Rural Poor, Uninsured Are Half the Visitors to Health Centers
By Pamela Appea
Community Health Funding Report, Rural Health
October 27, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
Expanding community-health centers to make it easier for patients to visit their doctors would strengthen the U.S. health-care safety network and enhance continuity of health care for medically underserved individuals and families, a new study indicates.
Primary-care visits by uninsured or Medicaid-insured patients accounted for 65% of visits to community health centers and 43% to hospital outpatient departments, says the study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. In 1998, about 33 million adults in the United States ages 18 to 64 lacked health insurance and benefits.
The study also shows most patients using HHS-supported health centers are racial and ethnic minorities, people with Medicaid or no health insurance and people living in rural areas, says Dr. Claude Earle Fox, HRSA administrator.
HRSA invests $4.6 billion annually as the main HHS agency in charge of improving health care access for uninsured individuals and families in the United States.
Uninsured adults say they cannot see a doctor when necessary because of the cost and [the fact they are] less likely to get routine physicals.
The report shows long-term uninsured adults often were unable to see a health-care practitioner for cancer screenings, cardiovascular risk-reduction and diabetes care, though they may be at a higher risk of developing chronic disease or other health problems.
“Continuity of care is the heart and soul of wellness for patients, particularly with chronic conditions. Continuous and timely treatment can curb complicated costly procedures down the road,” says Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston, HRSA associate administrator for primary care and assistant surgeon general.
Christopher Forrest and Ellen-Marie-Whelan are the lead authors of the study, Primary Care Safety-Net Providers in the United States: a Comparison of Community Health Centers, Hospital Outpatient Departments and Physician Offices.
Info: HRSA, http://www.hrsa.gov; http:jama.ama-assn.org.
Friday, October 27, 2000
Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Clinton to Sign Bill for Reimportation of Cheaper Prescription Drugs in U.S., Aging News Alert
Clinton to Sign Bill for Reimportation of Cheaper Prescription Drugs in U.S.
By Pamela Appea
Aging News Alert, Congress
October 24, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
President Clinton is expected to sign a measure allowing FDA-approved pharmaceuticals to be re-imported to the United States.
The re-importation measure is part of the Agricultural Appropriations Conference Report (HR 4461; S2536) approved by the House and Senate, but U.S. pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists continue to lobby against the bill, saying it could permit counterfeit and possibly substandard or dangerous drugs to reach U.S. consumers.
A spokesperson for the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) says the only drugs that will be re-imported were made in the U.S. or in some cases produced in FDA-approved facilities abroad.
Info: Jeffords, 202/224-6770.
By Pamela Appea
Aging News Alert, Congress
October 24, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
President Clinton is expected to sign a measure allowing FDA-approved pharmaceuticals to be re-imported to the United States.
The re-importation measure is part of the Agricultural Appropriations Conference Report (HR 4461; S2536) approved by the House and Senate, but U.S. pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists continue to lobby against the bill, saying it could permit counterfeit and possibly substandard or dangerous drugs to reach U.S. consumers.
A spokesperson for the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) says the only drugs that will be re-imported were made in the U.S. or in some cases produced in FDA-approved facilities abroad.
Info: Jeffords, 202/224-6770.
Clinton to Sign Bill for Reimportation of Cheaper Prescription Drugs in U.S., Aging News Alert
Clinton to Sign Bill for Reimportation of Cheaper Prescription Drugs in U.S.
By Pamela Appea
Aging News Alert, Congress
October 24, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
President Clinton is expected to sign a measure allowing FDA-approved pharmaceuticals to be re-imported to the United States.
The re-importation measure is part of the Agricultural Appropriations Conference Report (HR 4461; S2536) approved by the House and Senate, but U.S. pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists continue to lobby against the bill, saying it could permit counterfeit and possibly substandard or dangerous drugs to reach U.S. consumers.
A spokesperson for the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) says the only drugs that will be re-imported were made in the U.S. or in some cases produced in FDA-approved facilities abroad.
Info: Jeffords, 202/224-6770.
By Pamela Appea
Aging News Alert, Congress
October 24, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
President Clinton is expected to sign a measure allowing FDA-approved pharmaceuticals to be re-imported to the United States.
The re-importation measure is part of the Agricultural Appropriations Conference Report (HR 4461; S2536) approved by the House and Senate, but U.S. pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists continue to lobby against the bill, saying it could permit counterfeit and possibly substandard or dangerous drugs to reach U.S. consumers.
A spokesperson for the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) says the only drugs that will be re-imported were made in the U.S. or in some cases produced in FDA-approved facilities abroad.
Info: Jeffords, 202/224-6770.
Friday, October 13, 2000
Poor Diet Likely a Factor in Cancer, Other Chronic Diseases, Research Says, Community Health Funding Report
Poor Diet Likely a Factor in Cancer, Other Chronic Diseases, Research Says
By Pamela Appea
Community Health Funding Report, Women’s Health
October 13, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
Researchers say finding a definite correlation between chronic disease like breast cancer and a proper diet in older women can be difficult because of a lack of funding and other research-oriented limitations.
Ross Prentice, senior vice president and director of public health sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle, tells a Society for Women’s Health Research conference preliminary research shows a “strong positive association” between breast cancer in post-menopausal women and poor diet, but other studies do not.
The continuing study monitors postmenopausal women at 40 clinics, ages 50-74, for the benefits and risks of low-fat eating patterns, hormone replacement therapy, and calcium and vitamin D. Older women tend more to suffer poor health including cancer, diabetes, hypertension and myriad other chronic diseases that could be prevented or reduced by better nutrition, conference researchers say.
As principal investigator of the clinical coordinator center for the NIH-sponsored Women’s Health Initiative, Prentice says the research group has not been able to get additional funding through NIH for broader research.
Complete research results will not be available for several more years, Prentice tells CHF.
A cohort study includes a large percentage of women from various minority groups. Prentice tells CHF much can be learned about nutrition, chronic disease and prevention by studying migrant and immigrant women who moved to the United States. He cited a 1996 study focusing on a group of Asian women and observed the women’s chances for breast cancer increased by 60% after several years of acclimating to the United States.
In separate studies, researchers say women who take calcium supplements “fell better” and gain less weight during middle age. The less weight women gain, the less likely they will develop chronic health diseases.
“Women have a bigger problem with obesity,” says Blackburn, Harvard U. associate professor in surgery and nutrition and an expert in nutrition medicine.
Info: Society for Women’s Health Research 202/223-8224; http://www.womens-health.org
By Pamela Appea
Community Health Funding Report, Women’s Health
October 13, 2000
Copyright 2000 by Community Development Publications
Researchers say finding a definite correlation between chronic disease like breast cancer and a proper diet in older women can be difficult because of a lack of funding and other research-oriented limitations.
Ross Prentice, senior vice president and director of public health sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle, tells a Society for Women’s Health Research conference preliminary research shows a “strong positive association” between breast cancer in post-menopausal women and poor diet, but other studies do not.
The continuing study monitors postmenopausal women at 40 clinics, ages 50-74, for the benefits and risks of low-fat eating patterns, hormone replacement therapy, and calcium and vitamin D. Older women tend more to suffer poor health including cancer, diabetes, hypertension and myriad other chronic diseases that could be prevented or reduced by better nutrition, conference researchers say.
As principal investigator of the clinical coordinator center for the NIH-sponsored Women’s Health Initiative, Prentice says the research group has not been able to get additional funding through NIH for broader research.
Complete research results will not be available for several more years, Prentice tells CHF.
A cohort study includes a large percentage of women from various minority groups. Prentice tells CHF much can be learned about nutrition, chronic disease and prevention by studying migrant and immigrant women who moved to the United States. He cited a 1996 study focusing on a group of Asian women and observed the women’s chances for breast cancer increased by 60% after several years of acclimating to the United States.
In separate studies, researchers say women who take calcium supplements “fell better” and gain less weight during middle age. The less weight women gain, the less likely they will develop chronic health diseases.
“Women have a bigger problem with obesity,” says Blackburn, Harvard U. associate professor in surgery and nutrition and an expert in nutrition medicine.
Info: Society for Women’s Health Research 202/223-8224; http://www.womens-health.org
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