Medical Health Blog

The National Federation of Independent Business on Wednesday unveiled 10 principles to overhaul the health care system, CQ HealthBeat reports. The principles — which were developed after consultation with health experts from across the political spectrum — include universal and affordable health care, NFIB President Todd Stottlemyer said (Straus, CQ HealthBeat, 12/12). [click link for full article]

An international team of scientists is urging health professionals to adopt a more social approach to tackling the global obesity epidemic. [click link for full article]

The ONE Campaign will launch a $1.8 million advertising initiative that aims to encourage voters to ask presidential candidates about their positions on global development issues, the AP/Google.com reports. The 30-second television ads are scheduled to air for two weeks beginning on Friday in Iowa and New Hampshire, and on network cable (Sanner, AP/Google.com, 12/11). [click link for full article]

Hospital bills increased by about 90% over the past decade, from $462 billion in 1997 to $873 billion in 2005, according to a study released Wednesday by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Bloomberg/Orlando Sentinel reports. For the report, AHRQ analyzed data based on the total charges for 39 million hospital stays at facilities that accounted for 90% of discharges in the U.S. [click link for full article]

“Dutch Doctors and Their Patients - Effect of Health Care Reform in the Netherlands,” New England Journal of Medicine: The NEJM perspective — by J. [click link for full article]