NPCRC in 2008.

14 Jul 2008

New framework for social marketing and public health in UK

A new framework for action on social marketing and public health was published today by the UK's Department of Health. Ambitions for Health sets out how we will use evidence of what motivates people to help them lead healthier lives through targeted action. This builds on the success of programmes like Health Trainers, which provides one-to-one support to help individuals tackle health issues.

10 Jul 2008

Medical students say bullying in the profession must stop

The Australian Medical Students Association's (AMSA) says that suicide rates for medical students are significantly higher than the average rate for students and has called for an end to bullying in the profession.

10 Jul 2008

Get rid of the market in health care, says Dr Hamish Meldrum

A call to get rid of the damaging market in healthcare once and for all came today from BMA Chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum in his keynote speech opening the British Medical Association's annual conference held this year in Edinburgh.

7 Jul 2008

UNISON raises concerns over individual budgets

UNISON has raised concerns over government proposals to test individual budgets in primary and community care.

6 Jul 2008

UnitedHealth Group announces lower profit outlook

UnitedHealth Group on Wednesday lowered its earnings guidance because of reduced commercial businesses and higher-than-expected Medicare-related costs and said it would restructure the company with a greater focus on regional coverage, the Chicago Tribune reports (Chicago Tribune, 7/3).

4 Jul 2008

Pennsylvania health care cost containment council employees let go after program authorization lapses

Nearly the entire staff of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council has been let go due to a political disagreement between Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and state Senate Republicans over whether a bill to reauthorize the council should also include an extension of a malpractice insurance subsidy for physicians, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/2).

4 Jul 2008

San Francisco Chronicle examines 'Healthy San Francisco' program enrollment progress

Although city officials estimated in July 2007 that Healthy San Francisco would offer access to health care to all city residents by January, the program one year later remains open only to individuals with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

4 Jul 2008

Massachusetts cigarette tax increases by $1 per pack to fund state health insurance law

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill that increases the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The increase, which brings the tax to $2.51, took effect immediately.

4 Jul 2008

Lord Darzi's final vision for primary care is positive though undermined by previous announcements

While many of the ambitions within the government's Vision for Primary and Community Care are welcome, previously announced government proposals will undermine the positive in this report, the BMA said today (Thursday 3 July 2008).

3 Jul 2008

Edward Kennedy working toward bipartisan support for major health care initiative in 2009

The office of Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has begun to hold a series of meetings with a number of health care experts to "begin laying the groundwork for a new attempt to provide universal health care," the Boston Globe reports.

3 Jul 2008

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

North Carolina health care insurers must provide the same amount of coverage for certain mental conditions as they do for physical ailments under a state law that took effect on Tuesday, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

3 Jul 2008

USA Today examines financial strain on retirees with fixed incomes as health care costs, other essentials rise

USA Today on Tuesday, in the first article of a series about retirement issues in the 21st century, examined how retirees are seeing "inflation wring much of the value out of their fixed incomes."

3 Jul 2008

Report says cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions

Cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions, which often have substantial costs, according to a report appearing in the July/August issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

2 Jul 2008

CMS rule requires hospice providers to track, improve quality of care delivered

CMS has issued a new rule requiring hospice providers participating in Medicare to implement a quality assessment and improvement system, the Washington Post reports.

2 Jul 2008

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt wrote that there "have been several misleading -- and possibly incorrect -- reports from the [Bush] administration regarding actions on physician claims filed beginning July 1," The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

One year after the deadline for Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage under the state's health insurance law, the percentage of uninsured has declined but the law "still faces a huge challenge: costs," USA Today reports.

2 Jul 2008

President Bush signs war supplemental spending bill that blocks six new Medicaid rules

President Bush on Monday signed into law a supplemental war appropriations bill (HR 2642) with a provision that will delay for one year six new Medicaid regulations proposed by his administration, CongressDaily reports (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Report recommends that Washington, D.C., spend $90 million on health care services in underserved areas

Washington, D.C., should spend $90 million of the funds it received from the 1998 tobacco settlement to expand services provided by community health centers in the district's underserved areas, according to a RAND report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

2 Jul 2008

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that the agency will maintain the current Medicare payment rate for physicians because Congress was unable to pass legislation to avert a 10.6% cut scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday before lawmakers left for the Fourth of July recess, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, congressional aides said the freeze to payment rates could last 10 days (Kane, Washington Post, 6/28).

2 Jul 2008

Healthcare News

Integrating palliative care for dementia into primary care

New framework for social marketing and public health in UK

Medical students say bullying in the profession must stop

Get rid of the market in health care, says Dr Hamish Meldrum

UNISON raises concerns over individual budgets

UnitedHealth Group announces lower profit outlook

Pennsylvania health care cost containment council employees let go after program authorization lapses

San Francisco Chronicle examines 'Healthy San Francisco' program enrollment progress

Massachusetts cigarette tax increases by $1 per pack to fund state health insurance law

Lord Darzi's final vision for primary care is positive though undermined by previous announcements

Edward Kennedy working toward bipartisan support for major health care initiative in 2009

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

USA Today examines financial strain on retirees with fixed incomes as health care costs, other essentials rise

Report says cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions

CMS rule requires hospice providers to track, improve quality of care delivered

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

President Bush signs war supplemental spending bill that blocks six new Medicaid rules

Report recommends that Washington, D.C., spend $90 million on health care services in underserved areas

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

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