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Private Insurers Step Into Spotlight On Health Care Reform
"Don"t expect the private insurance industry to go away under any kind of health-care reform initiative. That"s because most key health-reform measures gaining momentum in Washington not only leave private health plans intact but also may give them a greater role," The Chicago Tribune reports. Insurers also "got to ride the coattails" of the America Medical Association"s support for the private insurance system as President Barack Obama "sought the physicians" support" of his public insurance option. Health plans were "happy that the AMA stripped the words "public option" from a resolution."
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Payment Reform: A Trend In White House Thinking
White House health reformers have pressed over the last month for payment reforms that would reward doctors and hospitals for spending less and delivering higher quality care, rather than simply providing a higher volume of services. The Wall Street Journal reports that reexamining payment systems is a hot topic among administration officials in other disciplines, too: "President Barack Obama believes you get what you pay for--in business, in health care and in teaching. And in each of those spheres, he doesn"t think the way the U.S. pays professionals is designed to get what the nation really wants and needs."
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Cal/OSHA Stresses Importance Of Taking Precautions To Prevent Heat Illnesses
With triple digit temperatures expected over the weekend and into early next week, Cal/OSHA urges employers to observe the precautions specified in the heat illness prevention regulation. To ensure compliance Cal/OSHA will have teams of investigators inspecting outdoor employers over the weekend for heat illness prevention requirements. For employees working outdoors, the hot sun with high temperatures can be life-threatening.
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Yale Researchers Find New Trigger For Seasonal Allergies

In research that could open new avenues of treatment for seasonal allergies, a team of Yale University scientists has discovered how a poorly understood component of the human immune system triggers - and sometimes worsens - allergic reactions. The research appears in the May 24 Advance Online Publication of Nature Immunology. Scientists wanted to better understand how the immune system recognizes and responds to allergens. Lead researcher Ruslan Medzhitov of the Yale School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute said, "The current paradigms of how the immune response is activated did not seem to apply to allergic reactions." The Yale team focused on basophils, immune cells whose true function was obscure. Their research showed the first examples of how basophils can trigger an allergic immune response. Medzhitov explained, "Common allergens act on basophils, which in turn activate T cells (white blood cells that orchestrate the immune process) to trigger an allergic response." Medzhitov"s team was surprised to find the extent of the basophils" role. Until now, the scientific community believed that different immune cells (dendritic cells) that fight off other foreign invaders were also responsible for allergic reactions. The Yale team found the opposite: Basophils are the cells that leap into action at the earliest stages of exposure to allergens, signaling the body"s defense system to repel the invader. They also may exaggerate the allergic reaction to the point where symptoms become difficult to control and extremely bothersome to the allergy sufferer. The team"s research on basophils could provide a new target for pharmaceutical therapies aimed at interfering with, or stopping the allergic response. Others who contributed to the paper are Caroline L. Sokol, Ngoc-Quynh Chu, Shuang Yu and Simone A. Nish of the Yale School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Terri M. Laufer of the University of Pennsylvania. Their research was supported by the National Institutes of Health Medical Scientist Training Program, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Sandler Program in Asthma Research. Yale University


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