New York: Patient Navigators Boost Colon Cancer Screening Rates
Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City found that minority patients are more likely to undergo colon cancer screening when paired with patient navigators who help explain the procedure to the patients, schedule their appointments, place reminder calls and offer to arrange their transportation. In light of these findings, the New York City health department is now working to establish similar programs throughout the city.

National: Regional Declines in Life Expectancy
A recent study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Washington indicated that while overall average life expectancy increased by more than seven years for men and six years for women between 1960 and 2000, life expectancy for a significant minority group declined or remained unchanged. The study found that the most significant declines in life expectancy were concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River. These declines stemmed largely from increases in diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular diseases.

Florida: Churches Establish HIV/AIDS Testing Sites for American-Americans
The Florida Department of Health and the African Methodist Episcopal Church are partnering on a campaign to establish HIV/AIDS testing in at least one church per county in Florida. The program will train volunteers and church leaders on topics such as street slang to help them better counsel residents on AIDS awareness and testing.

California: Mortality Linked to Inequity
The Alameda County Public Health Department found that diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer are concentrated among low-income people and people of color in certain neighborhoods because of social, transportation, housing and education inequities. The officials mapped 45 years worth of death certificates and vital statistics by precise geographical area to establish the link between mortality and inequity in Alameda County.

National: Oral Cancers in Young Men Linked to Sexually Transmitted Virus
Physicians are seeing increasing numbers of young men with head and neck cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), the same virus that causes cervical cancer in women. HPV-associated head and neck cancer strikes an estimated 6,000 men per year. Primary care doctors may be unaware that such types of cancers can occur in male patients younger than 60. Researchers will study whether if the HPV vaccine designed to protect girls and women against cervical cancer will work to prevent infection in men.

Iowa: Lawmakers Approve Statewide Smoking Ban
This month the Iowa legislature approved a smoking ban in most public places. The bill would take effect July 1 and ban smoking in bars, restaurants, public transit stations, education facilities, financial institutions, shopping malls, sports arenas and other public places. However, casinos, designated rooms in hotels, and long-term care facilities, private homes and businesses are exempted from the ban.

Arizona: Law Requires Insurance Coverage for Autism Therapies
Gov. Janet Napolitano recently signed legislation that will require insurance companies to provide coverage for autism therapies. The benefits would be limited to $50,000 per year for children up to age 8, and $25,000 a year for those age 9 to 16. Currently, the state Department of Developmental Disabilities provides coverage for 3,160 children with autism.

Wisconsin: State Kicks Off a Wellness Challenge
Gov. Jim Doyle recently kicked off a six-week statewide wellness initiative challenging residents to adopt healthier lifestyles. Participants can sign up at no cost and track their progress online. The governor is calling on state employees to join and is offering incentives to school districts.

Maryland: Measure Approved to Improve Dental Care for Low-Income Children
Lawmakers approved $7 million in state funds to be matched by $7 million in federal funds to increase Medicaid payments to dentists. The state budget also includes $1.4 million to increase the ability of local health clinics to provide dental care, and $700,000 for school-based dental programs. Lawmakers also approved legislation allowing dental hygienists working in public health settings to provide preventive care to patients without the authorization or supervision of a dentist. These actions follow the widely publicized death of a 12 year old Maryland boy due to untreated tooth infection.

Public Health Work Force Shortage Imperil Nation's Health
This report by the Center for Studying Health System Change concludes that the mounting shortage of public health workers exists due to funding gaps, uncompetitive salaries, retirement and a lack of enthusiasm for public health as a career choice. The report is based on interviews conducted between November 2007 and January 2008 with public health officials in Cleveland; Greenville, S.C.; Indianapolis; Little Rock, Ark.; Orange County, Calif.; and Phoenix, as well as representatives from state and national public health organizations.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities Linked to Physician Practice Resources
According to this report by the Center for Studying Health Systems Change, primary care physicians treating a disproportionate share of minority patients earn less, see more patients, provide more charity care, treat more Medicaid patients and receive low reimbursement payments, and encounter more problems providing high quality care. The report recommends that raising Medicaid payment rates, increasing insurance coverage, quality reporting and financial incentives for improving care could reduce these disparities.

Comparing the Assets of Uninsured Households to Cost Sharing Under High Deductible Health Plans
This recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation concludes that relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to health saving accounts or HSAs. Overall, the analysis found sizable gap between the financial assets of insured households compared to those of uninsured households and the gap persisted even among those with relatively low incomes.

Chronically Ill Patients Get More Care, Less Quality This report by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice suggests that Medicare could have saved as much as $50 billion over the past five years if all U.S. hospitals treated chronically ill patients as effectively and efficiently as the best hospitals in the study. The report also highlights regional variation in the number of services that patients with severe chronic diseases receive at the end of life. The report finds that academic centers billed Medicare up to nearly four times as much as other medical centers and that spending on hospitalization in states that have alternatives to hospitals is actually higher than in regions lacking such options. The report suggests that policy makers and academic medical centers should develop guidelines detailing when to hospitalize chronically ill patients, the frequency with which such patients should visit physicians, and the Medicare policy and reimbursement procedures that best support systems of effective care management.

Identifying and Evaluating Equity Provisions in State Health Care Reform
This report by the Opportunity Agenda and Families USA identified state-level policies that promote equitable health care access and quality for all populations. The report evaluates existing laws, regulations, or reform proposals in five states to determine whether they address health care disparities relative to these equity benchmarks: Massachusetts and Washington, which have already enacted health care reform legislation; and California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, where legislators are considering similar programs.

Shortchanging America's Health 2008
This report by Trust for America's Health highlights wide variations in the amount of funding received by individual states from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report offers a state-by-state analysis of health statistics and federal public funding. The report found that Midwestern states receive less CDC funding than states in other regions.

National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs Chartbook This chartbook by The Maternal and Child Health Bureau provides both national and state-level data on children with special health care needs . These children are defined as having or being at risk for "chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions that have lasted or are expected to last at least 12 months." Approximately 14 percent, or 10.2 million children in the U.S., have special health care needs. The survey found that 16 percent of the children don't receive all the services they need; more than 94 percent of them have a regular source of care when they are sick; 12 percent of families required mental health care or counseling related to the child's medical, behavioral or other health conditions; and 24 percent of families reported that a parent had to stop working or cut work hours to care for their children.