FDA overruled: No to younger teens getting morning-after contraception without prescription
In a surprise move with election-year implications, the Obama administration’s top health official overruled her own drug regulators and stopped the Plan B morning-after pill from moving onto drugstore shelves next to the condoms.
The decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius means the Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive will remain behind pharmacy counters, as it is sold today — available without a prescription only to those 17 and older who can prove their age. Read more.
Health care case before Supreme Court tests federal limits
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to the 2010 health care overhaul law, President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, setting the stage for oral arguments by March and a decision in late June as the 2012 presidential campaign enters its crucial final months. (more…)
Governor’s Health Care Reform Task Force
On Monday, October 31st, Governor Mark Dayton announced the members for the long awaited Health Care Reform Task Force. The Task Force was created by law in the 2010 legislative session. The purpose of the group is to advise the Governor and the Legislature on health care reform specifically in the areas of better health care, lower costs and healthier communities. The Task Force will develop an action plan for reforming how we deliver and pay for health care in Minnesota. (more…)
Bishops’ Religious Liberty Chair Urges Congress to Defend Religious Liberty
The head of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called on Congress to defend the American legacy of religious liberty on October 26, during a hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Read more.
CHA-MN Annual Meeting on November 3rd
The CHAMN Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, November 3, 2011 at St. Patrick’s Church in Edina. Please join other Catholic healthcare colleagues for a day of
education, reflection, and support in our common healing mission. (more…)
New Integrative Formation Program Targets Catholic Health Care Leadership Dyads
The Center for Business Excellence in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas is accepting applications for its new Executive Education in Catholic Health Care Leadership program. Set to debut in August 2012, the program is designed to increase the mission alignment within executive teams who are dealing with profoundly complex leadership issues while caring for patients as an expression of the healing ministry of Jesus. (more…)
Madonna Towers and St. Gertrude’s Receive Excellence Award
Madonna Living Community of Rochester and St. Gertrude’s Health and Rehabilitation Center, Shakopee have been awarded My InnerView’s Excellence in Action award, a national honor recognizing exemplary nursing home quality care and service. The award, which is presented annually, recognizes long-term care providers that performed in the top 10 percent of nursing homes. Nearly 5,500 nursing homes in the country participated in the 2010 satisfaction survey.
September 30 Deadline to Submit Comments on the Religious Employer Exceptions to Preventative Service Coverage
As you know, on Aug. 1, 2011, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued health plan coverage guidelines developed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to require additional preventive services coverage for women. The new guidelines expand the list of required preventive services for women to include all FDA approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures and counseling. These preventive services are required to be offered by all individual and group health plans, including self-insured plans and “church plans,” without patient cost sharing, beginning in the first plan year after Aug. 1, 2012.
Senior care facility breaks ground on Brooklyn Park expansion
Senior care facility Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake broke ground Sept. 12 for an expansion of its Brooklyn Park campus. The 64-bed addition will include both transitional and long-term care suites. Other features will include a fitness center with a therapy pool, therapy services and family-style dining. Saint Therese is a nonprofit faith-based organization that provides assisted living, rehabilitation and fitness, memory care, transitional care, senior housing and palliative care. Other campuses are located in New Hope and Shoreview. For information, visit http://www.sttheresemn.org.
Cardinal Reaffirms Support for Respect for Rights of Conscience Act
Congress should support a bill (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) that will close gaps in protection of conscience rights in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), especially in light of the threat to conscience rights posed by a new mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston in a September 7 letter to Congress. Read more.