Health Buzz: Health Reform Plans Taking Shape and Other Health News

Health Reform Plans Taking Shape

To meet an August deadline for Congress to vote on health reform legislation, senators will first have to compromise about a government-run public insurance option, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Republicans worry that a public plan might lead to nationalized healthcare, according to AP. Another possible deal-breaker for Republicans may be the proposal to mandate that employers with 25 or more employees provide insurance. Today AP reveals a breakdown of some health legislation proposals in the House and Senate. Differing from other proposals on a government-run public plan, one idea from the Senate Finance Committee allows for compromise. The committee would create nonprofit member-owned co-ops to compete with private insurers, AP reports.

Here are 7 ways healthcare reform will affect Americans. In May, U.S. News's Bernadine Healy voiced concern about how proposed healthcare policies would be implemented. She discussed privacy issues surrounding electronic medical records, comparative effectiveness studies, and the public health insurance option that would compete with private insurance plans.

5 Lessons From the Nation's Obesity Report Card

Obesity rates in adults have increased in 23 states and didn't decrease in a single state over the past year, according to a new report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. According to the report, almost two thirds of states now have adult obesity rates above 25 percent, U.S. News's Katherine Hobson writes. She lists 5 lessons from the nation's obesity report card that include how a down economy can affect obesity rates. The report states, "The current economic downturn is likely to push these numbers even higher as rising prices and constrained incomes make it more difficult for families to buy healthy foods." The report says seven of the states with the highest poverty rates are also among the top 10 for obesity. Here are photo galleries on the top 10 fattest states and the top 10 fittest states.

In related news, 40 percent of women who snack claim their snacking habits have been altered by the recession, though many said the impact has been positive, according to a recent survey of 1,003 women from Consumer Reports National Research Center. They're snacking more healthfully or snacking less, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz reports. The Consumer Reports survey also identified common pitfalls that lead to snacking.

Embryonic Stem Cells—and Other Stem Cells—Promise to Advance Treatments

While the attention of the public and ethicists has been focused on embryonic stem cells, research into other kinds of stem cells has been advancing and, in some cases, exploding, U.S. News's Katherine Hobson reports. Scientists still call embryonic cells the "gold standard" for stem cells, which is why researchers are excited about President Obama's move in March to allow the government to fund research using lines of embryo-derived cells. Geron, a biotechnology company, this year won the Food and Drug Administration's approval to conduct the first-ever study of embryonic stem cells in humans.

But many scientists predict that induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, which can be created by turning back the biological clock of normal adult cells, will one day supplant embryonic stem cells. Despite the obstacles to that achievement, scientists are cautiously optimistic that iPS, embryonic cells, or both can lead to new therapies, Hobson writes.

Consider 10 diseases that stem cells may--or may not--cure. Here are 3 ways that stem cells may speed new cures. And learn why embryonic stem cells are obsolete.

—Megan Johnson

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