Federal authorities plan to initiate a nationwide campaign in the coming weeks to persuade Americans to get the swine flu vaccine and to erase any public skepticism about the flu's danger and the safety of immunizations. Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has manufacturers working overtime to produce a vaccine for the swine flu by mid-October, government officials are concerned that demand for immunization will not be high. In particular, parents participating in focus groups this summer expressed concern that ramping up vaccine production would make it less safe than the seasonal flu vaccine.
Minnesota will announce $47 million in grants to 40 communities to fight smoking and obesity, the first fruits of a landmark 2008 bill designed to revamp and improve healthcare in the state. The grants will help finance such projects as replacing soda with healthier drinks in public park vending machines, encouraging apartment buildings to voluntarily go smoke-free, figuring out how schools can open gyms to the public in off hours, and helping businesses promote walking and biking for employees.
WellStar Health System in Georgia has reached an agreement with Aetna insurance company that extends their contract for three years, officials said. The new contract, which takes effect Sept. 1, provides Aetna members with the same access to the same medical services, said WellStar. Both parties declined to discuss specifics of the contract, including whether it will result in increased out-of-pocket expenses for people.
Antilabor forces say a provision in healthcare reform legislation that could help retiree healthcare plans is welfare for the United Auto Workers and Democrats' union allies. Labor supporters say it falls short of what's needed as tens of thousands of union members are pushed into early retirement as employers cut back healthcare coverage.
One of the most widely accepted arguments against a government medical plan for the middle class is that it would quash competition—just what private insurers seem to be doing themselves in many parts of the U.S. Several studies show that in lots of places, one or two companies dominate the market. For Democrats, the answer is a public plan that would compete with private insurers. Republicans see that as a government power grab. President Barack Obama looks to be trapped in the middle of an argument that could sink his effort to overhaul the healthcare system.
The cost to care for undocumented immigrants is part of the reason why the Miami-Dade County's public hospital system is struggling with growing financial losses that border on the disastrous. Losses are expected to escalate to $168 million next year because of South Florida's unique problems—high numbers of uninsured and high healthcare costs that keep increasing the ranks of the uninsured. On the national level, the issue of undocumented immigrants has become politically explosive.
European Union health officials issued a list of people who should be the first in line for vaccinations against the H1N1, or swine flu, virus. People at risk of severe disease, pregnant women, and healthcare workers should be given priority for inoculations before the winter flu season, said the officials, who represent 27 E.U. countries and the European Commission.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology H1N1 projections should be regarded with caution. A press officer for the disease centers, speaking carefully to avoid a feud with the White House press office, said, "Look, if the virus keeps behaving the way it is now, I don't think anyone here expects anything like 90,000 deaths." Even one of the experts who helped prepare the report said that the numbers were probably on the high side, given that some weeks had passed since the calculations were finished in early August.
About half of Hong Kong's health workers would refuse the swine flu vaccine, new research says, a trend that experts say would likely apply worldwide. In a study that polled 2,255 Hong Kong health workers this year, researchers found even during the height of global swine flu panic in May, less than half were willing to get vaccinated. Most said they would pass on the swine flu shot, which is not yet available, because they were afraid of side effects and doubted how safe and effective it would be.
At least 1,200 veterans across the country have been mistakenly told by the Veterans Administration that they suffer from a fatal neurological disease. Denise Nichols, the vice president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, said the VA is blaming a coding error for the mistake. Letters dated Aug. 12 were intended to notify veterans who have Lou Gehrig's disease of disability benefits available to them.
