"Health & Medical News"

Washington — There’s a four-letter word on the lips of the people in charge of Massachusetts’ health system reform: cost.

Unexpectedly large health plan enrollment numbers, an influx of high-cost beneficiaries and high health care costs in general are leading the Connector Authority, manager of the reform program, to search for ways to cut back. Possibilities include prodding health insurers to limit premium increases and reducing physician pay under certain health plans.

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(Summary of ProMedMail Report of 24 January 2008)

Responding to concerns raised by Indonesia and other developing countries, the WHO has instituted an electronic tracking system to track H5N1 isolates submitted, and what is done with them. Vietnam and Indonesia have provided the most isolates, but are concerned that private companies that are developing vaccines from these isolates will market vaccines that are too expensive for developing countries to purchase in the event of an outbreak. In 2007, as a result of these concerns, Indonesia withheld samples for 5 months.

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A Scientific Review and Recommended Public Health Service Strategy for Research Summary Tables on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Dental Restorative

Quist: Health and Dental
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Oklahoma will no longer offer a loan repayment program intended to encourage physicians to practice in the state’s rural communities. But health care advocates say it was a small sacrifice because state lawmakers agreed to continue funding three other — much larger — programs that help rural communities attract primary care physicians.

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Students fighting a 2003 tuition hike at the University of California are one step closer to getting refunds.

In November, the California Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision that found the university had breached its contract with continuing professional students when it raised their fees. The appellate court found that the increase ran counter to the university’s promise, posted on its Web site and printed in its catalogs, that fees would not be raised for the duration of students’ enrollment.

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A new study suggests that providing monetary rewards to cocaine users may not be an effective way to get them to overcome their addictions.

The study by researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory found that cocaine users have less sensitivity to monetary rewards than nonusers. Moreover, researchers found that the heaviest cocaine users were least able to improve their behavior in response to monetary incentives.

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Allergies - courtesy of Henry Ford Health System of Detroit, Michigan, MI … This is often used to check for food or medication allergies. …

April 4, 2007 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information … (PDF)
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Washington — Thousands of physicians could see Medicare claims delays or rejections because of discrepancies between the program’s new identification system and doctors’ old ID numbers, said organizations representing physicians and practice managers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services instructed carriers starting Sept. 4 to no longer accept claims from physicians whose new ID numbers could not be matched with their older “legacy” numbers in a “crosswalk” file designed to link the old and new IDs. Medicare is in the process of transitioning to a system in which all physicians who submit electronic claims to payers are identified by a national provider identifier, a 10-digit number that eventually will replace UPINs and all other identifiers.

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