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Removal Of Ban On Federal Funding For Needle Exchange Programs To Be Debated In Congress
An amendment to the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill for health, labor and education programs that opposes the lifting of the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs will come to the House floor for debate today along with four others, CQ Today reports. Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) "will offer an amendment to strip language that would lift the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs," CQ writes. According to CQ Today, "Conservatives are concerned that eliminating the ban on federal funds for such programs, which are designed to reduce the transmission of HIV and other diseases, would be tantamount to helping fund addicts" drug habits. Democrats say science has shown that such programs, when coupled with comprehensive prevention strategies, can reduce the rate of [HIV] infections and do not promote drug use." House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) "added compromise language in the committee this week that would prohibit funds from going to needle exchange programs within 1,000 feet of facilities that serve children, such as schools and parks," the article states. The House is expected to vote on the amendment and the appropriations bill today (Wolfe, 7/23).

President Obama Joins In Chorus Of Complaints About CBO Figures
President Barack Obama joins the chorus of Democrats who criticize Congressional Budget Office numbers and claim that their analyses estimates aren"t fair. The criticism comes after the agency provided $1 to $1.6 trillion estimates for two of the Democrats" draft health care reform bills.
News of the day
State News: Overrides, Cuts And Fraud
The Connecticut legislature used its override in both chambers to undo seven vetoes by the governor, including one to cover most Connecticut residents, called SustiNet, The Hartford Courant reports: "Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney said that healthcare, "in many ways, has become a cloud of worry"" over much of society. SustiNet"s nine-member board of directors will study the issue (covering people and cost) for 17 months before giving its recommendations to the legislature in January 2011" (Keating, 7/20).
Mental Health

Nationwide Telemedicine Networks Are Essential For Successful Health Care Reform

The U.S. healthcare system is in critical need of basic change to enable more equitable, effective, efficient care. Experts in various fields of medicine, public health, and industry propose that telemedicine, or information technology enhanced healthcare, must be a core component of a viable healthcare reform strategy, a view they forcefully present in a white paper published online ahead of print in Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. The white paper is available free online Well-designed telemedicine systems have proven value for improving access to quality healthcare, providing effective clinical decision support and medication prescribing, promoting patient-centered care through community- and home-based res, enhancing chronic disease management, and promoting adoption of healthy lifestyle choices and self-care, and containing cost inflation. Telemedicine offers substantial benefits that greatly exceed its cost. The white paper, entitled "National Telemedicine Initiatives: Essential to Healthcare Reform," presents a consensus perspective developed by a diverse group of healthcare providers, researchers, academicians, and industry representatives from across the U.S. Lead authors Rashid L. Bashshur, PhD from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Gary W. Shannon, PhD from the University of Kentucky (Lexington), clearly state that, "While not a panacea, telemedicine offers significant opportunities to address the issues of inequities in access to care, cost containment, and quality enhancement." Contributing authors include Elizabeth A. Krupinski, PhD, Jim Grigsby, PhD, Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Ronald S. Weinstein, MD, Jay H. Sanders, MD, Karen S. Rheuban, MD, Thomas S. Nesbitt, MD, Dale C. Alverson, MD, Ronald C. Merrell, MD, Jonathan D. Linkous, A. Stewart Ferguson, PhD, Robert J. Waters, JD, Max E. Stachura, MD, David G. Ellis, MD, Nina M. Antoniotti, PhD, Barbara Johnston, MSN, Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Peter Yellowlees, MD, Steven Normandin, and Joseph Tracy The authors encourage the continuing effort to make electronic health records (EHRs) universally available, but caution that an exclusive focus on EHRs would result in increased cost without addressing the necessary changes for effective and sustainable healthcare reform. On a broader scale, telemedicine systems will incorporate EHRs as well as a host of other technologies that enable the electronic acquisition, storage, retrieval, and exchange of information "for the purpose of promoting health, preventing disease, treating the sick, managing chronic illness, rehabilitating the disabled, and protecting public health and safety. "Telemedicine is the common element to make reform succeed," says Journal Co-Editor-in-Chief Ronald Merrell, MD, Professor of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, "Telemedicine involves stunning new technologies that go well beyond just using electronic health records, which can ensure both quality care and cost savings if this technology is widely applied throughout health systems. Telemedicine applications have been tested and proven through years of research and are ready for scalable expansion to serve the entire country and make healthcare reform a reality and a success." Amy Gleason Quarshie Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News 140 Huguenot Street, 3rd Floor New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215, USA


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