Posts Tagged ‘states’
States’ Legislative Health Initiatives Stall
The Boston Globe: “A group of Massachusetts mayors, fed up with what they say is legislative inaction on skyrocketing municipal health care costs, has launched a ballot initiative for 2012 aimed at giving cities and towns more flexibility in reducing expensive benefits for employees, retirees, and elected officials” (Murphy, 3/10)…
Jobs Bill Missing Medicaid Money For States, Governors Call For Change
The $15 billion jobs bill that passed the Senate Monday does not include additional matching funds for state Medicaid programs, but governors are continuing to ask for its inclusion as they look for other ways to plus state budget holes made from Medicaid liabilities.The (Springfield, Mo…
Sebelius Awards $100 Million To 10 States To Test Innovations In Children’s Health Care
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $100 million in federal grant funds to 10 states to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)…
Training in childhood obesity management in the United States: a survey of pediatric, internal medicine-pediatrics and family medicine residency program directors
Background:
Information about the availability and effectiveness of childhood obesity training during residency is limited.
Methods:
We surveyed residency program directors from pediatric, internal medicine-pediatrics (IM-Peds), and family medicine residency programs between September 2007 and January 2008 about childhood obesity training offered in their programs.
Results:
The response rate was 42.2% (299/709) and ranged by specialty from 40.1% to 45.4%. Overall, 52.5% of respondents felt that childhood obesity training in residency was extremely important, and the majority of programs offered training in aspects of childhood obesity management including prevention (N=240, 80.3%), diagnosis (N=282, 94.3%), diagnosis of complications (N=249, 83.3%), and treatment (N=242, 80.9%). However, only 18.1% (N=54) of programs had a formal childhood obesity curriculum with variability across specialties. Specifically, 35.5% of IM-Peds programs had a formal curriculum compared to only 22.6% of pediatric and 13.9% of family medicine programs (p<0.01). Didactic instruction was the most commonly used training method but was rated as only somewhat effective by 67.9% of respondents using this method. The most frequently cited significant barrier to implementing childhood obesity training was competing curricular demands (58.5%).
Conclusions:
While most residents receive training in aspects of childhood obesity management, deficits may exist in training quality with a minority of programs offering a formal childhood obesity curriculum. Given the high prevalence of childhood obesity, a greater emphasis should be placed on development and use of effective training strategies suitable for all specialties training physicians to care for children.
First Results In United States In 20 Years From Clinical Trials Of Smoked Cannabis
Researchers from the University of California’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) have found “reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment” for some specific, pain-related medical conditions. Their findings, presented to the California legislature and public, are included in a report available on the CMCR web site at http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu…
States Push For Insurers To Increase Coverage
States tackle several health care policy issues focused on health insurance coverage mandates and requirements. Idaho Reporter explores efforts to mandate that insurers cover prosthetics in the state with the nation’s fewest health insurance mandates. “The Idaho Senate is looking at requiring health insurance to cover replacing and repairing prosthetic limbs and devices…
Discrimination against international medical graduatesin the United States residency program selection process
Background:Available evidence suggests that international medical graduates have improved the availability of U.S. health care while maintaining academic standards. We wondered whether studies had been conducted to address how international graduates were treated in the post-graduate selection process compared to U.S. graduates.Methods:We conducted a Medline search for research on the selection process.Results:Two studies provide strong evidence that psychiatry and family practice programs respond to identical requests for applications at least 80% more often for U.S. medical graduates than for international graduates. In a third study, a survey of surgical program directors, over 70% perceived that there was discrimination against international graduates in the selection process.Conclusions:There is sufficient evidence to support action against discrimination in the selection process. Medical organizations should publish explicit proscriptions of discrimination against international medical graduates (as the American Psychiatric Association has done) and promote them in diversity statements. They should develop uniform and transparent policies for program directors to use to select applicants that minimize the possibility of non-academic discrimination, and the accreditation organization should monitor whether it is occurring. Whether there should be protectionism for U.S. graduates or whether post-graduate medical education should be an unfettered meritocracy needs to be openly discussed by medicine and society.
Budget Woes Prompt Health Cuts In Some States
The Salt Lake Tribune: “Utah’s Medicaid program isn’t providing enough oversight of its managed care plans, a problem that is costing the state as much as $19 million, according to a Legislative audit released Tuesday” (Rosetta, 1/19). Lexington Herald-Leader: “Facing exploding growth in the government-run health insurance program for the poor and disabled, Gov…
States Struggle With Budget Cuts, Increased Medicaid Pressure
News outlets look at developments in Medicaid issues. The Associated Press/ABC News reports on Louisiana: “Sen. Mary Landrieu defended the Senate’s version of health care overhaul legislation – and language in it that provides up to $365 million in Medicaid money for Louisiana – as she discussed what her fellow Democrats should do after losing a crucial Senate seat to a Massachusetts Republican…
Missouri Best In Using Federal Aid To Combat Medicaid Fraud, Other States Fight Over Federal Rules
The Kansas City Star reports that Missouri led the country in 2008 in efficiency in using federal dollars to combat Medicaid fraud. “The state recovered almost $29.8 million in 2008, the most recent year for which comparative data are available, while receiving about $1.6 million in federal Medicaid fraud grants. That equates to $18…
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