Health care

Planned Parenthood Urges Congress to Override President's Veto of Labor-HHS-Education Bill

Earlier today President Bush vetoed the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which included the largest increase in Title X family planning funding in 35 years. This increase is estimated to provide services for an additional 139,000 women and would help to prevent 24,000 unintended pregnancies and 10,000 abortions. The Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which passed Congress by a wide margin, includes a $310.9 million appropriation for Title X family planning funding.    » read more »

To find out more about Illinois’ wrap-around prescription drug program, call the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966

November 14, 2007 -- CHICAGO – As seniors around the country get ready for Medicare Part D’s open enrollment season starting tomorrow, Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today urged Illinois seniors to apply for Illinois Cares Rx, which provides wrap-around prescription drug coverage to fill in the gaps created by Medicare Part D, and offers drug coverage for people who do not have Medicare.    » read more »

November 13, 2007 -- MONTGOMERY – An Alabama program that helps ease the stress on those who care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s is being recognized as the best in the nation.

The Alabama Department of Senior Services’ REACH Intervention Project is the winner of the 2007 Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award. The award, given by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI), recognizes innovative partnerships between community organizations and caregiving researchers.    » read more »

The Edwards plan goes further to help families than either Clinton or Obama; New plan introduced as part of "Promise of a Better America Week"

Nov 13, 2007 -- Manchester, NH – Today, Senator John Edwards outlined his bold policies for a more family-friendly America with universal paid family and medical leave, universal pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds, more affordable care for other children and job benefits for independent workers.    » read more »

Second Major Iowa Ad Highlights Plan to Hold Congress Accountable for Passing Universal Health Care

Nov 13, 2007 -- Des Moines, Iowa – Senator John Edwards begins his second wave of Iowa television advertisements later today with an ad that features Edwards' plan to hold Congress accountable for passing universal health care within six months of him taking office. The ad will run statewide.    » read more »

November 13, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Columbia County woman was arrested on charges that she neglected two disabled adults under her care at a group home. Molly Melissa Jarrard was formerly employed by the Columbia Advocates for Citizens with Disabilities group home where she worked as the house manager. She was arrested today by authorities with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.    » read more »

12 November 2007 -- Experts on lung disease meeting in South Africa are warning the world could face a tuberculosis crisis if drug resistant strains of TB are not contained and if TB testing does not become a regular part of HIV treatment.

Three thousand experts from 100 countries ended a five-day conference in Cape Town warning that urgent measures are needed to address the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis and its growing presence among victims of HIV/AIDS.    » read more »

Nov. 9, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – Four members of the same family, who owned and operated a series of Miami Durable Medicare Equipment companies and Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities have each been sentenced to 57 months in prison for Medicare fraud, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced today.    » read more »

November 9, 2007 -- TRENTON – The New Jersey Governor’s Government Efficiency and Reform Commission today released the report of its Health Care Task Force. The Health Care Task Force conducted a broad review of New Jersey health spending and proposed recommendations for improving the efficiency and cost effectiveness of major state health programs.

The report can be found online at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/.    » read more »

11/09/2007

Governor says Timing is Right for Comprehensive Reform

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today highlighted how fixing California’s broken health care system is key to keeping California’s economy strong and to solving California’s chronic budget problems. Expenditures on health care are approaching 20 percent of the state’s economic output, acting as a poison to our economy and forcing families, businesses and governments to absorb price increases more than twice the rate of inflation each year.    » read more »

November 8, 2007 -- WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) have secured millions for Michigan hospitals, schools, and other organizations in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Fiscal Year 2008 Appropriations Bill Conference Report, which was approved by the Senate today. The report will now go to the House for approval, then to the President for his signature or veto.    » read more »

Commit To Pushing For Passage In 2008; Former Congressman, AFL-CIO, SEIU call Governor’s Illinois Covered plan “well-designed template” for Congress to follow

November 8, 2007 -- WASHINGTON D.C. – Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today talked with national labor leaders and former Congressman Dick Gephardt in the nation’s capital at a meeting sponsored by the non-profit advocacy group, America’s Agenda: Health Care for All, to address the current healthcare crisis that has caused millions of Americans to be without health coverage.    » read more »

11/07/2007 -- Patients’ own stem cells injected into their hearts after treatment for an ST elevation heart attack improved their hearts’ improved pumping ability, researchers reported during a late-breaking special session on stem cell research at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2007.

In the IM-BMC randomized, double-blind trial, researchers assessed the safety and efficacy of injecting sufferers’ own stem cells into their hearts. The patients had been initially treated with clot-busting drugs, followed by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).    » read more »

Report shows NJ is ranked 21st in the nation, down from 14th last year

November 6, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – A report ranking the states on health care that was issued yesterday showed that New Jersey has dropped seven places in the past year, from 14th to 21st. The study by the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention shows that the number of New Jerseyans without health insurance has risen 76 percent since 1990, and that only 63.4 percent of pregnant women in the state are receiving adequate prenatal care.    » read more »

Leading presidential candidates propose ways to improve cost, quality

06 November 2007 -- Washington -- When American voters are asked which domestic issues most matter to them, health care is among the top answers.

The United States is expected to spend about $2.3 trillion on health care in 2007, or about 16 percent of the country's gross domestic product -- significantly more per capita than any other nation. It is the only industrialized country that does not mandate access to health insurance for all citizens.    » read more »