Consumer-driven health plans slow to catch on, 2nd annual survey finds
...umer-driven health plans, a relatively new kind of coverage that offers reduced premiums but carries higher an...ng deductibles of $1,000 or more for employee-only coverage and $2,000 or more for family coverage. According to the survey, consumer-driven plans also feature ...Trauma patients at risk across the country, surgeons on-call to discuss emergency-care crisis
... showed that 42-percent said the lack of specialty coverage in their emergency departments poses a significant risk to patients. How our nations emergency care system responds to a future terrorist attack or natural disaster is in jeopardy, in part because there is no lead federal agency to oversee disaste...Restrictive provincial drug policies may have benefits
... and in Ontario, which has a less restrictive drug coverage policy. Their findings suggest that a more restrictive drug coverage policy, although limiting access to drugs and their potential benefits, may protect the population f...Extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans totaled $5.2 billion over fee-for-service costs in 2005
...t that these funds could be used to: fill in the coverage gap, or doughnut hole, in the drug benefit; create a viable alternative to the ineffective sustainable growth rate mechanism currently used to determine the physician payment update; or reduce the increase in the Part B premium in 2007 by about...ESA's first Swedish astronaut to fly to the ISS
...e. ESA-TV will provide a rebroadcast of NASA-TV coverage from the start-of-mission commentary at 21:30 CET ...ecember. ESA-TV will also provide daily mission coverage in the form of rebroadcasts of NASA-TV flight day highlights at 09:00 CET, plus ESA-TV spacewalk hig...Big bias in who gets screened for breast cancer
...gery or breast cancer diagnosis, type of insurance coverage and physician specialty. The researchers found th...ients schedule a mammogram. The type of insurance coverage a woman had was also a decisive factor. Compared to women with private health insurance, women with ...Want fair and affordable health insurance for the uninsured? Ask the public to design it
...ut what's fair, and what's affordable, may lead to coverage that will be acceptable to participants even thoug...icked from a range of options including different coverage levels for preventive, chronic and last-hope care; different options for access to doctors; a variet...Firms covering large majority of nation's workers view health benefits as important recruitment tool
...are responsibility for paying for health insurance coverage for workers," said Sara Collins, an assistant vice...would allow their workers and dependents to obtain coverage through their state's public employee insurance program, with the employer contributing part of the ...Federal government needs to take closer look at assisted living facilities
...r staff training, scope of care, and disclosure of coverage at ALFs would "provide a predictable setting for consumers, providers and payers," according to the article. It is estimated that about 1 million people are housed in more than 36,000 ALFs nationwide. This compares with about 600,000 seniors housed ......o, upon discharge, glucose monitoring with insulin coverage was not routinely prescribed to these patients. COPD Underdiagnosed and Undertreated in Smokers (Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 2:30 PM EST) A new study suggests clinicians should be more aware of possible COPD in patients at risk for lung cancer. R...How much influence do medical publications have on your doctor? A great deal, says new SLU research
...bly just scanning the articles or monitoring media coverage of the articles, but they believe they can trust the information being presented. Now we know that the information does have a very real effect on the doctor-patient relationship." Researchers already know a good deal about why and how quickly doc...Europe's first polar-orbiting weather satellite ready for launch
...llites fly in complementary orbits to maximise the coverage area over which observations are made. MetOp is Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology and with its array of sophisticated instruments, this weather satellite promises to provide data of unprecedented accuracy a...Insurance companies deny medically necessary breast reductions based on random, unproven criteria
...s exhibit all of the following symptoms to receive coverage for breast reduction: back, neck, shoulder, and arm pain; rashes; bra strap grooves; and numbness in the upper torso. The authors found that while most patients suffer from many of these symptoms, rarely do they exhibit all. According to Dr. Whea...Criminalizing HIV transmission is a threat to public health, say experts
...ce the threat of criminal prosecution, while media coverage has vilified those convicted as "AIDS assassins," exacerbating the stigma already associated with infection. No wonder those unlucky enough to become infected often choose to keep their status a secret, they write. Individuals in this situation ne...Health facility births key to substantially reducing maternal mortality worldwide
...essionals, about 700 000 more, are needed for full coverage of professional care for women by 2030. By 2015, 73% coverage could be achieved if 334 000 more health-care professionals with midwifery skills were recruited. To...September/October Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
...s resulted in 31 percent of enrolled adults losing coverage and 15 percent reporting disrupted coverage. Furthermore, 67 percent of those who lost coverage reported unmet health care needs, compared with 40 percent of those with disrupted coverage and 28 p...Independent evaluation finds GAVI funding to poor countries can boost childhood vaccine coverage
...l health partnership that was created when vaccine coverage in many countries was dropping. Countries with a g... of less than US$1000 per capita per year and with coverage under 80% were eligible to receive financial support from GAVI to develop immunization services, inc...Nearly nine of 10 who seek individual market health insurance never buy a plan
... turn to the individual insurance market find that coverage is unobtainable or unaffordable. The report also f...ng majority--89%--of working-age adults who sought coverage in the individual market during the past three years ended up never buying a plan. A majority (58%) ...Effective treatments for panic disorder not reaching patients
...ut where to seek help, and problems with insurance coverage and concerns about cost of care, especially in the US, explain the authors....Lancet's coverage of the World Health Organization Director-General election
The Lancet begins its coverage of WHO's Director-General elections by publishing profiles of each of the recently named candidates in this week's World Report. The 13 candidates nominated for the most prominent position in global health--Director-General of WHO--were finally re...