Sections: Personal News / Job Listings / Fellowships and Internships / Education, Training & Professional Opportunities / Conferences and Meetings / Calls for Papers /Grants Available / Grants Awarded / Publications / Organization News / News Headlines / Blogs

New this week May 25, 2009:

Editor's Note This feature, updated at the end of each week, is intended to promote communication among readers by providing links to information about personal milestones and organizational changes, announcements of selected grants offered and awards made, upcoming national and international meetings, new reports and publications and notices of opportunities for education, research, publishing, and presenting. All items are selected from the fields of health politics, economics, law, ethics, and policy. Unless otherwise noted, all time-stamped items are posted in reverse chronological order and archived after an event has passed or after four weeks, whichever comes sooner. Please send any suggestions for this page to Christopher J. Conover, Center for Health Policy, Box 90519, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (919) 668-4052; fax: (919) 681-6045; e-mail.

Personal News

Senator Max Baucus's Health Care Team. Senator Baucus has given every Democrat on the Finance Committee a different piece of health reform to focus in on. Sources say that some are taking them more seriously than others, and obviously no single senators gets the last word. But the assignments have been a way for Baucus to delegate some of the work and involve all the Democrats on the Finance Committee. This is the list:

Source: Ezra Klein (American Prospect).

5.25.09

CBO’s Health Team. Because CBO believes that its estimating methodology should be as transparent as possible, perhaps our estimating team should be transparent as well. In that spirit, here are the previously anonymous analysts at CBO who deserve a great deal of credit for their fine work analyzing health reform and related legislative proposals (I realize this list has more than 50 names; that’s because some of these people have other responsibilities beyond health reform): Christi Anthony, David Auerbach, David Austin, Colin Baker, Elizabeth Bass, Jim Baumgardner, Patrick Bernhardt, Tom Bradley, Paul Burnham, Stephanie Cameron, Sheila Campbell, Jodi Capps, Michael Carpenter,Julia Christensen, Mindy Cohen, Anna Cook, Paul Cullinan, Sunita D’Monte, Noelia Duchovny, Sean Dunbar, Philip Ellis, Pete Fontaine, Carol Frost, Mike Gilmore, Matt Goldberg, Heidi Golding, April Grady, Stuart Hagen, Holly Harvey, Jean Hearne, Janet Holtzblatt, Lori Housman, Paul Jacobs, Sarah Jennings, Daniel Kao, Jamease Kowalczyk, Susan Labovich, Julie Lee, Leo Lex, Joyce Manchester, Kate Massey, Noah Meyerson, Alex Minicozzi, Carl Mueller, Carla Murray, Athiphat Muthitacharoen, Keisuke Nakagawa, Kirstin Nelson, Lyle Nelson, Andrea Noda, Ben Page, Allison Percy, Lisa Ramirez-Branum, Lara Robillard, Matt Schmidt, Kurt Seibert, Sven Sinclair, Julie Somers, Robert Stewart, Julie Topoleski, Bruce Vavrichek, David Weiner, Ellen Werble, Chapin White, Rebecca Yip. Source: Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » CBO’s Health Team.5.25.09

The Alliance for Health Reform maintains an on-line database of health policy experts that can be viewed by name or by any of 16 issues ranging from health reform to the uninsured.

AcademyHealth now has a searchable online membership database, available only to current members, containing contact information as provided to AcademyHealth through the membership application. Visit the Members Only section to use the directory.

Members of the American Public Health Association can now find fellow members online. At the website, individuals can update their membership information, and search the directory for colleagues using member ID number and password.

The iHEA Directory is an online searchable directory (available only to members of the International Health Economics Association).

A Who's Who in Health Policy Web page at the Duke Health Policy Gateway lists directories to various professional organizations that constitue the health policy community.

Job Listings

Note: All Job Notices are posted in reverse chronological order based on deadline date (items without deadlines appear last). Unless otherwise requested, Job Notices are archived after 60 days.

The Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago has a full-time position available for a Visiting Research Specialist to work on a multi-year research project that will examine the impact of policies, programs and other community environmental factors, such as price, availability and access, advertising and promotion, the built environment, and the compositional, resource and organizational characteristics of schools on youth eating and physical activity behaviors and obesity. This position will manage the Geographic Information System (GIS) component of the project. Details.5.25.09

The College of Public Health at the University of Georgia invites applications and nominations for Head of the Department of Health Policy and Management. Click here for more information.5.25.09

AcademyHealth maintains an extensive set of Career Links as well as specific job listings for faculty/university positions, researchers/non-faculty positions and health policy-related positions.

APHA has created Public Health CareerMart, an online database filled with opportunities for both job seekers and employers.

The International Health Economics Association (iHEA) maintains an on-line database of job postings relevent to health economics.

Pharmappoint has been developed in response to a worldwide scarcity of technical expertise. In particular this site will focus on Health Economists and Health Outcomes Managers where demand outstrips supply by a considerable margin; the service is completely free to individual Health Economists and Health Outcomes Managers.

A new career services website, offered by the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, allows searching for public policy positions in health policy. No password required.

A comprehensive set of general links to health policy-related jobs in the public and private sector (but not specific job postings) can be found at the Duke Health Policy Gateway Employment, Fellowships and Internships page.

Fellowships and Internships

Kaiser.edu maintains a continuously updated Policy Fellowships database that summarizes and links to more than 200 fellowships and internships in health policy and related fields. The database includes fellowships located across the United States that are available to undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals. Searches can be performed based on educational level, geographic location, whether the opportunity is paid or unpaid, or by keyword.

Another excellent on-going resource is a Funding Opportunities database continuously updated by the Duke University Office of Research Support. This searchable database lists Postdoctoral fellowships and Graduate and Professional Student fellowships. Searches can be done by discipline and the results sorted by deadline date, sponsoring organization or fellowship amount.

A comprehensive source of health policy-related internships and fellowships in the public and private sector can be found at the Duke Health Policy Gateway Employment, Fellowships and Internships page. It includes internships in federal agencies, those related to Congress, policy research organizations, and minority internships.

AcademyHealth maintains a short list of Scholarships and Fellowships.

Education, Training & Professional Opportunities

AcademyHealth's methods seminars address key methods topics identified by the AcademyHealth Methods Council. All seminars have an applied focus, and emphasize researchers' ability to understand and apply current methods in the field. Seminars are offered for a variety of audiences with different levels of methodological experience.  Please view the AcademyHealth Professional Development Catalog for a comprehensive list of training opportunities offered by AcademyHealth, including:

The International Health Economics Association (iHEA) maintains a database of upcoming educational opportunities related to health economics. To view the database, visit http://www.healtheconomics.org/education/.

Kaiser Family Foundation maintains an on-line Syllabus Library which provides an opportunity for faculty to share syllabi for health policy courses. Each entry identifies the school, the professor and the course name and provides a link to the course syllabus. Major topics include:

Conferences and Meetings

Conference on Health Reform, June 17, 2009, 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM, Cato Institute • 1000 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Full list of speakers and registration. 5.25.09

AcademyHealth 2009 Annual Research Meeting. | June 28-30 | Hilton Chicago For 25 years AcademyHealth's Annual Research Meeting (ARM) has brought together health services researchers, providers, and key decision makers to address the critical challenges confronting the nation's health care delivery system. The 2009 meeting features peer-reviewed research sessions, policy roundtables, methods workshops, poster presentations, and special networking opportunities.

Source: AcademyHealth: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice.5.25.09

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation sponsors Kaisernetwork.org, which maintains an extensive calendar of events in health policy, HIV/AIDS, global health and health disparities. It also offers complete listings for HealthCasts -- live and archived online video coverage of key meetings, conferences and other health policy events in Washington, D.C. and across the globe. Subscribe to email alerts.

AcademyHealth hosts a calendar of events publicizing national health services research (HSR) related events.

The International Health Economics Association (iHEA) maintains an on-line database of upcoming conferences related to health economics.

The National Journal Daybook covers Congress, the federal agencies, the Cabinet, economic reports and general news events in and around Washington, DC. Events can be searched by date range and/or keywords. Please note that the daybook chronicles today's and future events; past events are not archived.

Conference Alerts offers a service in which subscribers can automatically receive email alerts about conferences on topics of their choosing, including a variety of interdisciplinary topics and health & medicine.

The Meetings and Conferences portion of the Duke Health Policy Gateway provides links to a large number of health policy-related meetings/conferences lists.

Calls for Papers

The International Health Economics Association (iHEA) maintains an on-line database of calls for abstracts related to health economics.

Grants Available

An excellent on-going resource of information about public and private grant/contract opportunities is the Funding Alert Newsletter from the Duke University Office of Research Support. This searchable database lists current grant opportunities for faculty in the humanities and social sciences, staff, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and professional students, and for institutional and community needs. Updated every Sunday, it is based on news from: Commerce Business Daily, Federal Register, NIH Guide, The Blue Sheet, NSF's Document Online, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Science, Washington Fax, various funding opportunity newsletters, and program announcements. A related monthly Grant Deadlines newsletter provides a list of upcoming funding deadlines.

Grants.gov allows organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov is the single access point for over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies. The US Department of Health and Human Services is a managing partner for Grants.gov.

The Foundation Center's base of the largest 10,000 foundations can be accessed by desktop, starting at only $19.95 per month. To find out more, visit: http://www.fconline.fdncenter.org/

AcademyHealth maintains a listing of links to health policy-related Funding Opportunities for members only.

Grants Awarded

 

Organization News

The Alliance for Health Reform maintains an on-line database of health policy experts that can be viewed by Organization.

The Duke Health Policy Gateway has an extensive list of links to international, federal, state and local government agencies, health industry organizations, policy research organizations, universities, foundations, health policy journals, book publishers, and the mass media.

Publications

Books

Shannon Brownlee. Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer, 2d ed. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008; 320 pp., $16.
Shannon Brownlee is both journalist and crusader. As a journalist, she rightly makes no claim to having done original research. Professionals who are familiar with the field therefore will learn little or nothing new from her well-crafted account of the current state of research on health care outcomes. But they will surely appreciate her unerring ability to draw her readers into her elegant narrative with a well-placed anecdote or interview. The artful juxtaposition of the personal touch with the statistical indictment of the U.S. health care system may well sway lay readers who might otherwise continue to think, perhaps erroneously, that American medical care is, almost without question, the world’s best. Reviewed by Richard Epstein. More at: Overtreated, Or Overregulated? -- Epstein 28 (3): 920 -- Health Affairs. 5.25.09

The American Public Health Association bookstore includes a large number of new and old books related to public health published through APHA Press.

The International Health Economics Association (iHEA) maintains an on-line database of new and in-print books related to health economics.

This link provides a continously updating listing of new books related to U.S. health policy, politics, and law provided through RSS/Atom news feeds from major book publishers.

Journal Articles/Papers

Lawrence O. Gostin, JD. Regulating the Safety of Pharmaceuticals: The FDA, Preemption, and the Public's Health. JAMA. 2009;301(19):2036-2037. In 2008, the US Supreme Court held that the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) bar common law claims challenging the safety or effectiveness of a medical device approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).1 Riegel v Medtronic Inc2 had broad implications for patient safety because it removed all means of judicial recourse for most consumers injured by defective medical devices. At that time, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Wyeth v Levine,3 which consumer safety advocates feared would similarly preempt pharmaceutical lawsuits with far-reaching effects. There are 11 000 FDA-regulated drugs, with nearly 100 more approved each year,4 and patients would have no safety net in the event the FDA fails to detect and correct safety hazards. In a recent 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the FDA's approval of a drug label does not preempt a state law product liability claim charging the . . . [Full Text]. Source: JAMA -- Regulating the Safety of Pharmaceuticals: The FDA, Preemption, and the Public's Health, May 20, 2009, Gostin 301 (19): 2036.

Julie Ann Sakowski, Jeffrey M. Newman, James G. Kahn, Richard G. Kronick, and Harold S. Luft. Peering Into The Black Box: Billing And Insurance Activities In A Medical Group. Health Affairs Web Exclusive, May 14, 2009.
Billing and insurance-related functions have been reported to consume 14 percent of medical group revenue, but little is known about the costs associated with performing specific activities. We conducted semistructured interviews, observed work flows, analyzed department budgets, and surveyed clinicians to evaluate these activities at a large multispecialty medical group. We identified 0.67 nonclinical full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff working on billing and insurance functions per FTE physician. In addition, clinicians spent more than thirty-five minutes per day performing these tasks. The cost to medical groups, including clinicians' time, was at least $85,276 per FTE physician (10 percent of revenue). [Abstract] [PDF] [Full Text]

Mental Health Is Focus Of New Health Affairs Issue. Many more people are using mental health services and U.S. mental health spending rose 65 percent in the past decade, but there is still a disturbingly large gap between access to care and quality of mental health care received. These are some of the findings discussed in the May/June issue of Health Affairs — Mental Health Care: Better, Not Best – released on Tuesday, May 5. The issue explores key aspects of U.S. mental health care including the latest mental health care trends, comparative effectiveness research in mental health treatment, barriers facing veterans in need of mental health services, and supported employment as a means of helping Social Security disability program recipients with psychiatric disabilities earn incomes. Source: Health Affairs Blog by Chris Fleming.

Lawrence P. Casalino, Sean Nicholson, David N. Gans, Terry Hammons, Dante Morra, Theodore Karrison, and Wendy Levinson. What Does It Cost Physician Practices To Interact With Health Insurance Plans? Health Affairs Web Exclusive, May 14, 2009.
Physicians have long expressed dissatisfaction with the time they and their staffs spend interacting with health plans. However, little information exists about the extent of these interactions. We conducted a national survey on this subject of physicians and practice administrators. Physicians reported spending three hours weekly interacting with plans; nursing and clerical staff spent much larger amounts of time. When time is converted to dollars, we estimate that the national time cost to practices of interactions with plans is at least $23 billion to $31 billion each year. [Abstract] [PDF] [Full Text][Supplemental Exhibits & Appendix]

The Kaiser.edu Journal Browser provides links to the current table of contents from leading journals in the health policy field:

PubCrawler is a free email "alerting" service that scans daily updates to the NCBI Medline (PubMed) and GenBank databases.  PubCrawler helps keeping scientists informed of the current contents of Medline and GenBank, by listing new database entries that match their research interests.

This link provides a continously updating listing of new articles in health policy journals related to U.S. health policy, politics, and law provided through RSS/Atom news feeds from major health policy journals.

The Social Science Research Network has an abstracting journal for Health Law & Policy. There is a fee for subscribing if your institution does not already belong to SSRN.

Grey Literature

Senate Finance Committee. Description of Policy Options. Transforming the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs. April 29, 2009. Full Text. Proposals in this document are organized into the following categories:

Senate Finance Committee. Description of Policy Options. Expanding Health Care Coverage: Proposals to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans. May 14, 2009. The U.S. is the only developed country that does not guarantee health coverage for all its citizens, with 46 million uninsured and another 25 million underinsured. Today, the cost of caring for the uninsured is largely borne by those with insurance; providers charge higher prices to patients with private coverage to make up for uncompensated care, and these costs are passed on to consumers in the form of increased premiums. A high-performing health system would guarantee all Americans affordable, quality coverage regardless of age, health status, or medical history. This document outlines policy options for providing affordable health care coverage for all Americans. Proposals included in this document would ensure that the insurance market functions effectively. Reforms proposed for the individual and small group markets would ensure a competitive insurance market in which plans compete on price and quality rather than on their ability to segment risk and discriminate against individuals with pre-existing health conditions. Proposals contemplated in this document would also make purchasing health insurance coverage easier and more understandable by establishing a gateway or marketplace where American consumers could easily compare and purchase the coverage that best fits their needs. To ensure that coverage is affordable, this document outlines a proposal for targeted tax credits for low-income individuals and small businesses. And for the most vulnerable populations, policy options described here would improve public programs by covering those at the lowest end of the income scale who are least likely to have private coverage through an employer. Once affordable, high-quality, and meaningful health insurance options are available to all Americans through their employer or the new gateway, individuals would have a personal responsibility to have health coverage. This step is necessary for insurance market reforms to function properly and to end the cost shifting that occurs within the system. It is expected that the vast majority of American employers would continue to provide coverage as a competitive benefit to attract employees. Finally, this document outlines proposals to promote prevention and wellness services in public programs. By encouraging healthy behaviors, these policy options make a first step in moving our health system away from a focus on treating disease toward one focused on preventing disease. This document and the options described in it are intended to spur discussion regarding proposed options for policies that the committee is scheduled to act on in June. While these proposed options are jointly offered for discussion, not all the options in this document have the support of Chairman Baucus or Ranking Member Grassley. Full text.

Senate Finance Committee. Policy Options for Financing Health Care Reform. Description of Policy Options Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options. May 20, 2009. The options for financing health reform report follows the release of policy options for reducing costs in the health care delivery system and for expanding quality, affordable health care coverage to all Americans. Three areas of potential funding sources explored in the financing options are: savings achieved from within the health care system from reductions in current levels of spending; reevaluating current health tax subsidies; and changing non‐health tax provisions. Summary. Full Text.

Congressional Budget Office. The Budgetary Treatment of Proposals to Change the Nation's Health Insurance System. May 27, 2009. The Congress is currently considering various approaches for instituting major changes in the nation’s system of health insurance. Some of those proposals would significantly expand the federal government’s role in that system, thus raising the question of how such changes might be reflected in the federal budget. CBO has just released a brief describing the approach that CBO will take in judging the appropriate budgetary treatment. Source: Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » Budgetary Treatment of Health Reform Proposals.

John Holahan, Bowen Garrett, Irene Headen, Aaron Lucas. Health Reform: The Cost of Failure. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, May 21, 2009.
This report uses the Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model (HIPSM) to quantify the intermediate and longer-term implications if America’s health care system is not significantly overhauled. Under a range of economic scenarios, the analysis shows an increasing strain on business owners and their employees over the next decade if reform is not enacted. There would be a dramatic decline in the number of people insured through employers, and millions more could become uninsured. There would be large growth in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment and spending, and increased spending on uncompensated health care. Middle-income working families would be the most affected. [Summary] [Full Text]

John Sheils and Randy Haught. The Cost and Coverage Impacts of a Public Plan: Alternative Design Options. Staff Working Paper #4. Washington, DC: Lewin Group, April 8, 2009. Full text. This study forecasts that if a public plan paid Medicare rates, it could offer premiums 30% below those of available private plans and attract 43-130 million people to the plan. The low displacement number reflected limiting eligibility to the individual and small-group market and the self-employed, and it pulled 32 million insured people out of the private insurance plans. The higher displacement number reflected no limits on eligibility and would pull 119 million people out of private coverage. If the public plan paid commercial payment rates, the attraction would be far smaller: 10-12 million insured people would switch. If the major outlines of the Lewin study are even partially accurate, the attractiveness of the public plan depends overwhelmingly on replicating Medicare’s payments rates and, presumably, payment methodology. Source: Jeff Goldsmith, Health Affairs Blog.

Editor’s Note: The post below by Harold Luft is an abridged version of a longer White Paper: Beyond the Public Plan Debate: A Pathway to Transform the Delivery System. The full White Paper and additional information about Dr. Luft’s work are also available.
There is substantial debate among Democrats about whether a public-plan option is a critical component of health reform; Republicans seem unified in opposing the idea. The “public plan” proposals are focused largely on expanding the population with coverage and on controlling federal costs. The proposal below focuses more on transforming the system to slow the growth in all health care costs. By doing so, it can facilitate the savings and political compromises necessary to allow coverage expansions... More at: Health Affairs Blog.

Frank Lutz. The Language of Healthcare 2009. Full text. This is a copy of the 28-page memo from Frank Luntz to congressional Republicans based on extensive polling on the issue of health care reform.

The New York Academy of Medicine offers a Grey Literature Report via email listing a variety of health policy-related publications/reports issued by public agencies, health industry organizations, health policy research organizations, universities and foundations.

Health Policy Picks is a monthly selection of recent publications, such as technical reports, conference proceedings, and other material produced by organizations and government agencies that conduct health care policy analysis and research. Health Policy Picks is a partnership between KaiserEDU.org and the New York Academy of Medicine Library's Grey Literature Collection.

Organization News

Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) are pleased to announce a new series of Health Policy Briefs aimed at providing clear, accessible overviews of timely and important health policy topics. Health Policy Briefs will be available for free on the Health Affairs Web site, along with email or RSS feed alert sign-up. The briefs will also be available via a direct link from RWJF’s Web site. The briefs, produced by Health Affairs through a grant from the foundation, will allow readers to gain quick background on various policy proposals as health reform discussions proceed. The briefs will explore competing arguments made on various sides of a policy proposal and point out wherever possible the relevant research behind each perspective. Source: Health Affairs Blog.

  • Health Policy News Feeds

    Kaiser Family Foundation's Daily Health Policy Report provides daily news summaries of national, state, and local health policy news stories, containing links to original articles and related resources. The foundation also provides a Daily HIV/AIDS Report and weekly Health Disparities Report.

    iHealthBeat, from the California HealthCare Foundation, is a free online news service that provides the latest updates about the Internet's impact on health care. The service includes a daily national news digest covering such topics as access, public health, research, and business and finance issues; in-depth analysis and commentary from health care and technology experts; a calendar of conferences and trade shows with links for additional information and online registration; and multimedia broadcasts of speeches and events.

    Join HealthLeaders.com (free) for a daily e-mail of healthcare/health policy news with direct links to full-page editions of stories.

    MCH Alert is a free weekly electronic newsletter that provides timely reference to research, findings, policy developments, recently released publications, new programs, and initiatives affecting the maternal and child health (MCH) community.

    The following is a listing of news from U.S. health policy-related RSS/Atom news feeds organized by sponsoring organization. Some sites also provide email subscriptions to periodic news updates:

    Health Policy Webcasts/Podcasts

    The following is a listing of links or RSS/Atom feeds for U.S. health policy-related webcasts or podcasts. Some sites also provide email subscriptions to periodic news updates:

    Health Policy Blogs

    Submit entries for material to consider to Blog Carnival

    Source: Health Wonk Review: Health Wonk Review - upcoming hosts.

    Health Affairs Blog Top 10 Posts For April. Health reform tops the most-read list for April on the Health Affairs Blog. A series of posts on health IT looked at building the new technology into the delivery system, effect on patient-physician relationships, and more. Additional commenting is always welcome. 1. No Direction Home: A Primary Care Physician Questions The Medical Home Model by Caroline Poplin 2. Health Reform: Show Us The Money! by Jeff Goldsmith 3. Propaganda and Prejudice Distort The Health Reform Debate by Merton Bernstein 4. Oberlander: Health Reform Likely To Depend On Budget Reconciliation by John K. Iglehart and Chris Fleming 5. Building Health 2.0 Into the Delivery System by John Halamka 6. Payment Reform Should Drive Delivery System Reform by Francois de Brantes and Lawton Burns 7. Indiana: Health Care Reform Amidst Colliding Values by Mitchell Roob and Seema Verma 8. Stimulating Health IT: Hold On To Your Hats by Rob Cunningham 9. Information Therapy, Health 2.0, And Patient-Physician Relationships by Rushika Fernandopulle 10. The Attack on Health IT and Comparative Effectiveness Research: A Warning For What Lies Ahead by Linda Bergthold Source: Health Affairs Blog.

    Health Wonk Review and Blinklist both purport to provide links to the best health policy blogs. See also List of 100 Global Health Blogs That Will Open Your Eyes compiled by US PharmD.com. The following is a set of RSS feeds from a wide variety of U.S. health policy-related blogs organized by sponsoring organization or topical focus of the blog.