Indian manned space flight delayed further

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Calcutta News.Net Monday 17th September, 2012

India's first human space flight would be delayed further for want of requisite technologies and capabilities, a top space official admitted Monday.

"The launch programme of our first manned mission in space is going in a skewed phase. Though we have identified critical technologies for such an ambitious project, we have to build the capabilities for undertaking such a challenging mission," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters here.

The state-run Indian space agency in 2006-07 planned to send a two-member crew into the space orbit for seven days and bring it back safe to Earth by 2014-15 at an estimated cost of Rs.12,400-crore ($2.8 billion).

"A human space flight is a complex mission requiring a host of things such as a heavy rocket, re-entry vehicle, space capsule, space suits, environmental control, life support systems and an escape system for the crew at the launch-pad and during the flight to be safe in the event of a mishap," Radhakrishnan pointed out.

The space agency, however, has commissioned pre-project studies for the manned mission with Rs.150 crore grant from the government.

"With human life at stake, there is no room for error at any stage of the flight mission. Though we had successfully conducted a 12-day space capsule recovery experiment using a lower-orbit rocket in January 2007, we have to work on a full-fledged project on mission mode for the human space flight at a revised cost," Radhakrishnan observed.

The Indian space agency plans to undertake 58 missions over the next five years during the 12th plan period (2012-17) spanning communication satellites, remote-sensing satellites for earth observation and space applications.

"As of now, we do not have a programme to launch a human space flight over the next five years. We are also yet to get approval from the government for the manned mission," Radhakrishnan added.

The proposed missions, however, include Chandrayaan-2, India's second mission to moon, by 2016 after Chandrayaan-1 in 2008.

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Indian manned space flight delayed further

NASA: A Human Adventure Continues Global Tour With Sept. 22 Opening at Istanbul’s Marmara Expo Center

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PETALUMA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

After successful appearances in Stockholm and Madrid, NASA: A Human Adventure opens Sept. 22 at the Marmara Expo Center, bringing the history of NASA to vivid life.

The largest NASA-themed touring exhibit outside the U.S. was created by White Room Artifacts, LLC, the company owned by Star Wars model maker Don Bies.

Encompassing more than 250 original objects and replica artifacts, the 20,000-square-foot exhibition is a strategic partnership between NASA and John Nurminen Events, introduces visitors to the people, technology and engineering that have captured imaginations worldwide for more than 50 years. From early rocket prototypes to actual space hardware, NASA: A Human Adventure engages all of the senses, inspiring dreams of future space exploration.

Its the largest exhibition ever conceived, designed and curated by White Room Artifacts, which also created seven of the exhibitions models, developed the exhibits multimedia content, and co-produced its multi-language audio guide.

A team of more than 12 people at White Room Artifacts, about 45 minutes north of San Francisco, worked 14 months to prepare NASA: A Human Adventure, said Bies, whose model work has included such films as the Star Wars Saga, Galaxy Quest, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and the Pirates of the Caribbean films. This was a massive undertaking, from developing the conceptual ideas, to working with NASA to curate the exhibit, and creating models for display, Bies said, adding that White Room Artifacts is about to begin planning for the exhibits North American tour.

Deborah Rivera, NASAs manager of strategic alliances, said the exhibits goal is to create global awareness of space exploration. We want to inform people about what we do at NASA and, together, explore the unknown. We hope the exhibition will trigger questions, a-ha experiences, and the joy of exploring the human elements that have taken us into space.

For more information about the exhibit, please visit http://www.ahumanadventure.com. To learn more about White Room Artifacts, visit its website at http://www.WhiteRoomArtifacts.com.

TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS WITH DON BIES, PLEASE CONTACT JOHN SINGH AT 818-458-7800 OR john.singh@j2comm.com.

Photos/MultimediaGallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50411091&lang=en

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NASA: A Human Adventure Continues Global Tour With Sept. 22 Opening at Istanbul’s Marmara Expo Center

NASA, We Have a Space Problem — Costing Million$

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The space agency has an unusual problem: space.

A recent review of NASAs land holdings on earth revealed a new challenge for the agency: poorly maintained, aging facilities once used for research and development or space vehicle construction, now essentially useless.

NASA spends about $1.1 billion annually on maintenance and upkeep of its more than 5,400 buildings, landing strips and other unique sites; but approximately 9 percent of its real property assets arent being used, NASA told FoxNews.com. The solution, according to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG): lease them.

Kennedy leases a clean room where Apollo capsules were readied 40 years ago to Lockheed Martin. Boeing is building space taxis in a processing hangar where shuttles were once routinely readied to soar. And there are plenty of others, from Rolls-Royce and Google to local schools and, in areas where businesses arent interested, parks, gardens and visitor centers.

But not enough, according to Paul K. Martin, NASA Inspector General.

Per a 2010 directive, NASA must divest itself of property it has no immediate plans for.

A new report examining leasing practices revealed holes in the agency's efforts to lease.

Despite frustration at Centers, headway is being made

Few incentives exist for NASA to identify underutilized property as unnecessary to its mission needs, he concluded in the August report.

Olga Dominguez, NASAs assistant administrator for the office of strategic infrastructure, agreed that the agency wasnt 100 percent sure how many buildings and facilities were unusued. Part of the challenge, she said, was the changing nature of the space agencys mission. As NASA has refocused from the space shuttle to the private space industry, its needs have changed as well.

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NASA, We Have a Space Problem — Costing Million$

Medicine man busted trying to have sex with patient

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SEREMBAN, Sept 17 A man who claimed to be an Islamic medicine practitioner was arrested by the Negri Sembilan Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JHEAINS) today while trying to perform sex on his patient he was treating at her house in Kampung LBJ, here, today.

The 48-year-old man was nabbed in a raid by JHEAINS at 12.30pm while purportedly treating the 24-year-old woman.

JHEAINS enforcement division principal assistant director Ahmad Husaini Mustafa said the suspect, from Kuala Lumpur, had earlier contacted the victim to treat her difficulty to conceive.

Upon arriving at the victims house, he recited some Quranic verses to treat her and perform nikah batin (spiritual marriage) with her which was contrary to Islamic teachings.

The man then tried to take advantage of the unsuspecting woman by performing sex on her, but his attempt was foiled by the JHEAINS raiding team, he told a news conference, here.

Ahmad Husaini said the raid was conducted following public information and complaints received.

We believe the suspect, who is married with children, is not knowledgeable in Islam but was using Quranic verses to dupe the victim in order to take advantage of her.

He said a number of items including a Quran and a religious booklet believed to be used in the treatment, were also seized during the raid.

Ahmad Husaini said the suspect was believed to have been involved in the activity for quite some time, and their initial investigation showed that he had treated three women.

The case is being investigated under Section 49 of the Negri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment for misusing Quranic verses, Section 50 of the same Enactment for insulting Islam and Section 77 for seducing a woman. Bernama

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Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Sept. 18. 2012

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Public release date: 17-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Angela Collom acollom@acponline.org 215-351-2653 American College of Physicians

1. Hospital-initiated Transitional Care Interventions Can Improve Outcomes in Stroke and MI

Transitional care is the treatment patients receive in between levels of care, or in between hospitalization and release to home. For chronically ill, older patients, transitional care strategies can reduce unnecessary use of health services and improve patient outcomes. Less is known about the benefits and harms of transitional care strategies for patients who have a new acute event. Researchers summarized 44 studies that compared usual care with transitional care strategies for adults with acute stroke or myocardial infarction (MI). The researchers evaluated four types of transitional care strategies to determine their benefits and harms on patient outcomes and the health care system. The four types of care included hospital-initiated support into home or intermediary care; hospital-based or community-based patient and family education; community-based models of support interventions; and chronic disease management models of care. The researchers found moderate-strength evidence that hospital-initiated support reduced length of stay for patients who had a stroke and low-strength evidence that hospital-initiated support reduced mortality for patients who had an MI. There was insufficient evidence about patient and family education programs and community-based support interventions.

Note: For a PDF, please contact Angela Collom. To reach the author, please contact Julie McKeel at Julie.mckeep@duke.edu or 919-668-5939. To contact the editorialist, please contact Jordan Schupbach at jordan.schupbach@va.gov or 303-393-5205.

2. Interventions Improve Handovers from Hospital to Primary Care

Patient safety and cost issues related to care transitions have become a major concern of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other insurance providers. Ineffective patient transition from hospital to home can result in rehospitalization, adverse medical events, or death. Researchers reviewed 36 randomized, controlled trials of interventions intended to improve patient transition from hospital to primary care. They found that the most effective interventions were medication reconciliation; use of electronic records and information sharing; discharge planning; and shared involvement in follow-up by hospital and community care providers. Most interventions had positive effects. These included reduced hospital use, improvement of continuity of care, and improvement of patient status after discharge. The author of an accompanying editorial writes that a well-executed transition should include logistical arrangements, education of the patient and family, and coordination among health professionals. While more research is needed, these evidence reviews help to identify important gaps in the available research and provide a structure upon which to design future studies that will ultimately lead to the development of effective programs.

Note: For a PDF or an interview with Dr. Hesselink, Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, please contact Angela Collom. To contact the editorialist, please contact Jordan Schupbach at jordan.schupbach@va.gov or 303-393-5205.

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Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Sept. 18. 2012

Newton Medical Center to launch Newton Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine on Oct. 1

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Orthopedic surgeons Charles C. Craig, Ryan W. Livermore and J. Scott Pigg and sports medicine physician Jennifer Scott Koontz will join Newton Medical Center to create Newton Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. The program was announced Monday and will begin Oct. 1.

We see the whole gamut of orthopedic issues, from knee and hip replacement to ACL repairs, rotator cuff repairs. We dont do spine surgery, but the surgeons pretty much do everything else, said Koontz, who does non-operative work.

The doctors will remain in their current office at 800 Medical Center Drive on the Newton Medical Center campus. They come from Pinnacle Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics, which also has locations in Hutchinson and McPherson. Those locations will continue to operate under Pinnacle.

Koontz said their team will work with schools for sports medicine and nursing homes for things such as joint replacements. She said there will not be changes to the current staff or office.

The move was a natural step, she said.

Being a part of Newton Medical Center would be a good affiliation to have stronger connections in the community, Koontz said. It was a mutual connection that you just develop a relationship with your local hospital. You spend so much time together, and we recognized it would be beneficial for both of us want to offer a wider range of beneficial services for the community that it just made sense.

Newton Medical Center CEO Steve Kelly said he is excited about the group joining the hospital.

At Newton Medical Center, we have a very great relationship with our physicians, so when there came an opportunity for them to partnership with us, they approached us and were very excited about making that formal, Kelly said. The physicians in that group are excellent. Were going to be able to really market their services in a larger area because of the group that we have.

The physicians will be employed by Newton Medical Center. The number of physicians employed by Newton Medical Center has gone from none six years ago to 23 as of Oct. 1.

Craig received his medical degree from the University of Kansas, where he conducted a residency in orthopedic surgery. He served at Kenner Army Community Hospital at Fort Lee in Virginia before joining Axtell Clinic in 1978. Hes been in the Newton community several years.

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Newton Medical Center to launch Newton Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine on Oct. 1

Nationals support new medical school at Charles Sturt

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Sept. 18, 2012, 4 a.m.

DELEGATES at the Nationals' Federal Conference carried a motion on Sunday supporting Charles Sturt University's proposal to establish a new medical school to address chronic shortages of doctors in rural and regional Australia.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann said, "We welcome this very public commitment by The Nationals to the establishment of a new medical school at Charles Sturt University.

He said the support followed news this week that more than 21,000 Australians had signed up on Facebook as supporters of Charles Sturt University's planned medical school.

"While we remain hopeful that the current government will fund this initiative in the next federal budget, it is important for rural and regional communities to know that the Nationals are committed to this initiative," Professor Vann said.

"I think there is a growing recognition across all political parties of the serious impact that the rural doctor shortage has on the lives of families and individuals in our communities.

"There also appears to be an increased awareness that people will not live in rural towns, let alone move here, if they can't get access to a doctor when they need one."

He said the commitment by The Nationals follows mounting evidence current rural medical education strategies are not working, and the need to focus more on resources for rurally-based and delivered programs if government was serious about addressing rural doctor shortages.

"For example, a cross-party Senate inquiry into rural medical workforce shortages reported in August this year that city medical schools had consistently failed to meet minimum recruitment targets for rural medical students, despite all the evidence that a rural doctor is significantly more likely to have come from a rural area and been trained in a rural area," Professor Vann said.

"Charles Sturt University's proposed solution to the rural doctor shortage is not only supported by a wealth of national and international evidence, it has the overwhelming support of rural and regional Australians."

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Nationals support new medical school at Charles Sturt

Medical schools look to link up for AEC

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WANNAPA KHAOPA THE NATION September 18, 2012 1:00 am

Professor Adeeba Binti Kamarulzaman from Malaysia responded to a question about the urgent matters to be discussed in terms of research collaboration, saying the academics would see how they could jointly deal with problems that every country in the region faces - diseases such as flu and diabetes.

Prof Agnes D Mejia from the Philippines said having done community based research on diabetes, HIV prevention, E-coli and diarrhoea; the Philippines would share its findings.

Prof Udom said: "In preparation for the Asean Economic Community in 2015, the medical schools have to discuss how to upgrade curriculum, learning processes, medical services and research together. We have to link our patient care systems to support free flow of patients in Asean."

The First Asean Deans' Summit will run until tomorrow, with the theme "Connecting Asean Medical Schools towards One Community". It aims to promote collaboration among leading medical schools in Asean to leverage medical education and health systems towards international excellence and to be prepared to work as one community by 2015.

They will sign the Asean Medical School's Intention Declaration tomorrow to establish and reinforce collaboration and a network among their medical schools. They plan to share human resources and provide capacity building for medical education and research and health systems in Asean countries.

Asked about doctor mobility in Asean, Dr Alonkone Phengsavanh from Laos, said: "We should set up new regulations among medical associations of each country, and the first thing is medical licences. [Each] Health Ministry should be aware about this issue. The country should think about a 'brain drain'.

Udom said he hoped that their collaboration - coming together to look at curricula and (medical) facilities they could share to help each other - would help lift every country's standards to a similar level.

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Debate surrounds Lady Liberty in West Chester

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WEST CHESTER, OH (FOX19) -

The Twelfth District Court of Appeals heard arguments from Liberty Tax Services on Monday. The company claims West Chester Township is limiting its freedom of commercial speech.

The West Chester Board of Zoning Appeals won't allow Liberty Tax Services to use its Lady Liberty waver to advertise. The Butler County Court of Common Pleas has also rules against the use of the waver.

In our commitment to balanced news, here are both sides of the issue. Liberty Tax Services say not being able to use the Lady Liberty Advertising hurts business and is a violation of its commercial speech rights. On the flip side, officials with West Chester Township say this type of character signage is prohibited by the township's zoning guidelines.

In many cities that surround West Chester, you can find Lady Liberty dancing and twirling signs, but in West Chester it's not allowed and Liberty Tax is putting up a fight.

"The wavers job is to get out there, have fun and make eye contact, make that personal connection so people know where we are at," said Liberty Tax Service franchise owner Jack Vyhnalek. He says the Lady Liberty advertising accounts for a third of the company's business.

The West Chester location opened in 2010 and from the start wasn't allowed to have a waver. The township's zoning resolution states, "signs which employ any parts or elements which revolve, rotate, whirl, spin or otherwise make use of motion to attract attention, other than electronic message boards are prohibited."

"We're not going to have trash out here, we are not going to do things that are inappropriate. We simply want a person. We want to employ people in the community, we'll employ five or ten wavers, because of the increased business we'll have more tax people from the community," said Vyhnalek.

Liberty Tax officials say they have dealt with this type of situation before and are normally successful in the court of appeals. It could be several weeks before we know what the court decides.

Copyright 2012 WXIX. All rights reserved.

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Liberty-Silver Stars Preview

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After gaining a key advantage, the New York Liberty have a chance to wrap up a playoff berth as early as Tuesday night. The first step for the Liberty is earning a third consecutive road win over the San Antonio Silver Stars.

New York (14-17) is one game ahead of Chicago for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and clinched a crucial tiebreaker with a 75-68 comeback win at Washington on Sunday. The Liberty finished with a 10-12 record in conference play and the Sky can't earn more than nine such victories, so Chicago needs to finish with a better overall record than New York - which won't be possible if it loses at Seattle and the Liberty win Tuesday.

The Liberty's season high-tying third straight win almost didn't happen as they trailed by nine with 8:57 remaining against the last-place Mystics. Cappie Pondexter, though, scored 10 of her 30 points after that point and Nicole Powell added 10 of her season-high 18.

Pondexter has averaged 24.3 points in her past four games and 10.0 rebounds over her last three, boosting her season marks to 20.7 points and 4.6 boards.

"Cappie. She's been awesome. She's our MVP and the most important player to her team of anybody in the league," said coach John Whisenant, whose team is 5-1 this month.

Pondexter had 23 points and eight rebounds against San Antonio (19-12) on July 8, and Essence Carson scored a season-high 25. However, that wasn't enough to help New York add to a five-game win streak in the series.

Jia Perkins scored a season-high 24 points in the 94-81 road victory, while Becky Hammon and Sophia Young had 23 and 21, respectively.

That win was among a franchise-record 12 in a row for the Silver Stars, but they've gone 3-7 since then. They failed to win their third straight Sunday, falling 80-70 to Tulsa.

The defeat dealt a serious blow to San Antonio's hopes of securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Silver Stars trail Los Angeles by 2 1/2 games for the No. 2 seed, though they hold the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the head-to-head series.

A San Antonio loss or Sparks win over Phoenix on Tuesday would make the Silver Stars the No. 3 seed and give Los Angeles home court for the opening best-of-three series.

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Liberty-Silver Stars Preview

Libertarian VP candidate makes campaign stop in Salem

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SALEM, Va.

The Presidential candidate carousel continued Monday for Southwest Virginia. A Libertarian party candidate made a stop in Salem.

The party's vice-presidential candidate, Jim Gray, campaigned here. He is a judge in Los Angeles.

Judge Gray told people the President has no plan to help the middle class.

"Vote for President Obama because he has a plan for the middle class. Oh really? What is it? He's been president for three and something years why haven't we seen it yet? Why don't we see it now? He doesn't have a clue, all he does is nibble at the edges," Gray said.

The Libertarian ticket also advocates for the taxation of marijuana like alcohol, something Gray says might take votes away from President Obama.

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Libertarian VP candidate makes campaign stop in Salem

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson to speak at UNH

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NHF&G News: Free Outdoor Sporting Expo at Fish and Game in Concord Sept. 22 READER COMMENTS: 0

CONCORD, N.H. -- Get set for the hunting and fishing seasons ahead at the National Hunting and Fishing Day N.H. Expo, which takes place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on September 22, 2012, at the New...

LOUDON, N.H. (Sept. 14, 2012) Mike Olsen is so excited to team up with his longtime friend Frank Stoddard, he wants to tell NASCAR fans at New Hampshire Motor Speedway all about it.

0 NH Hunters - Do Not Transport NY-killed Deer through Mass. or Vermont

0 Open House at Owl Brook Hunter Education Center Sept 22 in Holderness

0 Toscana Fest 2012 at Tuscan Kitchen in Salem, NH

0 Tickets on Sale for Buchanan/Loeb School 1st Amendment Event

0 Historian Ed Brouder presents 'The Ledge,' a trip into Manchester's rocky, icy past

0 Free Outdoor Adventure Talk September 19: Deer Hunting Basics

0 Loon Mountain Celebrates Fall with New Hampshire Highland Games, Oktoberfest, and Monster Mud Run

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Boosting the Veterans’ Health Care Budget: Fact Check

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Congressman Bob Filners mayoral campaign has often aimed to portray him as a unifier and his competitor, City Councilman Carl DeMaio, as a divider. Filner argues he would be better than DeMaio at crossing party lines and solving problems at City Hall.

To bolster his argument, Filner has often pointed to his congressional record and specifically, his push to expand veterans' benefits. He was chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 2007 to 2010 and remains the committees ranking Democratic member today.

Talking about his tenure as chairman at an Aug. 9 mayoral debate, Filner claimed his leadership had resulted in substantial budget increases for veterans benefits and won unanimous support from Congress. Heres the full quote:

We decided to Fact Check the statement because Filner has repeatedly cited an increase in the budget for veterans health care to prop up his congressional record and in this case, also cited unanimous support from Congress, bolstering his campaign theme.

Weve rated part of his claim Mostly True, the other part as Huckster Propaganda.

Our analysis below is broken down by each claim. First well examine whether the budget increased by 65 percent while Filner was chairman of the House of Representatives committee, and then well review whether Congress unanimously approved the additional funds.

Claim: A 65 percent increase while Filner was chairman.

Analysis: Budget documents back up Filners percentage.

But its important to understand how it was calculated. He was chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs for four years, though the percentage describes how funding changed over six.

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Boosting the Veterans’ Health Care Budget: Fact Check

Romney’s health care plans don’t exempt today’s seniors

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It has been a central campaign promise from Mitt Romney: His Medicare overhaul plan would not touch benefits for anyone older than 55. That may not, however, be the case with the Republican presidential nominee’s other health-care proposals. A growing body of research suggests that his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid funding would have a direct impact on the health care ...

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Romney’s health care plans don’t exempt today’s seniors

Health Care Service Corporation And Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Montana To Join Forces

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CHICAGO, Sept. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (BCBSMT), today announced their intention for BCBSMT to join forces with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico in a new alliance with HCSC, which operates these Plans. HCSC is an Illinois mutual legal reserve company, operates as a not-for-profit, and is the nation's largest customer-owned health insurer. BCBSMT is Montana's largest and longest standing health plan with approximately 272,000 members.

This alliance, once it receives regulatory approval, will bring together HCSC and BCBSMT in a business combination of dedicated people, best practices, innovative technology, and other assets to advance health care excellence in the state of Montana.

The two companies announced that they are in the early stages of planning how the alliance will come together. This alliance is expected to result in additional charitable benefits to the state of Montana.

"The premier health insurance company in Montana is about to get even better," said Michael E. Frank, President and CEO of BCBSMT, who will continue to lead the Montana Plan. "For more than 70 years we have been providing Montanans with access to affordable health care coverage and administrative services, and we will do so for 70 more. As we look to the future of health care in Montana, we believe HCSC will bolster our efforts to serve the unique needs of our state."

"We're pleased to be joining forces with BCBSMT to serve the people of Montana. What we bring to the table through this alliance are additional resources to offer affordable health care coverage to every corner of Montana in new and innovative ways," said Patricia Hemingway Hall, President and CEO of HCSC. "We look forward to working with Mike Frank and his leadership team."

Frank added, "Being part of the largest customer owned insurer in the country will allow us to take advantage of HCSC's scale, financial strength, and new collaborative technology and tools so that we can better serve our members and strengthen our partnership with Montana's outstanding physicians and hospitals."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana is a not-for-profit health insurer that serves approximately 272,000 members through a provider network of nearly 2,000 physicians, all Montana hospitals, and 2,800 allied health care providers. BCBSMT is the state's largest and (oldest) health insurer.

About Health Care Service Corporation Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall, with more than 13 million members in its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, please visit http://www.HCSC.com, visit our Facebook page or follow us at http://www.twitter.com/HCSC.

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, a not-for-profit mutual insurance company, is a leader in delivering innovative health insurance products, services and information to more than 270,000 members. For over 70 years, the company has served its customers by offering health insurance at a competitive price and has served the people of Montana through support of community organizations, programs and events that promote good health. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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Health Care Service Corporation And Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Montana To Join Forces

LSU hospitals chief once blasted Jindal for cuts

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The new leader of the LSU health care system, working with Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration to make deep cuts to the public hospitals, earlier this year slammed the governor for slashing funding to the facilities.

"Yes, he is saving money. But to save money and lose your soul in doing so, I have to ask if that is the Christian way?" Frank Opelka wrote in a letter printed by The Advocate newspaper in February - after midyear budget cuts hit university health programs.

Seven months later, Opelka is working side-by-side with the governor's health care secretary, Bruce Greenstein, to shrink far more spending on the safety net system of hospital and clinics that care for the uninsured.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Opelka said the newspaper letter was designed to draw attention to "our cut after cut strategy, which was not helping patients."

He said the Jindal administration isn't seeking such a strategy in the latest round of cuts, which Opelka is overseeing since his predecessor was ousted from the job after clashing with the administration over the budget reductions.

"I want us to be mindful of the impact. I don't think one cut after another is the best way to determine safety net care," said Opelka, LSU's executive vice president for health care and medical education redesign.

Opelka said the Jindal administration is pushing for collaborations with local community health providers to try to protect critical services and patient care.

"They don't want a cut strategy. They want a partnership strategy," Opelka said.

The Jindal administration has stripped a quarter of the health system's funding in response to a drop in federal Medicaid financing, and Jindal says LSU must change its model of providing services and embrace public/private partnerships.

The drop in funding is expected to reach more than $300 million in the next budget year that begins July 1.

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Health, dental care increasingly out of reach for millions

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WASHINGTON Having trouble finding a doctor? You're not alone.

Tens of millions of adults under age 65 both those with insurance and those without saw their access to health care worsen dramatically over the past decade, according to a study abstract released Monday.

The findings suggest that more privately insured Americans are delaying treatment because of rising out-of-pocket costs, while safety-net programs for the poor and uninsured are failing to keep up with demand for care, say Urban Institute researchers who wrote the report.

Overall, the study published in the journal Health Affairs found that one in five American adults under 65 had an "unmet medical need" because of costs in 2010, compared with one in eight in 2000. They also had a harder time accessing dental care, according to the analysis based on data from annual federal surveys of adults.

"For decades, Americans have been facing costs rising well above wage levels," said Lynn Quincy, senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, a nonpartisan group. "These are real families. ... It's very concerning."

The 2010 health care law, which will expand health coverage to 30 million people starting in 2014, won't necessarily solve all those access problems, the study said. That's because the law, which is under review by the Supreme Court, may not alter the trend toward private insurance policies with larger deductibles and higher co-payments or address some of the barriers within public coverage. While the law does increase payments temporarily to primary care doctors who see people covered by Medicaid, it will not force more doctors into the program, or require states to provide dental coverage to adults.

Quincy noted that the law does offer several new strategies, such as new payment methods to control rising costs, which could help improve access, but there's no guarantee they will work.

The study underscores what's at stake in the law's coverage expansion: People with private or public health insurance have significantly better access to care than the uninsured. If the law is overturned or scaled back, "we would be likely to see further deterioration in access to care for all adults uninsured and insured alike," it concludes.

The percent of adults with private insurance who reported an "unmet medical need" doubled to 10 percent from 2000 to 2010, while those who delayed seeking care because of cost rose from 4 percent to 7 percent in the same period, according to the study.

Genevieve Kenney, lead author and senior fellow at the Urban Institute, speculated that higher cost sharing and deductibles that shift more of the cost onto individuals could be driving those changes.

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Health, dental care increasingly out of reach for millions