1) Today, the Chicago Tribune covered health care reform and its potential impact on low-income individuals in Chicago. Erie Family Health Center and other community health agencies were featured in the story by Judith Graham.
2) Four community health centers in Milwaukee received $1 million from GE to increase primary care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. This is the second city to receive GE Developing Health funding – a three-year program providing funding to health centers.
4) The story of health care reform continues to unfold. Currently, the Obama administration is putting the pressure on for House Democrats to give the green light on health care. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the most recent Democrat to ‘flip’ their vote from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’
5) Public Health Officials in Lake County (northern Illinois) have partnered with local churches to make a final push for H1N1 vaccination. Read Beats Per Minute’s coverage on why it is still important to get vaccinated this late in the flu season.
For many, it feels like the flu has gone away. Away from the headlines on TV, the web, radio. Away from the ERs and health clinics. After H1N1 influenza ravished an unprepared America in the late spring 2009, and again in the fall and early winter, it has basically disappeared. But should we let down our guard and stop worrying?
It’s true that most areas of the country are reporting either no or only sporadic (Illinois) flu activity. The most activity is in the South and in Maine. All of it is well below epidemic levels and it’s all H1N1, not other strains of flu virus that we sometimes call the “seasonal flu.”
Erie Family Health Center would like to thank everyone who came out to Paint the Town Red on February 24, 2010. The event was a huge success, raising over $50,000 for Erie’s HIV/AIDS program, Lending Hands for Life. A special thank you to all of our sponsors and Erie’s Junior Board.
For all who supported Erie in this event, this video is dedicated to you! Thank you!
1) A study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that a $1 increase in the cost of soda (one liter) translated into significant health benefits, including 2.34 pounds in decreased weight and improvement in the risk of heart disease. This study was released just as New York begins a final push for a soda tax.
2) Did you know that today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It is a day to recognize the special risks HIV/AIDS poses for women and girls, and to raise awareness of the disease’s increasing impact on them. In 2007, more than a quarter of HIV those diagnosed with HIV were women.
3) President Obama has continued his push to pass health care reform in the upcoming weeks, keeping to his commitment of March 18. Congress, however, seems to be on a different page than the President, with many contentious issues, such as abortion, still left unresolved.
4) Today in Springfield, Governor Pat Quinn gave a speech on the current state budget crisis and his proposed FY11 budget. In sum, Quinn plans to use five strategies to ease the fiscal crisis: cutting spending, strategic borrowing, maximizing federal assistance, new jobs and increasing revenues. His speech included a plea for a 1% increase in income taxes in order to fund education at the current levels.
5) Researchers have discovered that the HIV virus can hide in bone marrow cells and eventually turn into blood cells. This research explains why patients need to follow strict medication adherence, even if the virus is absent from their blood cells. Eventually, researchers believe that this finding will allow them to develop better medications to treat the disease in the blood and other parts of the body, including bone marrow.
For the last week most of us have heard the word ‘reconciliation’ more than we thought possible – it is quickly becoming the ‘hanging chad’ of 2010. As the days go on, some believe it is more and more likely that the Senate will pass health care reform legislation using reconciliation. But how many of us around the country are looking at one another and asking: What on earth is reconciliation? Well, search no more because Beats Per Minute is going to try to provide some answers! Over the last week, we have done some research in order to understand this process better. While we are certainly not experts, here is our best attempt to break down this very complicated process. And please chime in if you have something to add!
The History
Reconciliation evolved from the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Twenty-two bills have been approved using reconciliation since 1980, 16 by a Republican controlled Senate and 6 by Democrats. There are many well-known pieces of legislation that were passed recently using reconciliation, including Bush tax cuts and Clinton welfare reform. Read more about the history of reconciliation here.
1) This week President Obama released the final details on the health care reform bill and urged Congress to give an up or down vote on the legislation. In remarks to a group of medical professionals, President Obama asked Congress to put aside politics and take action on behalf of the American people.
2) Politico confirmed from Senator Tom Harkin that Senate Dems have decided to use reconciliation as a means to pass health care reform.
3) Meanwhile, at the local level, big Chicago hospitals saw huge profit gains in 2009 while smaller hospitals continued to struggle.
4) Recent research published in the New England Journal of Medicinefound that certain segments of the U.S. population have a higher prevalence of HIV than exists in parts of Africa. For example: “More than 1 in 30 adults in Washington, D.C., are HIV-infected—a prevalence higher than that reported in Ethiopia, Nigeria, or Rwanda.”
5)Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report this month that provides a breakdown by state of the federal dollars spent on public health. The report found that spending for public health has been flat and steady for the last five years and that the Midwest received the least amount of funding for disease prevention.
Erie Family Health Center celebrated the 20th anniversary of our award winning HIV/AIDS program at Paint the Town Red held on Wednesday, February 24 at Martini Park. The evening included cocktails, a silent auction (including tickets to see Oprah, a weekend stay with spa treatments at The Trump International Hotel, a behind the scenes private tour at the Field Museum), a raffle for a trip to Mexico, live entertainment with the band Hey Jimmy, appetizers and a good time for all! Erie would like to thank everyone who helped make Paint the Town Red 2010 an incredible success! Due to the partnership of our Junior Board, sponsors, vendors, guests, entertainers, staff and volunteers – this year’s event raised nearly $50,000 to support Erie’s Lending Hands for Life program to provide even more care to those living with AIDS/HIV in Chicago.
View the video premiered at the event to learn more about Erie’s HIV/AIDS program:
The health care summit has started up again after a short break. Erie took a little bit of a longer break but now we are back in the mix!
1:14 – After the break the group came back and is still discussing health insurance regulation.
1:18 – We are back to talking about pre-existing conditions. President Obama is discussing why he disagrees with setting up high risk pools for those who have more pre-existing conditions (‘older, sicker people’).
1:26 – Senator Jay Rockefeller (D) does not really care for health insurance companies: ‘they are in it for the money.’ Then he referred to them as sharks. He feels this way because of lack of oversight, anti-trust rules, etc. Senator Rockefeller believes that they need more restrictions in order to make them more accountable (or ‘clip their wings’ as Senator Rockefeller said).
Good morning everyone! We are getting ready here to start the live blog thread here in a few minutes. If you are at a computer and want to watch the health care summit on a live stream you can do so at the White House website for live videos. Otherwise C-SPAN is offering great coverage on all of their tv and radio outlets.
8:52 – The room at Blair House looks quite full. Speaker Pelosi is also present. Everyone is beginning to sit – looks like things will be starting soon!
8:58 - Kathleen Sebelius was sitting in Harry Reid’s seat. He definitely did not look happy when he asked her to move! A nice bit of humor for the morning.
8:59 – President Obama is walking to the Blair House right now.
9:04 – After walking across the street to Blair House, President Obama has just arrived! He is currently making the rounds and shaking hands with everyone. After, he is beginning a quick opening statement.
As you all know, tonight is Paint the Town Red, Erie’s event for our HIV/AIDS program, Lending Hands for Life. Well over 200 people will be in attendance this evening! As such, Health Beats is on hiatus for this week but we will return next week!
Also, stay tuned tomorrow as we live blog the President Obama’s bipartisan health care summit! Tune in starting at 9:00am for a play by play of the summit!
In the meantime, here’s a little Paint the Town Red inspiration:
Health Beats: March 17, 2010
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