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2012 Kicks Off With Massive Show of Support for
Affordable Care Act in the States
A national group of state legislative leaders announced that over 500 state legislators representing all 50 states will file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow supporting the constitutionality of the health law, arguing that “the minimum coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act is a valid exercise of Congress’s Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause powers.”

In an announcement, the Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform, a national group of state legislators focused on advancing health reform at the state level that works closely with Progressive States Network, said that over 500 state legislators representing all fifty states have signed on to an Amicus Brief strongly defending the Affordable Care Act in the challenge currently before the Supreme Court. The brief will be filed this Friday and was prepared and filed in conjunction with the Constitutional Accountability Center. "The idea that the federal government does not have the power to address a national problem such as the health care crisis has no basis in the Constitution’s text and history," argue the legislators in the text of the brief...(continue)

Credo Community Center for the
Treatment of Addictions, Inc.
Carthage, New York
Credo Community Center has been in the business of providing services and treatment for over 30 years to individuals, groups, families, adults, adolescents and children, whose lives have been negatively impacted by substance abuse. The agency has grown and developed to meet the changing needs of the clients, the community and society. Program and site development have happened in many ways and in many directions. The one constant has always been Credo’s philosophy: any individual needing and wanting treatment for...(continue)

Public Health Epidemiologist
Epidemiology is the scientific method used to investigate, analyze and prevent or control a health problem in a population. That population could be the entire world, as may be the case with an influenza epidemic. Or it can be a relatively small group of people—a single high school, for example, with an unusually high number of kids with asthma. Public Health Epidemiologists are medical scientists who investigate and describe factors that influence the development of disease, disability, and other health outcomes. They formulate means for prevention and control. Epidemiologists focus either on research or on clinical situations...(continue)

Canisius College, Buffalo, New York
Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Counseling Master’s Degree
Founded in 1870, Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York. Canisius is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best comprehensive universities in the North region. Canisius offers quality academic programs taught by faculty who are leaders in their fields. More than 125 majors, minors and special programs through the College of Arts & Sciences, the Richard J. Wehle School of Business, and the School of Education and Human Services provide many...(continue)

West Virginia University Pharmacy Students Educate
Youth about Prescription Drug Abuse
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug abuse and its consequences are the fastest growing drug problem in America. To help combat that trend, three...(continue)

Economic Downturn Leads To One-Billion Worth of Angst
Anti-depressant and anxiety drug use has risen 26 per and cost the health service over 1billion since the start of the economic downturn in 2007, according to research issued December 2011. A study by The Cooperative Pharmacy into antidepressant and anxiety drug...(continue)

Case Study—Windstream
Christus St. Michael Health System
Christus St. Michael Health System is located on a 128-acre campus along I-30 in Texarkana, Texas and serves residents of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The hospital is one of the premiere medical facilities in the region and relies on its communication services to keep its business running. Christus St. Michael offers a full scope of expansive health care services including heart care, surgical, cancer care, women’s and children’s services, including a level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and 24-hour emergency services. The Christus St. Michael hospital in Texarkana was opened in 1916 and relocated to the current campus in 1994...(continue)

Nuance Healthcare Announces the 2012
Mobile Clinician Voice Challenge
Nuance Communications, Inc. announced the 2012 Mobile Clinician Voice Challenge. As part of this month-long event running through February 3rd, Nuance is calling all healthcare developers to voice-enable mobile or web-based healthcare apps. Looking to identify the most innovative uses of voice recognition for the mobile clinician, Nuance is offering more than $25,000 worth of prizes to developers who demonstrate how voice-driven interactions with a mobile healthcare application can enhance clinicians' experience, improve mobile workflow and lead to better patient care...(continue)

Unemployment Trust
Collaborative Strategies for Rising
Unemployment Costs at Nonprofits
By Bill Downey
Nonprofits have been feeling the effects of the recent recession. Now, with state governments across the nation finding their unemployment funds strained and depleted, all employers will be seeing higher unemployment taxes in the coming years. However, according to federal law, 501(c)(3) organizations (i.e., nonprofits) have a unique option when it comes to paying their state unemployment tax—and this is something every nonprofit should consider as their tax rates begin to double and triple...(continue)

Limits on State-Funded Administrative
Costs and Executive Compensation
WHEREAS, State Government in New York directly or indirectly funds, or authorizes reimbursements with other taxpayer dollars to, a large number of tax exempt organizations and for-profit entities that provide critical services to New Yorkers in need; and WHEREAS, State Government in New York has an ongoing obligation to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are used properly, efficiently and effectively to improve the lives of New Yorkers and our communities; and WHEREAS, in certain instances providers of services that receive State funds or State-authorized payments have used such funds to pay for...(continue)

Army Releases Gold Book Report on
Health and Readiness
The Army 2020 Generating Health and Discipline in the Force-Report 2012, often referred to as the Army Gold Book, was released last week; an update to the Army Red Book published in 2010. The report summarizes progress made in enhancing health, discipline and readiness of the force and represents the next phase in the Army’s campaign to counter stress associated with more than a decade of war.

The Gold Book addresses the challenges that service members and families currently face and provides an assessment of what the Army has learned with respect to physical and behavioral health conditions, disciplinary problems and the remaining gaps in Army policy. It is meant to serve as a resource for leaders, policy makers, commanders, and service providers, as they work together to address the challenges that lie ahead...(continue)

Maine
Grants Continue Community Education on Eligibility for
New Benefits
Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) recently awarded a second round of funding totaling $373,750 to 11 nonprofit organizations to ensure that Maine people will have trusted resources...(continue)