San Francisco’s Pelosi is in her second term as speaker of the House of Representatives, having made history in 2007 when she was elected first woman to serve in this capacity.
President Obama has lauded her as “an extraordinary leader for the American people,” and following the passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, England’s Guardian observed that “Pelosi is being heralded as the most powerful woman in American history and the most powerful speaker of the House of Representatives in a century.” Come and ask your questions of one of Washington’s most powerful insiders.
How much do you spend on groceries? The USDA tracks the cost of food on a monthly basis, in part, as a way to determine the level of supplemental food assistance (food stamps) it offers to lower income families. In February 2010, for example, the USDA estimated that an adult male, eating all his meals at home, could meet his nutritional needs for about $38 a week if he followed the Thrifty Food Plan developed by the USDA.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should regulate salt as a food additive and gradually tighten the limit on the amount that manufacturers, restaurants and food service providers can add to processed foods and prepared meals, said experts in a new report this week. They base the recommendation on a review of past efforts to reduce sodium intake in the US, which has not changed much in the last 40 years, despite it being a top national health priority.
Surprising findings about doctors’ attitudes toward obesity were just released by the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Alliance for Obesity. A survey of primary care doctors revealed that: 1) Almost 90 percent of doctors feel it’s their responsibility to help patients lose weight; and 2) 72 percent said that no one in their practice has been trained to deal with obesity and weight-related issues.
Lobbyists representing the many who profit from our $2.6 trillion health care industry spent millions in the war over healthcare reform. Yet National Journal Contributing Editor Eliza Newlin Carney suggests that “it’s unclear whether all that lobbying, advertising and check-writing yielded much.”
No question, the reform legislation that finally passed falls short of many reformers’ hopes. The public option is gone. Private sector insurers will scoop up all of the new business. Meanwhile, by agreeing to support reform—and make some financial concessions—Pharma bought protection from generic competition, plus a promise that it can continue to set prices, without worrying about Medicare trying to bargain for discounts.
Nevertheless, as I argued in part one of this post, Carney has a point. Lobbyists lost on many issues. Under the legislation, insurers who offer Medicare Advantage are going to lose their windfall payments. Some relied on that corporate welfare to stay in the black. In addition, insurers who cover large groups will have to pay out 85% of premiums to physicians, hospitals and patients, keeping only 15%. This rule kicks in next year, and makes raising premiums far less attractive. If an insurer lifts premiums by 10%, it will have to increase pay-outs by 8 ½%. Meanwhile a 10% hike means that it the company likely to lose market share, particularly in the more transparent new exchanges that open up in 2014.
Posted April 20, 2010 by Ali Al-Rajhi under Health Policy
Low levels of vitamin D are associated with lower lung function and greater medication use in children with asthma, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. In a paper published online in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Daniel Searing, MD, and his colleagues also reported that vitamin D enhances the activity of corticosteroids, the most effective controller medication for asthma.
Posted April 19, 2010 by Ali Al-Rajhi under Uncategorized
The Foundation has issued a new policy brief examining issues facing the Obama Administration’s Global Health Initiative that ultimately will shape its direction and effectiveness. An archived webcast of a Kaiser forum where senior U.S. officials and other experts discussed the initiative is now available online.
The administration’s global health initiative is a six-year $63 billion proposed effort that builds on existing disease-specific initiatives to combat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, while increasing attention to other areas, including maternal and child health, family planning and reproductive health, nutrition, neglected tropical diseases, and the strengthening of underlying health systems.
Ali Al-Rajhi writes with the purpose of informing individuals in the Public Health field about pressing issues in environmental health, public health policy, epidemiology, and behavioral health. Learn more here.
