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Senate Okays Healthy Lunches Bill
The Senate approved by voice vote a $4.5 billion bill to create new, healthier standards for all foods sold in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would authorize spending of $1.2 billion to increase the number of children receiving daily free meals and $3.3 billion to improve the nutrition of school meals, create school gardens, and purchase local produce. American Academy of Pediatrics spokesman O. Marion Burton praised the unanimous Senate action. “In addition to reauthorizing federal child nutrition programs, the bill will address childhood obesity by reducing the fat and calorie content of school meals,” Dr. Burton said in a statement. The bill sets strict limits for the nutritional content of food in school vending machines and that served outside school lunch and breakfast programs. Similar legislation is pending in the House.
Many New Enrollees Had Insurance
About 60% of children newly enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of the federal-state program's 2009 expansion probably had private coverage and switched to less expensive public insurance when it became available, according to a report in the journal Forum for Health Economics & Policy. The private-to-public shift means that CHIP has not expanded to as many uninsured children as intended, the report said. But switching from private to public coverage helps the families involved, allowing them to reduce out-of-pocket medical and insurance payments by more than $100 per month. According to the report, families typically put these savings toward transportation or retirement accounts. “These results suggest that the SCHIP expansions substantially improved the material well-being of the low-income families it is intended to assist—including those who had previously been paying for their own coverage,” the researchers concluded.
Coaches to Aid Enrollment
In an effort to reach the roughly 5 million uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, the Department of Health and Human Services will educate youth sports coaches about the public insurance programs and encourage the coaches to help enroll eligible children. The HHS will pilot the “Get Covered, Get in the Game” initiative in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Uninsured children often miss out on sports activities because they cannot afford the required physicals or because their families worry about the potential cost of injuries, according to the HHS. “Kids should not have to miss out on their favorite sports and other activities that get them moving because they lack health insurance coverage,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
Many Children Still Live With Smokers
Nearly 18% of children in West Virginia and Kentucky live with smokers, making those children the most likely in the nation to suffer from secondhand tobacco smoke in their homes, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Nationwide, more than 7% of children—5.5 million overall—live with smokers, according to 2007 data analyzed by researchers at the Health Resources and Services Administration and the University of Nebraska. Children in Utah and California had the lowest odds of living with a smoker—in Utah, about 1% of children and in California, just under 2% of children breathed secondhand smoke at home. Children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, Hispanic families, and non–English speaking households were less likely than were others to have secondhand smoke exposure, the study found.
Youth Drinking Yields Emergencies
Nearly 189,000 patients aged 12–20 were treated for alcohol-related problems at emergency departments in 2008, highlighting the extent of the underage drinking problem in the nation, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The episodes accounted for about one-third of the drug-related ED visits by adolescents and teenagers, the report said. About 30% of the alcohol-related ED visits also involved drugs such as marijuana, anti-anxiety medications, narcotic pain relievers, and cocaine.
Senators Push Rare-Diseases Bill
Three senators have introduced bipartisan legislation that would create financial incentives for drug manufacturers to develop new treatments for rare pediatric diseases. The Creating Hope Act of 2010, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), would allow companies developing treatments for rare pediatric diseases to expedite Food and Drug Administration review of other, more commercially viable drugs. A drug maker that develops a treatment for a rare, neglected pediatric disease would receive a “priority review voucher” from the FDA that it could use to speed review of another product it wished to market, providing “a strong financial incentive for the development of treatments for otherwise neglected diseases,” Sen. Brown said in a statement.
Senate Okays Healthy Lunches Bill
The Senate approved by voice vote a $4.5 billion bill to create new, healthier standards for all foods sold in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would authorize spending of $1.2 billion to increase the number of children receiving daily free meals and $3.3 billion to improve the nutrition of school meals, create school gardens, and purchase local produce. American Academy of Pediatrics spokesman O. Marion Burton praised the unanimous Senate action. “In addition to reauthorizing federal child nutrition programs, the bill will address childhood obesity by reducing the fat and calorie content of school meals,” Dr. Burton said in a statement. The bill sets strict limits for the nutritional content of food in school vending machines and that served outside school lunch and breakfast programs. Similar legislation is pending in the House.
Many New Enrollees Had Insurance
About 60% of children newly enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of the federal-state program's 2009 expansion probably had private coverage and switched to less expensive public insurance when it became available, according to a report in the journal Forum for Health Economics & Policy. The private-to-public shift means that CHIP has not expanded to as many uninsured children as intended, the report said. But switching from private to public coverage helps the families involved, allowing them to reduce out-of-pocket medical and insurance payments by more than $100 per month. According to the report, families typically put these savings toward transportation or retirement accounts. “These results suggest that the SCHIP expansions substantially improved the material well-being of the low-income families it is intended to assist—including those who had previously been paying for their own coverage,” the researchers concluded.
Coaches to Aid Enrollment
In an effort to reach the roughly 5 million uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, the Department of Health and Human Services will educate youth sports coaches about the public insurance programs and encourage the coaches to help enroll eligible children. The HHS will pilot the “Get Covered, Get in the Game” initiative in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Uninsured children often miss out on sports activities because they cannot afford the required physicals or because their families worry about the potential cost of injuries, according to the HHS. “Kids should not have to miss out on their favorite sports and other activities that get them moving because they lack health insurance coverage,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
Many Children Still Live With Smokers
Nearly 18% of children in West Virginia and Kentucky live with smokers, making those children the most likely in the nation to suffer from secondhand tobacco smoke in their homes, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Nationwide, more than 7% of children—5.5 million overall—live with smokers, according to 2007 data analyzed by researchers at the Health Resources and Services Administration and the University of Nebraska. Children in Utah and California had the lowest odds of living with a smoker—in Utah, about 1% of children and in California, just under 2% of children breathed secondhand smoke at home. Children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, Hispanic families, and non–English speaking households were less likely than were others to have secondhand smoke exposure, the study found.
Youth Drinking Yields Emergencies
Nearly 189,000 patients aged 12–20 were treated for alcohol-related problems at emergency departments in 2008, highlighting the extent of the underage drinking problem in the nation, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The episodes accounted for about one-third of the drug-related ED visits by adolescents and teenagers, the report said. About 30% of the alcohol-related ED visits also involved drugs such as marijuana, anti-anxiety medications, narcotic pain relievers, and cocaine.
Senators Push Rare-Diseases Bill
Three senators have introduced bipartisan legislation that would create financial incentives for drug manufacturers to develop new treatments for rare pediatric diseases. The Creating Hope Act of 2010, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), would allow companies developing treatments for rare pediatric diseases to expedite Food and Drug Administration review of other, more commercially viable drugs. A drug maker that develops a treatment for a rare, neglected pediatric disease would receive a “priority review voucher” from the FDA that it could use to speed review of another product it wished to market, providing “a strong financial incentive for the development of treatments for otherwise neglected diseases,” Sen. Brown said in a statement.
Senate Okays Healthy Lunches Bill
The Senate approved by voice vote a $4.5 billion bill to create new, healthier standards for all foods sold in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would authorize spending of $1.2 billion to increase the number of children receiving daily free meals and $3.3 billion to improve the nutrition of school meals, create school gardens, and purchase local produce. American Academy of Pediatrics spokesman O. Marion Burton praised the unanimous Senate action. “In addition to reauthorizing federal child nutrition programs, the bill will address childhood obesity by reducing the fat and calorie content of school meals,” Dr. Burton said in a statement. The bill sets strict limits for the nutritional content of food in school vending machines and that served outside school lunch and breakfast programs. Similar legislation is pending in the House.
Many New Enrollees Had Insurance
About 60% of children newly enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of the federal-state program's 2009 expansion probably had private coverage and switched to less expensive public insurance when it became available, according to a report in the journal Forum for Health Economics & Policy. The private-to-public shift means that CHIP has not expanded to as many uninsured children as intended, the report said. But switching from private to public coverage helps the families involved, allowing them to reduce out-of-pocket medical and insurance payments by more than $100 per month. According to the report, families typically put these savings toward transportation or retirement accounts. “These results suggest that the SCHIP expansions substantially improved the material well-being of the low-income families it is intended to assist—including those who had previously been paying for their own coverage,” the researchers concluded.
Coaches to Aid Enrollment
In an effort to reach the roughly 5 million uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, the Department of Health and Human Services will educate youth sports coaches about the public insurance programs and encourage the coaches to help enroll eligible children. The HHS will pilot the “Get Covered, Get in the Game” initiative in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Uninsured children often miss out on sports activities because they cannot afford the required physicals or because their families worry about the potential cost of injuries, according to the HHS. “Kids should not have to miss out on their favorite sports and other activities that get them moving because they lack health insurance coverage,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
Many Children Still Live With Smokers
Nearly 18% of children in West Virginia and Kentucky live with smokers, making those children the most likely in the nation to suffer from secondhand tobacco smoke in their homes, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Nationwide, more than 7% of children—5.5 million overall—live with smokers, according to 2007 data analyzed by researchers at the Health Resources and Services Administration and the University of Nebraska. Children in Utah and California had the lowest odds of living with a smoker—in Utah, about 1% of children and in California, just under 2% of children breathed secondhand smoke at home. Children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, Hispanic families, and non–English speaking households were less likely than were others to have secondhand smoke exposure, the study found.
Youth Drinking Yields Emergencies
Nearly 189,000 patients aged 12–20 were treated for alcohol-related problems at emergency departments in 2008, highlighting the extent of the underage drinking problem in the nation, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The episodes accounted for about one-third of the drug-related ED visits by adolescents and teenagers, the report said. About 30% of the alcohol-related ED visits also involved drugs such as marijuana, anti-anxiety medications, narcotic pain relievers, and cocaine.
Senators Push Rare-Diseases Bill
Three senators have introduced bipartisan legislation that would create financial incentives for drug manufacturers to develop new treatments for rare pediatric diseases. The Creating Hope Act of 2010, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), would allow companies developing treatments for rare pediatric diseases to expedite Food and Drug Administration review of other, more commercially viable drugs. A drug maker that develops a treatment for a rare, neglected pediatric disease would receive a “priority review voucher” from the FDA that it could use to speed review of another product it wished to market, providing “a strong financial incentive for the development of treatments for otherwise neglected diseases,” Sen. Brown said in a statement.