Health Care Blog
President Obama Speaks to the Planned Parenthood Conference
Posted by on April 26, 2013 at 2:37 PM EDT
President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the 2013 Planned Parenthood National Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 26, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Today, President Obama spoke at the Planned Parenthood Conference in Washington, DC, reaffirming the core principle that has guided the organization for nearly a century: that women should be allowed to make their own decisions about their own health.
President Obama thanked the doctors, nurses, advocates and staff who work tirelessly to keep the doors open for the millions of women who depend on the health services Planned Parenthood offers.
Somewhere there’s a woman who just received a new lease on life because of a screening that you provided that helped catch her cancer in time. Somewhere there’s a woman who’s breathing easier today because of the support and counseling she got at her local Planned Parenthood health clinic. Somewhere there’s a young woman starting a career who, because of you, is able to decide for herself when she wants to start a family.
“One in five women in this country has turned to Planned Parenthood for health care,” he said. “And for many, Planned Parenthood is their primary source of health care -- not just for contraceptive care, but for lifesaving preventive care, like cancer screenings and health counseling.”
Learn more about Health Care, WomenDrug Policy Reform In Action: A 21st Century Approach
Posted by on April 24, 2013 at 3:37 PM EDTEditor's Note: This blog post is cross-posted from the ONDCP Blog.
The President has outlined his vision of an America built to last—where an educated, skilled workforce has the knowledge, energy and expertise to compete in the global marketplace. Yet--for far too many Americans--that vision is limited by drug use, which not only diminishes the potential of the individual, but jeopardizes families, communities and neighborhoods.
The economic costs of drug use are enormous: In 2007 alone, illicit drug use cost taxpayers more than $193 billion in lost productivity, healthcare, and criminal justice costs. But the human costs are worse. Nationwide, drug-induced overdose deaths now surpass homicides and car crashes as the leading cause of injury death in America.
We are not powerless to address these challenges. And as recent data has shown, we are not unable to reverse these trends. Prescription drug abuse is beginning to decline. Cocaine use and related overdoses are dropping. And recent data show the nation’s prison and jail population dropping for the third straight year.
Today we are releasing a science-driven plan for drug policy reform in America to build upon this progress. This 21st century drug policy outlines a series of evidence-based reforms that treat our nation’s drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue. This policy underscores what we all know to be true: we cannot arrest or incarcerate our way out of the drug problem.
Learn more about Health CareIncreasing Access to Mental Health Services
Posted by on April 10, 2013 at 1:21 PM EDTEd. Note: This is a cross post from HHS.gov. You can find the original post here.
America has come a long way in talking about mental health, yet we are still a country that too often confines mental health and addiction to the far edges of our discourse. We cannot ignore the fact that 60 percent of people with mental health conditions and nearly 90 percent of people with substance use disorders don’t receive the care they need. That is why the Affordable Care Act is so important to mental health. The health care law, along with previous parity legislation, will expand mental health and substance use disorder benefits and parity protections for 62 million Americans.
To continue these efforts, President Obama announced key steps earlier this year to make it easier for individuals struggling with mental health problems to get the help they need. And now, the President’s Budget will deliver on these commitments.
The President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget includes a critical $205 million investment in programs to help identify mental health concerns early, improve access to mental health services and support safer school environments. And, it invests $30 million in tools and research that will expand our understanding of gun violence prevention, including key mental health issues.
Learn more about Family, Health Care,Assessing and Addressing Community Health Needs - the Next Step in Protecting Patients
Posted by on April 3, 2013 at 6:05 PM EDTEd. note: This post was originally published on Treasury Notes, the official blog of the US Department of the Treasury. You can read it here
The Affordable Care Act not only protects patients from hidden and high prices and unreasonable collections actions – it also requires charitable hospitals to take an active role in improving the health of the communities they serve. Today, the Department of the Treasury took the next step in refining new policies already in place that hold charitable hospitals to a higher standard when it comes to addressing the health needs in their communities. The proposed rules issued today add details on how hospitals should conduct community health needs assessments and define how the IRS will enforce any violations of the new standards.
Learn more about Health CareHelping Americans on the Autism Spectrum Reach Their Full Potential
Posted by on April 2, 2013 at 4:00 PM EDTToday marks World Autism Awareness Day, and it was filled with events, meetings, and information campaigns here at the White House, across the Obama Administration, and across the country.
It was fitting that President Obama unveiled a bold new research initiative designed to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain. The BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative will be essential to advancing what we know about the complexities of autism. Originally referenced during the State of the Union, this ambitious new project was launched with approximately $100 million in the President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, and ultimately aims to help researchers find new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and autism.
As President Obama said today: “We’re still unable to cure diseases like Alzheimer’s or autism, or fully reverse the effects of a stroke. And the most powerful computer in the world isn’t nearly as intuitive as the one we’re born with. So there is this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked, and the BRAIN Initiative will change that by giving scientists the tools they need to get a dynamic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember. And that knowledge could be -- will be -- transformative.”
Learn more about Education, Health CareHHS Releases Medicare Data on Spending and Chronic Conditions
Posted by on March 28, 2013 at 7:26 PM EDTThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released a new, easy-to-use interactive tool that gives anybody - researchers, physicians, public health professionals, policymakers, consumer advocates, tech innovators, and the public – the ability to find and examine data on multiple chronic conditions among Medicare beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Chronic Conditions Dashboard furthers the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) goals for health promotion and the prevention and management of multiple chronic conditions and is an integral part of the Administration’s Health Data Initiative that seeks to release more health-related data in more usable formats to the public in order to promote innovation and improvement in health and care.
The Dashboard includes data for 2011 and presents summarized information on the prevalence of chronic conditions, as well as aggregate Medicare costs and utilization measures for beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions at various geographic levels – national, state, and hospital referral region. Examples of what you can find in the Dashboard include:
Learn more about Health Care
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