Phoenix, U.S.A. – The Affordable Care Act is a hot, debatable topic right now. Whether it is one you support or not, it generates awareness regarding the need for affordable healthcare in our country. It has become nothing less than a necessity to find a solution to the healthcare problems we face as a country.

According to data released by Kaiser EDU, Health expenditures in the United States neared $2.6 trillion in 2010, over ten times the $256 billion spent in 1980. This has created a dilemma for the tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford necessary medical tests because they either don’t have insurance at all, or have a policy with a restrictively high deductible.

Dr. Scott Hastings, Family Practice doctor in Show Low, Arizona, founded BidOnHealth.com, a website that allows consumers to purchase medical tests at an affordable price. The BidOnHealth.com model follows the ever so popular trend of purchasing items online at a discounted rate. Anyone who has used a website like Priceline.com will find this concept familiar. Priceline is best known for their bidding option where the consumer makes choices within certain parameters, offers the amount they are willing to pay, and then enters a credit card number in hopes that their offer is accepted.

BidOnHealth.com uses a similar approach for medical tests and healthcare services. Consumers choose their geographic location along with the tests or services they need, and make offers based on what they are willing to pay. Using this bidding option, consumers can save up to 90% off the average retail price of the tests or services they are purchasing. However, bidding is not a requirement at BidOnHealth.com; tests and services can also be purchased immediately at an incredible discounted rate of 60% off.

BidOnHealth.com is contracted with reputable laboratories, radiology facilities and providers to ensure a quality end-product. The services and facilities remain constant whether the consumer is saving 60% or 90%. This is one instance where the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” does not ring true.

BidOnHealth.com has been recognized across the country for their innovative approach to healthcare.

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Las Vegas, U.S.A. — Nevada nursing homes and the patients under their care face $20 million cumulative reduction in Medicare funding in 2013-14 as a result of several different federal budgetary actions and regulatory payment changes made by Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) since 2009, a new 50 state data analysis projects.

Nationally, nursing homes and the patients under their care face nearly $4 billion in reductions in 2013-14, and a staggering $65 billion reduction over 10 years, according to the independent health policy advisory firm, Avalere Health. Nursing homes, technically referred to as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), are Nevada’s second largest health facility employer.

In differentiating the impacts of different budget cuts and regulatory payment changes that result in less cumulative government funding, the Avalere analysis, funded by the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, will be utilized to help inform Nevada policymakers how the successive battery of federal funding reductions undermine facility operations, disrupt staffing, and threaten seniors’ care amid the growing influx of older, higher acuity patients – increasing numbers of whom are able to return home after successful rehabilitation.

The Avalere analysis, the first retrospective national and state-by-state look at recent reductions in Medicare payments to facilities, projects the 2013-14 budgetary impact on Nevada based on the following major government actions since 2009: Affordable Care Act (ACA) productivity adjustment ($7 million cut in 2013); Case-Mix Adjustment in FY 2010 CMS Rule ($7.3 million regulatory reduction in 2013); Forecast Error Adjustment in FY 2011 CMS Rule ($1.3 million regulatory reduction in 2013); Sequestration provision of Budget Control Act ($4.3 million cut on January 1, 2013 ); Bad Debt provision in March 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act ($2.1 million cut 2012-14 beginning October 1, 2012 ).

Alan G. Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance, said that with approximately 70 percent of facility expenses related to staffing, the impact of federal Medicare cuts combined with a fragile state Medicaid system causes significant difficulties in regard to hiring and retaining the direct care staff that help make a significant difference in care quality and patient outcomes.

“More Medicare cuts from Washington – which are imminent — undermine Nevada facilities’ ability to continue sending more and more patients home as quickly as possible. The unintended consequences of these cuts and regulatory payment changes will affect patient access, quality and require that care increasingly be rendered in settings that actually increase the cost to government.

This makes no sense, and is wrong for seniors, providers, taxpayers and the future of our entire U.S. health care system. We respectfully urge Nevada candidates for federal office to address how they would help stop more Medicare cuts for the state’s skilled nursing facilities and the seniors under their care.

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Both presidential candidates are doing a tremendous effort to gain female and working-class voters support. Both of them know how crucial these votes will be in key states and are already doing all they can to gain their sympathy.

Mitt Romney on August 11 is making a trip to some of the swing states that could decide this election: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio. During these visits he will be accompanied by three of his possible vice-presidential picks: Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Senator Rob Portman. There is a possibility that during these visits he will announce who will be his running mate.

It is not a coincidence that five out of eleven speakers announced for the Republican National Convention are women. Romney has also been accusing Obama of planning to double out taxpayer dollars, even for people who are not trying to find work. This accusation has the clear goal to gain working-class voters favor.

President Obama on the other hand had an appearance scheduled for August 8 with Sandra Fluke, the famous Georgetown University student who became a leader for pro-choice women. Fluke became known nationwide after being called a slut by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh for her support of Obama’s health care that requires insurance companies to cover contraception.

The President wants to take advantage of Fluke’s popularity to gain female voters support. Democrats have been accusing the Republicans of starting a war against women because of their opposition of the Affordable Care Act, which according to the Democrats will give the women many benefits and crucial protections. Obama is currently leading in female voters’ intentions in key states like Florida and Ohio.

President Obama has been insisting during his entire campaign that Romney wants to cut taxes for the rich and increase taxes for the middle class, and Obama on the other hand wants the rich to pay a little bit more, so in that way taxes for the middle class don’t have to increase. But Romney is intending to show that Obama plans would affect the middle class. Romney has warned that Obama is intending to undo Clinton’s welfare reforms by offering waivers to the states, in other words he is trying to convince the voters that Obama is a liberal, who wants to give the poor a free pass in expense of the middle class, which is the one he is supposedly defending.

The Democrats have not ignored these accusations, White House spokesman Jay Carney told Romney’s accusations were “categorically false and blatantly dishonest.”

Image Courtesy of  michael rubin / Shutterstock.com

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From the eleven speakers announced for the Republican Convention, four of them are women: Condoleezza Rice, Susana Martinez, Nikki Halley and Mary Fallin.

Republicans wish to gain women’s sympathy during a time in which they have been accused by the Democrats of waging war against women.

The Democrats have directed hard criticism against the Republicans for trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Democrats think is a law that offers many benefits and crucial protection for women.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid wrote in a Huffington Post article called “Republicans Renew War on Women” that “thanks to the Affordable Care Act, new insurance plans are already required to cover preventive care like mammograms, colonoscopies, blood pressure checks, prenatal exams and childhood immunizations without cost-sharing. Yet Republicans are so intent on blocking women’s preventive services like contraception coverage from taking effect, they are willing to risk national security.” Democrats want their voters to see the Republicans as the villains on this subject.

Reid continued criticizing the Republicans for blocking the opportunity for women to gain access to contraception methods. Sen. Reid said that the Republicans are only acting for ideological motives and are putting them ahead of scientific reasons.

Mary Fallin is the lastest female politician announced as a speaker for the Tampa Convention, and she is currently the first female Governor of Oklahoma. She is one of the most popular governors in the country, based on a poll made by sonnerpoll.com and released in January; almost 70 percent of the surveyed thought Fallin was doing a good job after just a year in office.

The Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll on the presidential race shows that in key states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Obama has an advantage on female vote over Romney, so Martinez, Rice, Halley and Fallin have a difficult mission trying to gain female voter’s sympathy for the Republicans.

Each of the women selected for the Republican National Convention have something special to offer and have made history in their positions. Susana Martinez is the first female Hispanic Governor of New Mexico and of the Country; Condoleezza Rice was the first African-American women that became Secretary of State, Nikki Haley is South Carolina first female Governor and Mary Fallin is Oklahoma first female Governor. This will hopefully prove to the female voters that the Republicans have women in important positions and that they support them.

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New York, U.S.A. — August 1 marks an important milestone for the Affordable Care Act and, more importantly, for women across the U.S. New insurance plans will be required to cover eight critical women’s preventive health services with no co-pay. Specifically, the no-co-pay benefits include:

• Screening for gestational diabetes
• Breastfeeding supplies and counseling
• Intimate partner violence screening and counseling
• Sexually transmitted infection counseling
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 years and older
• HIV screening and counseling
• Well-woman visits
• FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling

“For many women, costly co-pays stand in the way of essential health care services and contraception,” said Ms. Foundation for Women President and CEO Anika Rahman. “Removing that barrier not only ensures better health outcomes, but also reduces the economic hardship on women and families.”

About the Ms. Foundation for Women
The Ms. Foundation for Women is the leading national social justice foundation committed to building women’s power to ignite change. Every day, it helps over 150 grassroots organizations across the US fight for changes like good paying jobs, reproductive health, ending violence against women and girls, and the inclusion of women at decision-making tables.

By investing in social justice trailblazers—especially women from low-income communities and communities of color most affected by injustice—it works for a nation in which power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, or any other factor. The Ms. Foundation delivers funding, builds skills, develops leaders, connects activists with allies, and amplifies the voices of our grantees to create change that benefits women, families and communities. ms.foundation.org

Image Courtesy of   LaDawna’s pics

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Ann Arbor, U.S.A. – The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) released a policy paper that shows how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014 will streamline eligibility categories and may also help between 400,000 and 500,000 citizens to become newly eligible for Medicaid coverage. Currently, there are at least 40 different ways — each with varying eligibility requirements—to qualify for Medicaid in Michigan.

Whether or not Michigan decides to expand coverage for Medicaid, the paper shows that enrolling in Medicaid and maintaining that coverage should become easier for Michigan residents starting in 2014, when the ACA requires states to eliminate asset tests — a review of an individual’s assets to ensure they do not exceed certain limits—and consolidate existing eligibility categories.

“Many changes were included in the ACA that go beyond the Medicaid expansion. These changes were designed to make enrollment policies and processes simpler for those who have existing Medicaid coverage, and enable those newly eligible to go through an easier enrollment process than exists today. These enrollment changes alone should help ensure that more people have access to the affordable care when they need it,” says Marianne Udow-Phillips, CHRT’s director.

Under current federal rules, the Medicaid program provides coverage to those at or below a certain income level who also fit within certain categories, and states can opt to expand Medicaid eligibility.

In 2014, all existing eligibility categories—mandated or optional—will be simplified and consolidated into three categories:

• Parents and caretaker relatives of dependent children under 19.
• Pregnant women.
• Infants and children under age 19.

Additionally, those who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or qualify as “medically needy” will remain Medicaid eligible to avoid gaps in coverage.

For states that opt to expand Medicaid, all non-elderly citizens and eligible resident immigrants with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level will become Medicaid eligible, even if they are not categorically eligible.

While the Medicaid expansion is optional for states, streamlining eligibility criteria and simplifying enrollment processes is still required.

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Washington, U.S.A. – Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and now Freedom Watch, released this statement on July 17:

“Last Friday, Judge Richard Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered President Barack Obama to reveal under oath the specifics of his secret meetings with health care lobbyists such as PHARMA, Planned Parenthood, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others that lead up to the passage of “Obamacare,” or else submit to discovery depositions and document production in that my group filed a few years ago.

The judge’s order is courageous, particularly since he was appointed to the federal bench by Democrat President Bill Clinton, showing that some integrity still remains on the federal bench despite the politics of Obamacare and our comprised and partisan judicial system in general.

Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare and Congress is considering repealing or amending it, Judge Roberts’ decision is crucial for the American people to know what went on behind closed doors, including any lobbyist commitments to pay campaign contributions to the Obama reelection campaign, in order to fully understand and remedy Obamacare, which many feel will seriously harm the economy if put into effect as is during these times of deep economic crisis.”

Obamacare, which is actually called the Affordable Care Act, was passed by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision. It was ruled constitutional not under the Commerce Clause but the taxing powers of Congress. Justice John Roberts, who tends to lean more conservative, seemed to jump to the opposing side in this decision, giving the liberals the majority that they needed to allow the law to pass.

For a copy of Judge Roberts’ decision, go to www.freedomwatchusa.org or Pacer with regard to the case styled Freedom Watch v. Obama et. al, Civil Action No. 09-2398 (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia).

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Chicago and Springfield, U.S.A. — The Republican led U.S. House of Representatives wasted taxpayer dollars playing a partisan game on Wednesday, when they voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

It represented the 33rd time Congress has attempted to repeal the Act, even though the measure is destined for certain defeat in the U.S. Senate. Keith Kelleher, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, uniting 91,000 health care and child care workers, issued the following statement in response:

At a time when Congress should put its full attention on the country’s economic recovery, the U.S. House Republicans squandered a day at the office Wednesday when they voted for a politically motivated and legislatively futile repeal of President Obama’s landmark health care reform.

While average Americans need Congress to focus intensely on policies that will create jobs, make college education more affordable, reduce the federal deficit and generally improve our economic fortunes, the House Republicans chose to spend the day on a blatant political stunt. The attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act is considered dead on arrival in the Senate, so Wednesday’s vote was an exercise in empty symbolism, wasting time, energy and public dollars that should have been marshaled to accelerate our economic revitalization.

In response to today’s vote we will be informing our union members of all of Illinois’ Congressional members who voted to deny Illinois citizens quality, affordable health care. In the wake of last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, the time has come for opponents of the bill to dispense with partisan gamesmanship and move on to the business at hand: putting more Americans to work.

Congress should let the Affordable Care Act continue to work for the people of Illinois.

According to the Campaign for Better Health Care, the law has already generated the following rewards in Illinois:

• More than 3.6 million residents became entitled to preventative medical services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, without having to pay deductibles or co-pays.
• More than 100,000 uninsured young adults under the age of 26 became eligible for coverage under the parents’ health insurance.
• More than 150,000 seniors with Medicare received a $250 rebate to cover the cost of their prescription drugs once they hit the so-called donut hole.

For all of these reasons, members of Congress who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act must explain to Illinois voters why they chose to deny health security to their constituents and why they oppose providing quality and affordable health care for all Americans.

Image Courtesy of  Jose Gil / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. — In a recent interview for Fox News, Martin Smithmyer, CEO of Americord Registry, one of the industry’s leading cord blood banking companies, said, “Although [Americord] does not pay doctors for making referrals, this is a common practice among some of our competitors, including at least 3 of the top 6 cord blood banks.”

The Obama administration, in January 2012, made it clear that under the new health care law it will require certain healthcare companies to disclose payments they make to doctors – sometimes amounting to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars – for research, consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), recommends doctors disclose such payments and arrangements to patients.

Furthermore, according to Smithmyer, cord blood has certain limitations that parents should know about before they decide to bank their child’s cord blood, since the cost of cord blood banking is not an insignificant consideration when making this decision.

“Although in this field the technology is always changing, the number of stem cells in one unit of cord blood today is only sufficient to treat a child up to about 10 years old,” said Smithmyer. Americord Registry is developing a new technology that will collect up to 10 times more stem cells. This would be enough to use therapeutically for an adult. To learn more, read the full article from Fox contributor: 7 things you should know about cord blood banking.

About Americord Registry

Americord Registry is a company involved in umbilical cord blood, cord tissue and placenta stem cell preservation. Americord collects, processes, and stores newborn stem cells for future medical and therapeutic use, including the treatment of more than 80 diseases such as leukemia.

Founded in 2008, Americord is registered with the Food and Drug Administration. The company’s laboratory is accredited by the AABB and complies with all federal and state regulations, including federal CLIA laboratory standards. Americord is based in New York, NY.

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Washington, U.S.A. – According to a survey by StrategyOne, U.S. adults disagree with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act. While opinion of the decision is generally polarized by party – 66% of Republicans disagree with the ruling; 71% of Democrats agree – Independents are more aligned with Republicans. Fully 46% of Independents disagree with the ruling, while only 35% agree. Intensity among Independents is also strongly against the ruling, with 35% saying they strongly disagree and just 12% strongly agreeing.

Steve Lombardo, global CEO of StrategyOne, believes negative reaction among Independents could assist Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney come Election Day. According to Lombardo, Independent opposition to the Supreme Court decision “suggests that the Roberts ruling has the potential to move swing voters and the GOP base toward Romney.”

Additionally, a majority (52%) of adults say they are more likely to vote in the presidential election as a result of the decision. The Supreme Court’s actions appear to have a greater impact on Romney supporters. Among those voting for Romney, 49% say they are much more likely to vote because of the SCOTUS ruling, compared to 38% of President Obama’s supporters. Those who disagree with the ruling are also more inclined to say the decision makes them much more likely to vote (43%) compared to those who agree with the ruling (35%).

Lombardo sees this enthusiasm gap between those opposing the ruling and those supporting it also benefiting the GOP in the election. “If the electorate looks more like 2010 than 2008, it will be a big boost for Romney,” added Lombardo.

According to the StrategyOne survey, U.S. adults overall are slightly more likely to agree with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act than disagree. Fully 48% of respondents agree with the decision, while 41% disagree.

Survey Methodology

StrategyOne conducted a nationwide telephone survey of 1,022 adults, 510 men and 512 women 18 years of age and older, living in the continental United States. All interviews were undertaken using computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) technology. A total of 772 interviews were conducted among landline respondents, and 250 interviews were conducted among cell phone respondents. Results are weighted to represent the U.S. population using data from the Current Population Survey on age, gender, race, region, and education from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The overall margin of sampling error for the total N of 1,022 is +/- 3.5.

Image Courtesy of  Walter G Arce / Shutterstock.com

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Atlanta, U.S.A. — From June 28th Supreme Court ruling that upholds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to the FDA’s approval of the first new obesity drug in 13 years, June has been a hot month for major news impacting the U.S. biotechnology sector.

Biopharmaceutical drugmakers have held their collective breath wondering what would happen with health care reform and many hesitated to commit resources to implement certain provisions, such as those related to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires them to report payments made to physicians and teaching hospitals. With this ruling, it’s now clear they need to act. The ACA also protects a 12-year marketing exclusivity provision for biologics and upholds a regulatory pathway for biosimilars, which is positive news for biopharmas.

“Bottom line, despite the myriad complexities which biotechs must now weed through, the ACA translates into important business opportunities for biopharmas, not the least of which is a burgeoning biosimilars sub-industry,” said Lynn Yoffee, executive editor of BioWorld Today. “Despite over-hanging world economic conditions, biotech is one U.S. business sector that is working. The sector grew by 6.4 percent between 2001-2010 compared to a 2.9 percent decline in overall U.S. private-sector jobs. Twenty two new biotech drugs have been approved already in 2012, the latest including promising new drugs for breast cancer and obesity. President Obama is poised to sign critical legislation which creates new user fees for generics and biosimilars. And capping off June, the Supreme Court upheld the ACA, yielding both positive and negative ripples.”

BioWorld has kept industry insiders abreast of these key stories as they happen, sometimes within minutes. “And we go beyond the breaking news; we provide key perspective on the impact for the drug development sector,” Yoffee said.

Image Courtesy of  Paolo Vairo / Shutterstock.com

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Seattle, U.S.A. — The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) expressed strong approval for the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold all major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With many reforms already having a positive impact in Washington, WSNA has pledged to continue work already under way to increase access to quality, affordable, appropriate care.

As front line health care providers, registered nurses are acutely aware of the consequences when people do not have access or cannot afford quality health care. Our health care system has been plagued by rising health care costs, increasing numbers of uninsured and under insured individuals, and growing disparities in health care access. With the passage of health care reform came the promise that we would fix our broken health care system, lower costs, and improve health outcomes.

“It is incredibly encouraging to know that the Supreme Court stands behind health care reform and has agreed that we must move forward with this transformational process. Nurses supported health care reform because we knew that our patients and our communities could no longer thrive under a broken health care system. As more and more pieces are implemented, I hope I will no longer have the heartbreak of seeing patients forced to make decisions about their treatment based on cost rather than what’s best for their recovery. We all know there is still much work to do, but this is truly a moment to celebrate,” said Julia Weinberg, RN, President of the Washington State Nurses Association.

There are currently over one million people in Washington without health insurance who will benefit from programs already in development. A state health-insurance exchange will allow many of these individuals to purchase affordable insurance and the ACA also includes provisions to expand Medicaid. WSNA is committed to ensuring that the exchange and Medicaid expansion move forward so that Washington can continue to increase access to health care.

“Nurses are already seeing the positive effects such as increased coverage for young adults and better access to preventive care. Increasing access to coverage will only continue to provide more benefits and better outcomes to individuals and our state as a whole. As we increase coverage and access, we are also increasing demand on our health care system and it is critical that we have an adequate supply of qualified registered nurses moving forward. Now is the time for nurses to be involved in planning for the future of our health care system and the future of our profession,” said Judy Huntington, MN, RN, Executive Director of the Washington State Nurses Association.

WSNA, along with the American Nurses Association, has consistently supported and advocated for a system that guarantees every single person in this country has access to quality care in a timely fashion by the most appropriate health care provider at an affordable cost. Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, WSNA has worked with local, state and national partners to represent the nursing profession and ensure that nurses’ voices are included in planning and implementation of reform.

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Around 10:15 AM today the Supreme Court announced that the Obama Affordable Care Act has been completely upheld, including the individual mandate. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of keeping the new law known as “Obamacare.”

Justice Roberts did announce that the individual mandate could not be justified through the Commerce Clause but instead through the Taxing Clause. Roberts stated, “When a court confronts an unconstitutional statue its endeavor must be to conserve, not destroy the legislation.”

Roberts claimed that allowing the Commerce Clause to be used to justify the individual mandate would “open a new and vast domain” for Congressional Power. Never before has Congress had the power under the Commerce Clause to tell individuals to buy something. What the Supreme Court was worried about under this justification is that there would be no limit to what Congress could tell the American people to buy or not buy.

Justice Roberts also claimed that the required expansion of Medicaid may violate states’ rights. He wrote, “the states are given no choice in this case. They must either accept a basic change in the nature of Medicaid or risk losing all Medicaid funding.” This part of the law is the one part that Roberts states the federal government cannot require of states but is still a limited ruling. Roberts says that the justices have not completely removed this part of the law but have stated that they have included a possible solution to this problem in their ruling.

So far the Physicians for National Health Program have already responded to the ruling claiming they disagree with the Supreme Court ruling because 26 million people will still not be insured. They also advocate for a single-payer option.

The GOP has already started the fight to repeal the ruling, writing on Twitter, “The fight for #FullRepeal begins NOW. The way to get rid of #Obamacare is to defeat Obama in November.” The GOP claims that the Supreme Court has set “the stakes for the November election.”

For continuous updates see the CNN News Blog.

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In the world of politics, there is nothing better than an opponent that shoots themselves in the foot. Hence, President Obama is having a much better time currently, than he should be.

Unemployment is still high and the debt is astronomical. Gas prices are high and rising and many of the President’s foreign policy accomplishments are footnotes because of Syria, Iran, and he’s continued throwing of Israel under the bus. But, none of that matters as much, because for the last three weeks the topic of choice has been the controversy regarding birth control and the President’s healthcare mandates.

If this is new to you, here are the bullet points. The Affordable Care Act that President Obama passed, mandates preventative medical care at no cost to anyone. No co-pays, no deductibles. Included in the preventive care list is coverage for birth control pills, the morning after pill, and elective sterilization procedures. Most company insurance plans already provide coverage for birth control, but now it must be covered for no co-pay.

The morning after pills and the sterilization surgeries would be at no cost as well. However, the Catholic Church does not believe in birth control and want waivers for having to provide coverage to employees of their schools and nonprofit organizations. The President refused, and the Republicans had an issue right up their wheelhouse.

So for the last two weeks, Republicans have been chopping at the bit regarding the infringement on religious rights by the President and the President has not been hurt by the debate because all that Americans hear are Republicans railing against birth control pills.  Except, that is not what they are upset about. The issue is that the government should not be trying to make religious organizations do things against their religious beliefs. The real problem however is that the Republicans have again allowed the Democrats to frame the issue.

Most women in the country, 98%, have used birth control pills. Though it is easy to make people who fight against the mandate sound as though they are against birth control, that is not the real issue. The real issue is one of personal responsibility. If you are a woman reading this, or a man that is discussing this with a woman, you need to ask yourself: “Why I should have to pay for your birth control pills?”

That is the real issue. No one disputes that women should be able to get birth control pills, if she wants them. But, why should they be free? Whether a woman uses them is a personal choice, but at what point did we start thinking that other people are required to pay for your choices?

Food is more important than sex, should others pay for your groceries as well? Sterilization surgeries are elective, so it makes equally little sense to not let the person electing to do it, pay for it. I believe there is no difference between that and a woman getting a breast implant. Should we pay for them as well?

This is not only the more effective line of attack, but it is also the more understandable. Not only should the religious employers not have to pay for a woman’s birth control, but also neither should anyone else.

Republicans have allowed themselves to again get distracted by a social issue that does not win the election or overall opinion polls.  If they focused on the personal responsibility aspect of this issue, they would be winning the debate. Because even women could disagree to pay for the decisions that other women make.

This is a classic case of what is right: arguing against the infringement on religious rights, versus being effective in arguing that it is wrong to make others pay for the elective decisions that individuals make in their own lives. If the Republicans continue to make this mistake, not only will they lose the election, but the U.S. will take an even closer step toward a society in which personal responsibility is absent from all areas of life.

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/

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Americans United for Life joined forces with other pro-life legal organizations to file the leading pro-life amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Obama Administration’s healthcare law, violates the Constitution by forcing Americans to pay for abortion.

AUL President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest stated, “President Obama’s healthcare overhaul includes an ‘abortion premium mandate’ that blatantly violates the conscience rights and First Amendment religious rights of millions of Americans. Nowhere in the Constitution does it require Americans to violate their beliefs and pay for abortions.”

Yoest noted that courts agreed with her assessment. “The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Affordable Care Act, including the ‘abortion premium mandate’, was ‘an unprecedented exercise of congressional power.’ Today’s amicus brief demonstrates to the Supreme Court that the Eleventh Circuit was correct in their analysis,” she said.

Nestled within the “individual mandate” in the Act—that portion of the Act requiring every American to purchase government-approved insurance or pay a penalty—is an “abortion premium mandate.”

This mandate requires all persons enrolled in insurance plans that include elective abortion coverage to pay a separate premium from their own pockets to fund abortion. As a result, pro-life Americans will have to decide between a plan that violates their consciences by funding abortion, or a plan that may not meet their health needs.

“Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a clear abortion agenda hidden in the pages of the healthcare law through the controversy surrounding the abortion-inducing drug mandate,” said Dr.Yoest.

“Forcing either companies or individuals to pay for abortion-inducing drugs against their consciences is a clear violation of the rights of individuals under the First Amendment. This case is further evidence that abortion is included throughout the healthcare law.

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The percentage of U.S. citizens screened for cancer remains below national targets, with significant disparities among racial and ethnic populations, according to the first federal study to identify cancer screening disparities among Asian and Hispanic groups.

The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

In 2010, breast cancer screening rates were 72.4 percent, below the Healthy People 2020 target of 81 percent; cervical cancer screening was 83 percent, below the target of 93 percent; and colorectal cancer screening was 58.6 percent, below the target of 70.5 percent, according to the study, “Cancer Screening in the United States – 2010.”

Screening rates for all three cancers were significantly lower among Asians (64.1 percent for breast cancer, 75.4 percent for cervical cancer, and 46.9 percent for colorectal cancer) compared to other groups, the study found.  Hispanics were less likely to be screened for cervical and colorectal cancer (78.7 percent and 46.5 percent, respectively) when compared to non-Hispanics (83.8 percent and 59.9 percent, respectively).

“It is troubling to see that not all Americans are getting the recommended cancer screenings and that disparities continue to persist for certain populations. Screening can find breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers at an early stage when treatment is more effective,” said Sallyann Coleman King, M.D., an epidemic intelligence service officer in CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control and lead author of the study.

“We must continue to monitor cancer screening rates to improve the health of all Americans.” Healthy People 2020 sets national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. Such objectives include the use of screening tests recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers.

Women aged 50-74 years should be screened for breast cancer with a mammogram every two years. Women who have been sexually active for three years or are aged 21-65 years should be screened for cervical cancer with a Pap test at least every three years.

Colorectal cancer screening is recommended for average-risk men and women aged 50-75 years, using high-sensitivity fecal occult blood test (FOBT), done at home every year; sigmoidoscopy every five years, with high-sensitivity FOBT every three years; or colonoscopy every 10 years.

To assess the use of currently recommended cancer screening tests by age, race, ethnicity, education, length of residence in the United States, and the source and financing of health care researchers analyzed data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, which tracks progress toward the achievement of  Healthy People 2020 objectives.

For the ethnic subgroups, Asians were classified as Chinese, Filipino, or other Asian and Hispanics as Puerto Rican, Mexican, Mexican-American, Central or South American, or other Hispanic.

Significant findings include:

• Screening rates for breast cancer remained relatively stable and varied no more than 3 percent over the period 2000-2010.
• From 2000-2010, colorectal cancer screening rates increased markedly for men and women, with the rate for women increasing slightly faster so that rates among both sexes were nearly identical (58.5 percent for men and 58.8 percent for women) in 2010.
• From 2000-2010, a small but statistically significant downward trend of 3.3 percent was observed in the rate of women who reported getting a Pap test within the last three years.
• Considerably lower breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening use was reported by those without any usual source of health care or health insurance.

The authors note that this study reinforces the need to identify and track cancer screening disparities. Additionally, the report provides guidance for the development programs to increase the use of screening tests in order to meet Healthy People 2020 targets and simultaneously reduce cancer morbidity and mortality.

“Healthy People objectives are important for monitoring progress toward reducing the burden of cancer in the United States. Our study points to the particular need for finding ways to increase the use of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening tests among Asians, Hispanics, as well as adults who lack health insurance or a usual source of health care” said Carrie Klabunde, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and a co-author of the study.

According to the authors, the Affordable Care Act is expected to reduce financial barriers to care by expanding insurance coverage. Other efforts are needed such as developing systems that identify individuals eligible for cancer screening tests, actively encouraging the use of screening tests, and monitoring participation to improve screening rates, they say.

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Many regard the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade as a significant step forward in women’s reproductive rights. The decision, handed down in 1971, affirmatively answered the question of whether women had the right to terminate their pregnancies through abortions.

However, as the case celebrates its 39^th anniversary, there are concerns that the progress made in granting women full control of their bodies will soon be for naught.

“Despite the fact that the majority of Americans believe that women have the right to make deeply personal decisions about their health care, the attacks on abortion have been unrelenting,” said Lillian Tamayo, the CEO of Planned Parenthood.

Tamayo firmly contends that this progress must not see hindrance, an opinion that she made known outside the Federal Building in Broward, Fl. on January 22 at 3 p.m.  Tamayo was one of an estimated 100 attendees at a Pro-Choice Rally held at the courthouse to not only recognize the impact of Roe v. Wade on women’s rights, but to encourage those present to not allow their leaders to take those rights away.

Other persons who turned out at the Rally included additional members of Planned Parenthood, representatives from the Pro-Choice Coalition of Broward County, as well as a group of medical students from Nova. Each of these individuals spent equal amounts of time waving their signs on the sides of the street, to appreciative honks and waves from drivers, as well as listening to individuals make their opinions known about the tenuous state of women’s reproductive rights.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a senator from Florida and Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, also appeared at this rally, along with Patrick Murphy and Lois Frankel – two people who are aiming to join Mrs. Schultz in the Congressional halls. Frankel and Murphy are both aiming for the seat occupied by Rep. Allen West. Frankel expressed particular disgust at his obstinate attitude:

“He is uncompromising and bombastic at a time where we need to roll up our sleeves and work together,” Frankel said. Frankel chose to attend this rally to continue her fight for women’s rights. She thought it was important for women to have the tools necessary to make key life decisions concerning their pregnancies.

She was quick to point out that West has used his time in Congress to regress the rights of women. “He voted for the Ryan bill, a proposal that would have limited a woman’s access to maternity care. He has also voted to defund Planned Parenthood and has chastised women who support Planned Parenthood’s values,” she said.

Murphy also expressed revulsion at West’s actions and attitude, mentioning that voters deem his style of leadership unacceptable. “Voters want an individual who will move the country forward, as well as someone who is qualified enough to understand the issues of the day,” he said. Murphy expressed confidence that he could be that person; jobs are what voters are thinking about, and should he win, that issue will be top priority.

“The first action I would take should I be elected is to promote the President’s American Jobs Act,” he said. Wasserman Schultz also took the time to reference the President when it was time for her to address the audience; she noted his bravery in standing up to anti-choice groups by protecting the birth control coverage benefit portion of the Affordable Care Act.

“Having a president that will stand up for women and their rights is crucial,” she noted. As she continued speaking to the audience, she pointed out that legal abortion actually helps in keeping women safe, stating that in 1965, 20 percent of all reported maternal deaths were due to illegal abortions.

Moreover, she encouraged abortion detractors to find common ground with abortion supporters, rather than undermine their efforts. “Instead of working against us by voting to defund Title X Family Planning programs for women who need them most, work with us to make abortion safe, legal and rare,” she said.

Wasserman Schultz remarked on how the Republicans in the House of Representatives have addressed bills that aim to defund Planned Parenthood and redefine rape to where it only included “forcible” actions. “This is what we are up against,” she said, and used this point to emphasize the importance of speaking out to make sure that women are able to retain their reproductive rights.

The DNC Chairwoman’s speech brought cheers from the audience upon its completion. Lauren Bello, part of the Broward Youth Council, found Wasserman Schultz’s words “inspiring”. “It is a good eye opener for young people to vote on these issues, which are far more important than people give them credit for,” she said.

Estee Rosenberg Paviled, a realtor and artist, hoped that the DNC Chairwoman’s message would resonate with members of Congress and make them cease their assault on women’s rights. “I think it is terrible how they are trying to turn the clocks back on a woman’s right to choose. We need to keep government out of our bedrooms,” she said.

As a new Congressional session progresses, each of the attendees at the rally made it clear that they were going to keep a close eye on how members of Congress vote on women’s rights. “Women are going to be watching them closely and taking names,” said Tamayo.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has completed its recommendations for three user fee programs that will help speed safe and effective drugs and lower-cost generic drug and biosimilar biological products to patients, FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. said on January 13. The recommendations were transmitted to Congress by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The programs include the fifth authorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), and new user fee programs for human generic drugs and biosimilar biological products. Work on the proposals was concluded before the agency’s mid-January deadline.

Under a user fee program, industry agrees to pay fees to help fund a portion of the FDA’s drug review activities while the FDA agrees to overall performance goals such as reviewing a certain percentage of applications within a particular time frame.

“These final recommendations offer a great example of what can be achieved when the FDA, industry and other stakeholders work together on the same goal,” Hamburg said. “At a time of greater budgetary constraint, user fees provide a critical way for leveraging appropriated dollars, ensuring that FDA has the resources needed to conduct reviews in a timely fashion.”

Said Hamburg: “Human drug user fees have revolutionized the drug review process in the United Statessince they were adopted 20 years ago, allowing the FDA to speed the application review process without compromising the agency’s high standards.”

The proposed user fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars are modeled on the successful PDUFA program “which has ensured a predictable, consistent, and streamlined premarket program for prescription drugs,” Hamburg said.  As a result of the continued investment of PDUFA resources, the United States now leads the world in first introduction of novel drugs.

PDUFA was created by Congress in 1992 and must be reauthorized every five years. The current program, known as PDUFA IV, will expire on Sept. 30, 2012, unless reauthorized by Congress. FDA’s recommendations for PDUFA V were developed in consultation both with drug industry representatives and with patient and consumer advocates.

Under the recommendations, fees paid by industry would support continued timely review of critical prescription drugs, as well as advance the development of drugs for rare diseases, provide for enhanced communication with small or emerging companies, increase the use of standardized electronic data to improve quality and efficiency, and foster the use of new clinical endpoints that improve drug development times and help address unmet medical needs.

The proposed new Generic Drug User Fee program would provide the FDA with needed funding at a time when generic drug applications are on the rise. Generic drug user fees would help ensure consumers timely access to safe, high-quality and effective generic drugs, which account for two-thirds of all prescriptions dispensed in the U.S.

The FDA receives 800 to 900 new generic-drug-related applications annually. These applications are increasingly complex and frequently involve products manufactured outside of the U.S. In exchange for fees on facilities and product applications, the proposal includes performance metrics such as review timeframes and a commitment to achieve parity between surveillance inspections of foreign and domestic establishments by the 2017 fiscal year. As a result, FDA expects that the proposal would effectively eliminate the review backlog and significantly reduce review times.

A biosimilar is a biological product that is highly similar to a U.S.-licensed reference biological product notwithstanding minor differences in clinically inactive components, and for which there are no clinically meaningful differences between the biological product and the reference product in terms of the safety, purity, and potency of the product.

The proposed Biosimilar and Interchangeable Products User Fee program is intended for products approved under a new abbreviated approval pathway for biological products shown to be biosimilar to or interchangeable with an FDA-licensed biological product. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 contains a subtitle called the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCI) of 2009, which established this pathway.

Prior to it becoming law, competition in the biologic drug market was stifled. Enactment of BPCI will spark the development of a new segment of the industry, where companies will be able to develop alternative products. This will help spur innovation, improve consumer choice and drive down costs.

The recommended user fee program for biosimilars includes fees for products in development to generate revenue in the near-term and to provide FDA with the resources needed to support development-phase meetings with sponsors of biosimilar biological product candidates.

For more information:

User fees
http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/default.htm

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The Department of Health and Human Service issued a nearly unanimous recommendation about birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act last week. The panel stated that birth control should be covered 100 percent by insurers to an outcry of opposition from different facets. Some groups condemn the guidelines because it might include the controversial morning after pill.

The Catholics for Choice organization opposes the fact that the guidelines exempt certain religious organizations from having to cover birth control. Some companies worry that the expanded coverage will equal more expensive insurance policies.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) expressed his own outrage of the plan on Monday.  He stated that offering free birth control could mean the end of the entire species.  Speaking on the House floor, King stated:

We have people that are single, we have people that are past reproductive age, we have priests that are celibate. All of them, paying insurance premiums that cover contraceptives so that somebody else doesn’t have to pay the full fare of that? And they’ve called it Preventative medicine.

Well if you applied that preventative medicine universally what you end up with is you’ve prevented a generation. Preventing babies from being born is not medicine. That’s not— that’s not constructive to our culture and our civilization. If we let our birth rate get down below replacement rate we’re a dying civilization.

King also called the new guidelines “bizarre” and “Orwellian.”

“Now none of us would have health to worry about if they prevented us,” he said, “would we, Mr. Speaker?”

That is what insurance is though. We all pay for other people’s treatment.  By King’s logic, I shouldn’t have to pay for overweight smokers with heart disease either. We really need some sort of intelligence test before an elected official can be sworn in. And a far more pressing problem to humanity is global warming which King and his GOP colleagues ignore every chance they get.

The new guidelines were recommended by the panel of experts at the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine. The guidelines will ensure that all health insurance companies fully cover a range of preventative health services for women, including contraceptives, cancer screenings, breast-feeding supplies and HIV testing.

A recent poll states that 77 percent of American voters believe that insurers should cover the cost of contraceptives without co-pays.

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