Chicago Tribune Examines Use Of Urgent Care Centers

More people have begun using urgent care centers as a means of avoiding waiting for care in emergency departments or for a doctor’s appointment, the Chicago Tribune reports. Urgent care centers provide medical services with no appointment and offer extended hours to customers seeking care for a wide range of non-life-threatening issues. Staff physicians, assisted by nurses, administer the care and generally have access to X-ray and laboratory services. Most services provided at the centers are covered by insurance, the Tribune reports.

Primer Examines Health Care Delivery Payment Incentives; Statehealthfacts.org Updates Data

“Health Quality, Delivery Improvements Will Lower Spiraling Costs,” U.S. Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups: The brief argues that skewed payment incentives, which increase costs and diminish the quality of care, are the core problem in the U.S. health care delivery system. The document also finds more than $299 billion in health care spending that could be saved each year if the coordinated approach used by Utah’s Intermountain Health System were implemented nationwide. The primer also includes a detailed list of policy recommendations for health care delivery problems (U.S. PIRG release, 4/16).

Primer Examines Health Care Delivery Payment Incentives; Statehealthfacts.org Updates Data

“Health Quality, Delivery Improvements Will Lower Spiraling Costs,” U.S. Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups: The brief argues that skewed payment incentives, which increase costs and diminish the quality of care, are the core problem in the U.S. health care delivery system. The document also finds more than $299 billion in health care spending that could be saved each year if the coordinated approach used by Utah’s Intermountain Health System were implemented nationwide. The primer also includes a detailed list of policy recommendations for health care delivery problems (U.S. PIRG release, 4/16).

AP/Washington Times Examines Factors Behind High Maternal Mortality In Haiti

The AP/Washington Times on Tuesday examined the high maternal mortality rate in Haiti and the efforts of international not-for-profits, including the Clinton Global Initiative and Doctors Without Borders, to address the issue. According to a 2008 UNICEF report, 670 women died from pregnancy-related factors for every 100,000 live births in Haiti in 2006. By contrast, in the U.S. that year, 11 women died for every 100,000 live births. Haiti’s maternal mortality rate is more than five times the Latin American and Caribbean average, and it is higher than any South Asian or Middle Eastern country except Afghanistan and Nepal. Wendy Lai of Doctors Without Borders Holland called the situation “embarrassing to the Western world.” She added, “[T]hese are preventable deaths.”

New York Times Examines New York City Bill To Protect Patients, Staff At Abortion Clinics

The New York Times on Sunday examined a bill introduced by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn that aims to protect patients and staff at local health clinics that provide abortion services. The bill, introduced by Quinn in September, would protect patients and staff from “harassment by antiabortion activists who gather outside the clinics’ doors,” according to the Times. “You ask a lot of New Yorkers, they would say, ‘This doesn’t go on in our city, in New York,'” Quinn said, adding, “The truth is, it does.”

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Examines Challenges Facing Independent Pharmacies

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday examined some of the challenges facing independent pharmacies nationwide, such as growing competition from large chain and mail-order pharmacies, decreased reimbursement rates, and increased state and federal regulations. Such challenges are “especially tough in rural states such as Arkansas, where pharmacists may be the only health care professionals in small towns that don’t have a large enough population to attract chain stores,” the Democrat-Gazette reports.

New York Times Examines California HIV Testing Bill

The New York Timeson Thursday examined a California bill (AB 1894) that requires health care plans operating in the state to pay for routine HIV testing. The bill was signed into law on Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) (Cathcart, New York Times, 10/2). According to the California Office of AIDS, about 40,000 Californians are HIV-positive but are not aware of their status. CDC figures show that about 40% of the U.S. population has ever received an HIV test (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 10/1). The law will provide coverage for routine HIV testing for 22.19 million people, according to the California Health Benefits Review Program.

Commonwealth Fund Report Examines Health Care Proposals Of Major Presidential Candidates

The health care proposal of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is more likely to improve health care affordability, accessibility, efficiency and quality than the plan of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), according to a report released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, Reuters/Boston Globereports.

The report discusses recent estimates from the Tax Policy Center that found the Obama proposal would reduce the number of uninsured by 33.9 million in 10 years, relative to a projected 67 million U.S. residents who will lack by 2018 coverage (Steenhuysen, Reuters/Boston Globe, 10/2). In the first year, the proposal would lower the number of uninsured by 18.4 million at a cost of $86 billion, according to the Tax Policy Center figures. They estimated that the proposal would cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years (Stanchak, CQ HealthBeat, 10/2).

Los Angeles Times Examines Calif. Ballot Measure To Require Parental Notification For Minors Seeking Abortions

The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday examined Proposition 4, a California ballot measure that would require physicians to notify a parent or adult family member 48 hours before providing abortion services to a minor. The measure would amend the state constitution by barring abortions to minors until at least 48 hours after notification of the minor’s parents or an adult family member.

The proposition is similar to two California ballot propositions in 2005 and 2006 that failed to pass. The 2005 measure received about 47% of voter support, and about 46% of state voters favored the 2006 initiative. Revisions to Proposition 4 from the past proposition include allowing an adult family member — including a grandparent or sibling — to be notified instead of a parent when the physician reports suspected or known child abuse to law enforcement. Judges also can waive the notification requirement in cases where they find evidence that the minor’s maturity is substantial, or if an abortion is in the minor’s best interest, such as a medical emergency. Parents also could waive the notification and waiting period through a written note.

IRIN/PlusNews Examines Effect Of World Food Programme Pullout In Uganda On HIV-Positive People

The United Nations World Food Programme is withdrawing food aid to some HIV-positive people in Uganda as part of broader cutbacks in the country’s aid program that have come after a shortfall in funding, IRIN/PlusNews reports. The decrease in food aid is estimated to affect 1.5 million people, in addition to the children in the school feeding program, which also will be cutback.

According to IRIN/PlusNews, WFP has been providing food aid to an estimated 173,000 HIV-positive people in Uganda and will continue to provide aid to HIV-positive people who fit into certain categories, such as internally displaced people, children in the insecure region of Karamoja in northeastern Uganda and new mothers and their infants. Stanlake Samkange, WFP’s Uganda representative, said that the agency has reviewed their programs and is going to provide support where it has “few actors” and “better funding,” adding that if “funding becomes available and there is a role for WFP to play, we will be happy to help.” Samkange added that it would be “irresponsible” for the agency to “make commitments” to provide food when it is not certain it can do so.