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FEDERAL HEALTH UPDATE

March 21, 2008

Produced by Kate Connelly Theroux in collaboration with the U.S. Medicine Institute for Health Studies (USMI)

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Congressional Schedule

  • The House and Senate are in recess until March 31, 2008.
  • The House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee held an overview hearing on March 14, 2008, to hear testimony on mental health issues. Dr S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, and the service surgeons general testified about the programs in place to help service members identify and address mental health issues they may be experiencing.

    Dr. Shelley MacDermid, co-chair, Defense Task Force on Mental Health, and director, The Center for Families at Purdue University, and director, Military Family Research Institute, outlined the recommendations made by the Defense Task Force on Mental Health and requested assurance that Congress would fund these recommendations long-term.

  • On March 18, 2008, the White House announced that President Bush intends to appoint retired USMC General Peter Pace, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to be a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. In addition, President Bush intends to appoint VA Secretary James B. Peake to be a member of the Advisory Council to the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross.
  • Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and Representative Bob Filner (D-CA), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, sent a letter urging VA Secretary James B. Peake to raise the income threshold that currently bars veterans making as little as $28,430 a year from the VA health care system.  Under current law, Secretary Peake has the authority to redefine the income threshold at his discretion.

    On Jan. 17, 2003, the Bush Administration banned enrollment of "Priority 8" veterans into the VA health care system due to resource constraints.  Priority 8's are non service-connected veterans who exceed a certain income cap, currently as low as $28,430 in some regions.  VA estimates that as many as 1.5 million middle-income veterans have been denied, or are awaiting, enrollment into the VA health care system due to this restriction.  At a Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs budget hearing on Feb. 13, 2008, Secretary Peake expressed a willingness to consider modifying the Priority 8 income threshold. 

    In their letter, Akaka and his colleagues noted that the Priority 8 ban was implemented under the rationale that VA lacked the resources to care for all veterans.  Responding to that issue, last year Congress provided VA with the largest funding increase in the Department's 77-year history and underscored its commitment to bringing VA enough resources to care for more veterans. 

    The Senate Committee's omnibus health care package, S. 1233, contains a provision that would allow all Priority 8 veterans back into the VA health care system by rescinding the ban issued in 2003.  However, due to opposition from Republican members to this provision, the bill is currently stalled in the Senate.  Chairman Akaka plans to continue to push for an up-or-down vote on this legislation in the Senate.

Military Health Care News

  • Dr. David S. C. Chu, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, announced the formation of the Deployment Support and Reintegration Office within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. 

    The office, mandated in this year’s Defense Authorization Act, is an integral piece of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.  The Department’s Yellow Ribbon Initiative is designed to provide support and outreach services to Reserve component service members, their families and communities throughout the deployment cycle.

    This program focuses on preparing service members and their families for the stresses associated with separation and deployment; educating members and families about resources available to assist them; and connecting members to service providers before and during deployments.  In addition, the program helps service members successfully reintegrate with families and communities following deployment.

    Reintegration program capabilities are already underway with services provided through the Joint Family Support Assistance Program and are currently being pilot tested in 15 states.  After the pilot, the program will be expanded to all 54 states and territories.  http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11763

  • On March 20, 2008, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced its tobacco cessation campaign is being implemented in 13 U.S. metropolitan markets containing 28 major military installations.  “Quit Tobacco” focuses on the interactive Web site, www.ucanquit2.org.

    Ucanquit2.org provides help to service members wanting to quit tobacco use and those helping others quit.  The campaign positions military members as role models, particularly to children, as a motivation to quit using tobacco.  On the Web site, users can get information; develop a personalized plan for quitting; play games; listen to podcasts; connect to federal, military, state, local and on-line cessation programs; and communicate privately with a trained cessation counselor seven days a week from 8:30 p.m.–2:30 a.m. (EST). 

    The social marketing initiative for the tobacco cessation campaign targets 702,000 military active-duty personnel, junior enlisted E-1 through E-4s. Marketing and advertising placements include major Web presence on www.military.com, mobile and stationary billboards, direct mailings to 160,000 active-duty, radio public service announcements, and paid ads in Military Times and Stars & Stripes newspapers.  There are also placements in commercial theaters, on pizza delivery boxes, and gas pump toppers at commercial locations within five miles of targeted military installations.  

    According to a DoD survey of health-related behaviors among junior enlisted active-duty military personnel, the prevalence of smoking among 18–25 year olds was significantly higher than for their civilian counterparts, as well as for older, higher ranking service members. Tobacco use costs DoD an estimated $1.6 billion a year in additional medical care through such things as increased hospitalization, missed work days, and decreased night vision.  Ultimately, tobacco use affects military readiness. http://www.tricare.mil/pressroom/news.aspx?fid=379

  • TRICARE Management Activity announced that most severely wounded soldiers polled by an independent organization after receiving health care from the Military Health System (MHS) say it’s doing all it can do to aid their recovery.

    Zogby International polled 435 soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan who are members of Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) and receiving care in military treatment facilities or through TRICARE, the uniformed services’ health care program.  In their responses, 77 percent said they believe the MHS is doing all it can to meet their health care needs.  Fifty-eight percent said that since they began receiving medical treatment their trust and confidence in the system has increased, and a majority of them said their expectations for recovery have increased since they returned from their deployment.

    Soldiers who had been home longer from their deployment were more likely to feel the MHS was doing all it should be doing to meet their needs.  Among those who had been home between 19 and 24 months, 84 percent said they believed the system was doing all it could; and 93 percent for those who had been home 25–36 months. 

    WTUs were created for soldiers who required at least six months of complex medical care.   These units are part of the Defense Department’s initiative to maximize care to Wounded Warriors.

  • TRICARE Management Activity announced that its Behavioral Health Provider Locator and Appointment Assistance Service has taken more than 2,300 calls in the U.S. to help active-duty service members (ADSMs) and their families find approved behavioral health providers in their area.

    The service that began three months ago allows ADSMs and their families to call their managed care support contractor (MCSC) if they are having a problem locating a network provider.  The provider locator and assistance staff has successfully assisted more than 1,500 beneficiaries who were eligible for the service by locating and making appointments, often engaging the beneficiary in a conference call with the provider to ensure scheduling is satisfactory.

    Beneficiaries are reminded that the Behavioral Health Provider Locator and Appointment Assistance Service is not a help-line for behavioral health treatment, counseling, or advice.

    All ADSMs must have a referral from their primary care manager for behavioral health care before calling the MCSC appointment assistance line.  TRICARE Prime Active Duty family members can receive the first eight outpatient behavioral health care visits per Fiscal Year (October 1–September 30) without a referral, but they must receive the care from TRICARE network providers to avoid point-of-service cost sharing charges.

    TRICARE Overseas Program beneficiaries can also use the appointment assistance line when traveling in the U.S.

    For more information about TRICARE and the behavioral health appointment assistance service, visit the mental health and behavior section at www.tricare.mil.

  • The Department of Defense (DoD) announced 34 awards to academic institutions to perform multi-disciplinary basic research. The total amount of the awards is expected to be $19.7 million in fiscal 2008 and $200 million over five years. Awards are subject to the successful completion of negotiations between the academic institutions and DoD research offices that will make the awards: the Army Research Office (ARO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).

    The awards are the result of the fiscal year 2008 competition that ARO, ONR, and AFOSR conducted under the DoD Multi-disciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program. The MURI program supports multi-disciplinary basic research in areas of DoD relevance that intersect more than one traditional science and engineering discipline. A MURI effort typically involves a team of basic researchers with expertise in a variety of disciplines. For a research area suited to a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together scientists and engineers with different disciplinary backgrounds can accelerate both basic research progress and transition of research results to application.

    To assemble a team with the requisite disciplinary strengths, most MURI efforts involve researchers from multiple academic institutions, as well as multiple academic departments. Based on the proposals selected in the fiscal 2008 competition, a total of 64 academic institutions are expected to participate in the 34 research efforts. Three non-U.S. academic institutions will participate in two of the MURI efforts, but will receive no funding from the MURI program.

    The MURI program complements other DoD basic research programs that support traditional, single-investigator university research by supporting multi-disciplinary teams with awards larger and longer in duration than traditional awards. The awards announced today are for a three-year base period with a two-year option contingent upon availability of appropriations and satisfactory research progress. Consequently, MURI awards can provide greater sustained support than single-investigator awards for the education and training of students pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering fields critical to DoD, as well as for associated infrastructure such as research instrumentation.

  • According to the Naval Submarine Base New London newspaper The Dolphin, Navy Medicine officials announced an interim decision to continue surgical services--General Surgery, Orthopedics, Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) and Oral Surgery--to the TRICARE Region North and for the near future. In addition to providing surgical support in Newport, beneficiaries from NBHC Groton site will either come to Newport for surgeries by military physicians, or be referred out into the civilian network in the Groton/New London area.

    The basis for this interim decision is the current healthy staffing levels of these surgical specialties throughout Navy Medicine at this time. Consolidation of the surgical staff to Newport will also ensure continuity of available care — a situation that has not always occurred due to the NHCNE role in supporting operational commitments in the global war on terrorism. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19405319&BRD=1659&PAG=461&dept_id=8110&rfi=6

  • The Department of Defense announced a new set of self-administered, anonymous screening tools offered as part of the Mental Health Self-Assessment Program (MHSAP) for service members and their families seeking information regarding their mental health.  This DoD-funded program provided by the non-profit organization, Screening for Mental Health, Inc., covers a variety of psychological concerns and is especially helpful to service members and families struggling with issues of stress, anxiety, and depression during a post-deployment, readjustment period.

    The questionnaires are short, free, and offered 24 hours a day online (at militarymentalhealth.org) and by phone (1-877-877-3647). In addition, to alleviate any fear of stigma, they can be taken anonymously. They will also be administered at special events held at installations around the world. The six available questionnaires cover depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol use, general anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and adolescent depression.

    Each questionnaire includes a demographics section asking for information like age, marital status, military rank and status (if any) and deployment status.  A series of questions follows that gathers information on a person’s mental well-being. Some questions focus on sleeping and eating habits, some on mood and attitude, and other ask about a person’s ability to function and concentrate.

    When linked together, the answers to these questions create a picture of how an individual is feeling and whether they could benefit from talking to a health professional.

    If an outcome results in a recommendation to seek professional help, the individual receives feedback on who to speak with and/or where to go, whether it’s a chaplain, a clinic, a TRICARE provider or the VA.  Appropriate hotline numbers and information on finding support groups are also provided.

    In addition to the self-assessment program, Screening for Mental Health, Inc. created A Different Kind of Courage: Safeguarding and Enhancing Your Psychological Health, an educational video containing interviews with military personnel and families that explores military mental health issues and offers advice on how to approach a family member or friend who may need professional help.  http://www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=103

  • Humana Military Healthcare Services (HMHS), the Department of Defense’s contractor providing health benefits support and services to approximately 2.8 million active duty and retired military and their eligible family members in the 10-state South Region, announced an additional online resource available for National Guard and Reserve members. The National Reserve and Guard Briefings are a series of educational briefings explaining TRICARE benefits for activated Guard and Reserve members and their families. Topics include an overview of TRICARE, inactive duty status, benefits during pre-activation and activation periods, TRICARE for family members, TRICARE Reserve Select, and behavioral health care services.

Veterans Health Care News  

  • The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun to deploy mobile pharmacies during major emergencies — especially natural disasters — that will provide vital medicine when patients are unable to fill their prescriptions.  VA will also open up the facilities to help communities during major disasters and other emergencies.

    Each VA mobile pharmacy is housed in a 40-foot-long solid steel trailer built to withstand winds in a Category 3 storm.  The units include a satellite connection with VA’s Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy system, a computerized, automated state-of-the-art mail-out pharmacy that can process more than 1,000 prescriptions hourly.  

    Pharmacists can use the satellite system to obtain a veteran’s prescription data to dispense the drugs on site.  In addition, VA can send replacement medications during an emergency by mail or another carrier to a veteran’s home or temporary address.

    VA recognized the need for mobile pharmacies in 2005 after hurricanes Katrina and Rita severely damaged VA medical centers along the Gulf Coast.  VA deployed several mobile medical clinics as part of its response to the disasters.  

    To ensure rapid response to a wide range of emergencies, VA’s mobile pharmacies will be strategically placed across the nation.  Plans now call for one of the three mobile pharmacies to be stationed at Dallas; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Charleston, S.C.  The Department also expects to acquire a fourth unit that will be placed in the western part of the country. 

    Each mobile pharmacy is divided into five compartments, including a work area for pharmacists, an entryway accessible to patients and a sleeping area with a bath and shower for VA personnel. 

    Pharmacy personnel from across the country have already volunteered to staff the units in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.  Six pharmacists who were part of a regional disaster drill have already completed their training and can deploy on short notice.  http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1469

  • The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced its plan to open 14 new outpatient clinics seven states in 2008.  

    The new clinics are scheduled to open in 2008.  The exact locations of the new facilities, along with their opening dates and the health care services they will provide, have yet to be determined.  VA has previously approved 50 additional clinics that will begin providing services in 2008 for a total of 64 new clinics throughout the country this year.

    With 153 hospitals and more than 700 community-based clinics, VA has the nation’s largest integrated health care system.  The Department’s health care budget of over $36 billion this year will provide care to about 5.5 million veterans. 

    Locations for the new clinics are:

    • Arkansas – Phillips County
    • Illinois – Coles County
    • Indiana – Scott County
    • Kentucky – Carroll County, Christian County and Graves County
    • Oklahoma – Stillwater
    • Tennessee – Bolivar, Campbell County, Dyer County, Roane County, Sevier County and Warren County
    • Washington – Lewis County

    Many of the new clinics were designated as priorities under VA’s Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) plan.  CARES, completed in 2004, was intended to ensure that VA uses its resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.  http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1471

Health Care News

  • According to a report released by the Alzheimer’s Association, 10 million baby boomers—about one in eight—will develop Alzheimer’s disease in the United States.

    The  report, 2008 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, details the escalation of Alzheimer’s disease, which now is the seventh leading cause of death in the country and the fifth leading cause of death for those over age 65.  It also offers numerous statistics that convey the burden Alzheimer’s imposes on individuals, families, government, business, and the nation’s health and long term care systems.  For example:

    • Every 71 seconds, someone in America develops Alzheimer’s disease; by mid-century someone will develop Alzheimer’s every 33 seconds.
    • Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer’s disease (17 percent vs. nine percent). One in six women and one in ten men age 55 and older can expect to develop Alzheimer’s disease in their remaining lifetime. Although it may appear that being female is a risk factor, more women will develop Alzheimer’s because on average, women live longer than men, thereby having more time to develop the disease.

    • In 2007, there were nearly 10 million Americans age 18 and over providing 8.4 billion hours of unpaid care to people with Alzheimer’s disease valued at $89 billion, four times more than what Medicaid pays for nursing home care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
    • In addition, a quarter million American children age 8 to 18 years old are providing care to loved ones with Alzheimer’s.
    • Seventy percent of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias live at home where friends and family take care of them.

    As many as 5.2 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, which includes between 200,000-500,000 people under age 65 with young-onset Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Experts predict by 2010, there will be almost a half million new cases of Alzheimer’s disease each year, and by 2050, there will be almost a million new cases each year.

    The new report also highlights the impact that Alzheimer’s has on states with more than 6 in 10 (62 percent) having double digit growth in prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease by the end of the decade. In addition, unpaid caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias provided care valued at more than $1 billion in each of 31 states, while unpaid caregivers in California, Florida, New York and Texas provided care valued at more than $4 billion per state.

  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the establishment of the NIH Intramural Center for Genomics and Health Disparities (NICGHD), a new venue for research about the way populations are impacted by diseases, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension. NICGHD will employ a genomics approach, collecting and analyzing genetic, clinical, lifestyle and socio-economic data to study a range of clinical conditions that have puzzled and troubled public health experts for decades.

       The trans-NIH center will be directed by internationally renowned genetic epidemiologist Charles N. Rotimi, Ph.D., former director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University.

       Genomic research has established that the genomes of any two individuals are very similar.  However, the subtle genomic differences that remain contribute to unique biological traits, such as hair and eye color, as well as to the susceptibility to diseases and individual responses to drugs.  Additional factors contribute to health and disease, including diet, exercise routines and access to medical care. Genetic epidemiologists study genetic differences in combination with environmental factors to assess disease susceptibility and resistance among individuals and population groups.

       NICGHD will be established within the NIH Office of Intramural Research and administered by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).  The research activities of NICGHD will take place on the NIH Bethesda campus.

       Building upon his previous research, Rotimi will continue efforts to develop genetic epidemiology models and population-genetics research projects that provide insights about the interrelationships of culture, lifestyle, genetics, genomics and health. His research explores patterns and determinants of common complex diseases that affect populations both living in Africa today and those that are part of the African diaspora.

  • On March 14, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration announced it received approval from the U.S. State Department to establish eight full-time permanent FDA positions at U.S. diplomatic posts in the People's Republic of China, pending authorization from the Chinese government.

       This step advances the FDA's plans to hire and place FDA staff in China over the next 18 months.  In addition, the FDA will be hiring a total of five local Chinese nationals to work with the new FDA staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulates General in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

       Building the FDA's capacity outside of the United States supports the agency's "Beyond our Borders" initiative. The initiative facilitates the building of stronger cooperative relationships with the FDA's counterpart agencies around the world and enhanced technical cooperation with foreign regulators. The permanent overseas offices in China will also allow greater access for inspections and greater interactions with manufacturers to help assure that products that are shipped to the United States meet U.S. standards for safety and manufacturing quality. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01806.html

  • Seven community heroes were recently honored at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention′s (CDC) Steps Program′s Action Institute for their extraordinary contributions in improving the health and well-being of Americans in school, worksite, healthcare or community settings.

       The Steps Program was established at CDC in 2003 to encourage people to lead healthier lives by being more physically active, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding tobacco. Steps-funded communities support policies, systems, and environmental changes that will create healthier communities. CDC′s Steps Program collaborates with the YMCA of the USA, state health departments and tribal entities, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and other organizations to disseminate effective interventions that address chronic diseases.

       The award recognizes contributions made by individuals in support of CDC′s Steps Program, which funds communities across the country to create models for how local initiatives can reduce the burden of chronic diseases.

       The recipients of the 2008 Steps Community Heroes Award are:

      • Ray Denniston–Conklin, New York
      • Peggy Johns–Largo, Florida
      • Dawn Imler and Kelley Brumfield–Cleveland, Ohio
      • Woody Hansen–Jay, Oklahoma
      • Patty Tobal–Hopwood, Pennsylvania
      • Stephanie Heim–Rochester, Minnesota
  • The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded $5 million to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., for two new health information technology contracts.  The contracts will focus on the development, adoption, implementation and evaluation of best practices using clinical decision support. Clinical decision support helps health professionals make better informed patient care decisions.

       The contractors are expected to incorporate clinical decision support into widely used health IT products, demonstrate cross-platform utility, and establish lessons learned for clinical decision support implementation across the health IT vendor community. The projects will focus on translation of clinical guidelines and outcomes related to preventive health care and treatment of patients with multiple chronic illnesses. Clinicians' use of clinical decision support also will be evaluated.

       Researchers will build on rapidly evolving knowledge from development and implementation activities to define effective clinical decision support tools and identify preferred methods and processes for incorporating these tools into electronic medical records and in busy practice settings.

       The research will assess potential benefits and drawbacks of clinical decision support services, including effects on patient satisfaction, measures of efficiency, cost and risk.  Researchers also will evaluate methods of creating, storing and replicating clinical decision support elements across multiple clinical sites and ambulatory practices.  http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2008/clindescpr.htm

  • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new medical adhesive (a fibrin sealant) called Artiss for use in attaching skin grafts onto burn patients.

    Fibrin sealants are tissue adhesives that contain the proteins fibrinogen and thrombin, which are essential in the clotting of blood. Artiss (Fibrin Sealant, VH S/D 4) differs from other fibrin sealants in that it contains a lower concentration of thrombin. This lower concentration allows surgeons more time to position skin grafts over burns before the graft begins to adhere to the skin. Artiss also contains aprotinin, a synthetic protein that delays the breakdown of blood clots.

    The fibrinogen and thrombin proteins in Artiss are derived from human plasma, collected from FDA-licensed plasma centers. Both proteins undergo purification and virus inactivation treatments to reduce the risk of blood-transmissible infections.  http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01807.html

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded three contracts totaling $38.1 million to help health information exchanges (HIEs) and regional health information organizations (RHIOs) better collaborate with public health departments.

    The contracts are part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ initiative to test components of a national health information network in real-world environments. The CDC contracts include:

    • Up to $20.1 million over five years to Health Research Inc., a Rensselaer, N.Y.-based research firm affiliated with the New York State Department of Health;
    • Up to $10 million over five years to Indiana University and Regenstrief Institute Inc., Indianapolis; and
    • Up to $8 million over five years to Science Applications International Corp., San Diego.

    Each prime contractor is working with other stakeholders, including HIEs or RHIOs, to integrate public health and bioterrorism surveillance tools with clinical care functions.

    SAIC is working with the HIE of Spokane, Wash.-based Inland Northwest Health Services, which serves 38 hospitals. Other partners include the University of Washington School of Public Health, Spokane Regional Health Department, and the state health departments of Washington and Idaho.

    The project will collect the biosurveillance minimum data set from INHS hospitals and transmit the data to public health agencies via the HIE. The project also will work to improve the compliance of physicians reporting communicable diseases to public health agencies by electronically identifying notifiable conditions. The goal is to build a more complete solution to connect clinical care and public health.

    Health Research Inc. is partnering with the New York State Department of Health and six RHIOs. The project will develop tools and processes to exchange public health surveillance data over the emerging statewide health information network.

    The goal is to be able to query HIEs and receive a clinical history of infected individuals; receive data on recent clinical encounters and admissions to better track an infected person’s whereabouts; be able to issue an all-points bulletin via the HIEs on individuals or other imminent public health threats; conduct influenza surveillance by measuring the number and severity of cases; and conduct syndromic surveillance to detect outbreaks of respiratory illnesses and other conditions.

    In Indiana, the Regenstrief Institute, which works closely with the Indiana Health Information Exchange, will work to adapt local surveillance tools for use at the national level. 

Reserve/Guard

  • The total number of Guard and Reserve currently on active duty has decreased by 131 from the last report to 95,957. The totals for each service are Army National Guard and Army Reserve, 74,156; Navy Reserve, 5,510; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 7,299; Marine Corps Reserve, 8,648; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 344. www.defenselink.mil

Reports/Policies

  • The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released “Health Care: Capturing the Opportunity in the Nation's Core Fiscal Challenge,” in March 2008.  The report, presented at Princeton University, explores how the U.S. can reduce health care costs without impairing health outcomes.  http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/90xx/doc9054/03-12-Princetonwnews.pdf
  • The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released “The 2007 Rosenthal Lecture Panel on Transforming Today’s Health Care Workforce to Meet Tomorrow’s Demands,” on March 19, 2008.  The report provides the views of the panel, which includes Kevin Grumbach, MD, professor and chair, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Murdock head professor of Medicine and Health Policy, The George Washington University; and Marla E. Salmon, ScD, RN, FAAN, dean and professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, director, Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing, Emory University.  http://www.iom.edu/CMS/28312/13883/52647.aspx

Legislation

  • No legislation was proposed this week.

Hill Hearings

  • The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on April 1, 2008, to examine post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment and research.
  • A Joint House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing will be held on April 3, 2008, to receive legislative presentations from AMVETS, MOPH, GSW, FRA, TREA, MOAA, NASDVA. 

Meetings / Conferences


If you need further information on any of the items in the Federal Health Update, please contact Kate Connelly Theroux at (703) 447-3257 or by e-mail at kate@usminstitute.org. To subscribe, please visit http://usminstitute.org/subscriber.cfm. To unsubscribe, please send an email to update@usminstitute.org with UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject.

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