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Laughter - The Best Medicine? Spain Hosts The Most Renowned International Symposium On Sense Of Humor And Its Applications
Spain hosts this week, for the first time in history, this event, the most renowned international symposium on humour and laughter, where scientists and experts from four continents will discuss the latest advances and research of this field of study. The ninth occasion of the "International Summer School and Symposium on Humour and Laughter: Theory, Research and Applications" is being hosted by the University of Granada, and they will analyse the relationship between sense of humour and different fields such as anthropology, sociology, medicine or philosophy.
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Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Center Launches Advanced Preventive Women's Clinic For Women With Menopause Symptoms Who Are At Risk For Heart Disease
Women who are at risk for heart disease and who are also experiencing menopause symptoms now have an added re - a highly specialized clinic in the Division of Cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. The Advanced Preventive Women"s Clinic at the Women"s Heart Center recently opened and is offering comprehensive cardiac risk assessments designed specifically for women who are in menopause. The clinic also offers menopausal patients state-of-the-art screenings, as well as personalized medicine therapies and counseling, including high-risk hormone counseling.
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Rep. Stupak Signals Willingness To Compromise On Abortion Coverage In Health Reform Legislation
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) on Monday said that he and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) are negotiating to resolve the concerns of antiabortion-rights Democrats who want to exclude abortion coverage from the House health reform bill (HR 3200), Dow Jones reports. Stupak said that the compromise would affect how state abortion laws are handled under the bill (Yoest, Dow Jones, 7/20.). According to the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stupak did not give details on the negotiations, and aides said that no final deal has been reached (Werner, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/21).Stupak said that he and Waxman"s staff discussed the compromise over the weekend. According to Stupak, a compromise could be voted on this week as an amendment during the committee"s markup of the bill. According to Dow Jones, Stupak holds a key vote on the health bill, which faces opposition from some other conservative Democrats on the panel over costs. His comments on Monday suggest "an easing of tensions" between antiabortion-right Democrats and supporters of the bill, Dow Jones reports. Stupak and 19 other House Democrats last week sent a letter to party leaders stating that they "cannot support a health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health plan." They also stated that they want to ensure that a health benefits advisory council created under the bill "cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package." The advisory council would make recommendations to the HHS secretary, who would make final determinations on what public and private plans would be required to cover in a health insurance exchange. Stupak said that the two sides are "working in good faith" and that other members of the committee should not push their own abortion-related amendments (Dow Jones, 7/20). On Monday, committee voted 20-35 to reject an amendment, offered by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), that would have eliminated a provision requiring states to adhere to minimum benefits requirements that employer-sponsored insurance must include. Deal said that states could be required to cover abortion or "out of mainstream" services. Stupak responded, "I hope we"re not going to start using reproductive rights as a red herring on every amendment that comes up." Panel Approves Sex Education AmendmentThe panel voted 33-23 to approve an amendment that would authorize $250 million through 2014 for "evidence-based" sex education programs for teenagers. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), who offered the amendment, said that abstinence-only programs would not be excluded if they are proven effective. Following debate on Capps" amendment, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) offered an amendment that would reauthorize the Title V abstinence-only sex education program. Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said that Title V "has been a failure," adding that 25 states refused to accept the money through the program because it is ineffective. Terry"s amendment was rejected 26-29.The committee also voted 36-23 to adopt an amendment that would provide $150 million in grants through 2014 to state and local governments and not-for-profits for educating residents in "medically underserved" areas on various topics, including sexual behavior (Wayne, CQ Today, 7/21).
Cardiovascular

Senate Dems In The Hot Seat On Health Overhaul

In the final week of debate before the Senate recess, the Finance Committee continues talks on bipartisan legislation, but both Republicans and Democrats are ramping up their health care rhetoric and considering more drastic options. Internal clashes within the Senate Finance Committee"s bipartisan negotiations "have begun to spill into the open - as Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has gone public with his case against consumer-owned health care cooperatives, which are viewed as a compromise between progressives who want a public competitor to private insurers and Republicans who don"t want a new government plan," Politico reports. Prospects for a public plan were looking dim last week, but "by Friday, though, public plan advocates were suddenly feeling pretty good" as the House Energy and Commerce Committee moved the House health care bill forward. In the Senate Finance Committee, however, "there are only a handful of Democrats to might go to the mat for the public option" (Brown and O"Connor, 8/2). Roll Call reports that Senate leadership is "having increasing difficulty controlling a process that has been commandeered by a bipartisan group of six Senators." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "have insisted they want a bipartisan health care bill. However, the six-party talks have created friction in Reid"s and McConnell"s respective caucuses - as Republicans bristle that three GOP Senators could give a Democratic health care plan political cover and Democrats fret that their three negotiators are watering down the bill" (Pierce and Drucker, 8/3). The Hill reports on two Republican Senators who are speaking out against health care legislation. "Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who said healthcare could be President Obama"s Waterloo, said Sunday he thinks Americans will "take to the streets" to protest Democratic-led healthcare reform in August. "What"s going to happen is, you"re going to see Americans take to the street in August, and go to their congressmen"s office, and they"re going to go to town halls, and I think they"re going to let congressmen and senators know that they need to keep their hands off their health care," DeMint said on Fox News Sunday (Wilson, 8/2). And in a separate article, The Hill reports that "Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has a long history of teaming up with Democrats on healthcare legislation, says Democratic healthcare reform plans now under consideration are "out of this world." Hatch also told The Hill in a Friday interview he would be "shocked" if Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) sign onto a healthcare deal with Democrats given the current trajectory of the legislation" (Bolton, 8/2). "With bipartisan health care negotiations teetering, Democrats are talking reluctantly - and very, very quietly - about exploiting a procedural loophole they planted in this year"s budget to skirt Republican filibusters against a health care overhaul," The New York Times reports. "They are talking reluctantly because using the tactic, officially known as reconciliation, would present a variety of serious procedural and substantive obstacles that could result in a piecemeal health bill. And they are whispering because the mere mention of reconciliation touches partisan nerves and could be viewed as a threat by the three Republicans still engaged in the delicate talks, causing them to collapse." The tactic would be a "last case resort. ̣€¦ It would not be pretty and it would not be preferable, but it could be doable." Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., called the approach "more than theoretically possible" but "has been advising that fashioning a health care plan under byzantine reconciliation rules is a bad idea" (Hulse, 8/1). A draft Senate bill that would "provide up to $10 billion annually for a "prevention and public health investment fund" -- a portion of which could be used for infrastructure projects, such as bike paths and farmers markets meant to curb chronic and costly conditions like obesity," is causing controversy, The Los Angeles Times reports. "Some lawmakers believe these initiatives could trim American waistlines and costs in the long run, others consider them pork-barrel spending." Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., argues that the bill would "pave sidewalks, build jungle gyms and open grocery storeṣ€¦ but it won"t bring down healthcare costs or make quality coverage more affordable." But a group of more than 300 organizations is "urging lawmakers to include public health and prevention funds in the bill," citing a 2008 report "suggesting that an investment of $10 per person per year in "proven community-based programs" -- such as providing fresh produce through farmers markets -- could save America more than $16 billion in annual healthcare costs within five years" (Sherry, 8/3). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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