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Plans To Control Doctors' Pay Big Issue In Massachusetts
Massachusetts officials are proud of their low rate of uninsured people, but the state also hosts the highest health care costs in the country, a problem that jeopardizes their achievement in expanding coverage, NPR"s Morning Edition reports. A commission charged with overseeing the insurance plan for 310,000 government workers recently voted - unanimously - that doing away with the current, fee-for-service model for paying doctors was the first step to controlling those costs. "Massachusetts policymakers want to replace fee-for-service with "global payment" - paying groups of health providers a flat yearly fee for each patient they cover," NPR reports (Knox, 8/5). Buy arimidex to treat cancer.

Ohio Comprehensive Sex Education Program Improves Knowledge Of Safer-Sex Practices, Study Finds
Ohio students who participate in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District"s comprehensive sex education program show more knowledge and better attitudes toward safer-sex practices than students who do not participate, according to a study released Tuesday by Philliber Research Associates, the AP/Dayton Daily News reports. The school district uses a graduated sex education program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program begins with instruction about the human body and inappropriate touching and progresses to discussions about sexually transmitted infections and relationships. The study, which was funded by the AIDS Funding Collaborative in Cleveland, found that more than 75% of parents of children in kindergarten through sixth grade approved of the program.The Collaborative for Comprehensive School Age Health, a coalition of northeast Ohio organizations that opposes abstinence-only sex education, said that the report validates the effectiveness of the city"s program. The study"s release coincides with advocates" efforts against two other sex education-related measures under consideration in the state budget plan. According to the AP/Daily News, the Republican-controlled state Senate wants to require the state Department of Education to apply for federal abstinence-only education funding. The state Senate also wants Ohio to continue to require legislative approval before any changes can be made in health education, although Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and the Democrat-controlled House want to change these requirements, the AP/Daily News reports (AP/Dayton Daily News, 6/23).

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Hispanics In Massachusetts Less Likely To Visit Physicians, Survey Finds
Hispanics in Massachusetts are less likely than whites to have visited a physician in the last year, according to a survey that was funded by the Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Springfield Republican reports. The survey also found that Hispanics were about twice as likely as whites to visit an emergency department for a nonemergency condition. The survey, which was conducted last fall, included 4,041 adults ages 18 to 64 in Massachusetts. Overall, the survey found that people living in western Massachusetts had more difficulty accessing health services than people living in other areas of the state, in part because of a shortage of primary care physicians. While the survey found that nearly all state residents have health insurance, more than 25% of residents in four western counties reported that providers either would not accept their insurance or were not accepting new patients. The survey did not find significant differences across the state in the ability of residents to pay medical bills. In addition, the survey did not find any evidence that health care costs are more of a burden to Hispanics and blacks than to whites (McAuliffe, Springfield Republican, 5/28).
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Britains Next Oldest Mother Highlights Increase Of 'fertility Tourism'

At 66 years old, Elizabeth Adeney is set to become Britain"s oldest mother when she gives birth to a child conceived following fertility treatment at a clinic in Ukraine. The example highlights the growing trend among fertility patients to travel abroad to access treatment which in Britain often involves high cost and a long wait. A new study funded by the Economic Research Council and the first academic inquiry of its kind, is being undertaken by Lorraine Culley, professor at the Health and Social Sciences department of De Montfort University, UK. It aims to give a clearer indication of the number of British "fertility tourists" visiting clinics in countries like Spain, Greece, Russia, the US and India. "Women here do this for all sorts of reasons. There is a serious shortage of eggs, donated sperm is in shorter supply than before, the cost can be cheaper abroad and some people want IVF which they can"t get on the NHS" said Culley. The only previous study into fertility treatment abroad was conducted in 2008 by Infertility Network UK and surveyed more than 300 fertility patients, some of whom had already received foreign services. 76 per cent of respondents said that they would consider treatment abroad, with lower costs and shorter waiting times being cited as deciding factors. Dr Allan Pacey, secretary of the British Fertility Society also estimates that thousands of women travel abroad for treatment every year because of frustration with waiting times for donated gametes; Ms. Culley believes that couples who go abroad are able to exploit the fact that in some countries, women can be paid to donate their eggs. Of the 24 per cent surveyed by Infertility Network UK who said they would not consider going abroad to be treated, language difficulties and a lack of regulation were the main concerns. However, those respondents who had already been treated abroad said that in addition to lower cost and speedier treatment, high success rates, staff attitudes and the atmosphere and facilities in clinics abroad were the main attractions; 88 per cent were happy with the treatment they received. British fertility regulator the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has warned that procedures at foreign clinics may not be safe, that success rates may be exaggerated and children born may never be able to discover anything about their half-siblings; "There are clear risks" said a spokesman. However, chief executive of Infertility Network UK Clare Brown said "If the NHS funded three full cycles of treatment as recommended by NICE, many couples would not be forced to consider going abroad for treatment... I do hope clinics in the UK take into consideration the findings of this survey and learn from the good experiences many couples have had at clinics abroad". Written by Ms Sarah Guy sarahf.guy(at)googlemail.com Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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