A study published in The Lancet by Dr. Andrew Wakefield linking the MMR vaccine with autism was no more than “an elaborate fraud”, a report published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal reveals today. The 1998 study, which was later retracted by The Lancet, scared thousands of parents and is thought to have resulted in a considerable drop in vaccinations.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Public Hearings on Americans with Disabilities Act Regulations: DOJ scheduled three hearings to get the public’s input on possible changes to Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. Transcripts and captioned webcasts of these hearings are now available. The third and final public hearing will be held on January 10, 2011 in San Francisco, CA. This hearing will also be broadcast live from 9:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (PST).  The comment period on these Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemakings closes on January 24, 2011.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Charges Supermarket Chain with Disability Bias: The EEOC has charged SUPERVALU INC., American Drug Stores LLC and Jewel Food Stores, Inc. (collectively referred to as “Jewel-Osco”) with failure to accommodate discharged workers in an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) class action suit. Jewel-Osco terminated employees with disabilities at the end of medical leaves of absence, rather than bringing them back to work with reasonable accommodations. The company’s actions violated the ADA.

U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and Marin County Agreement Will Promote Affordable Housing for Minorities & People with Disabilities: HUD and Marin County, CA have announced an agreement to promote access and overcome barriers to affordable housing for minorities and persons with disabilities throughout the County. A recent HUD review showed that Marin County had not met its Fair Housing obligations in using and spending HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wants Public Comments on Rules Relating to Hearing Aid Compatibility of Wireless Handsets – Comment Deadline February 14: The FCC’s Bureau of Wireless Telecommunications is evaluating the 2010 hearing aid compatibility rules and their success in making wireless phones accessible to people who use hearing aids and cochlear implants. Comments from the public may be filed online, through e-mail, or delivery service. Comments due by February 14 and reply comments by March 1.  This link opens a PDF document. A text version is also available.

Grants Announced for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research & Service (UCEDD) – Application Deadline February 15: The Administration on Developmental Disabilities has announced grants to fund up to two UCEDDs in 2011. The grants will allow the UCEDDs to carry out interdisciplinary pre-service preparation and continuing education, community services, research and information dissemination. The application is available online. Application deadline is February 15, 2011.

2011 Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative (ATCI) – Application Deadline January 31, Share of Cost: Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) will select 10 communities across the country to participate in the ATCI, an initiative to improve accessible transportation options for people with disabilities. Applicants must put together a three-member planning committee. Selected coalitions will receive on-site facilitation at a two-day event held in their local communities. Application deadline is January 31, 2011. Apply online or contact Kristi Ross at (800) 659-6428 or ATCI@easterseals.com.

President Obama signed the 9/11 health bill into law on January 2, 2011. This law gives health coverage to the first responders to the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks. The law amends the Public Health Service Act to extend and improve protections and services to individuals directly impacted by the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001. It will also reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 to give financial assistance to those harmed in the attacks.

Share of Cost, Secretaries of HHS, Labor and Treasury Send Letter Updating Congress on Affordable Care Act Implementation: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sent a letter to Members of Congress to provide an update on implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  The letter discusses how the law will continue to give Americans more freedom in their health care choices as implementation continues in 2011.

Share of Cost Health Care Reform – What’s Ahead in 2011?: Last year several provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect, including extending health coverage for young adults; tax credits to help small businesses insure their workers; and insurance protections for children with pre-existing conditions. Find out what’s ahead in 2011, including prescription drug discounts; free preventative care for seniors on Medicare; and increasing access to home and community based services for people with disabilities.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have announced a partnership to help nearly 1,000 non-elderly Americans with disabilities leave nursing homes or other facilities to live independently. HUD and HHS are offering rental assistance, health care and other supportive services targeted to this population. The two agencies also launched the Housing Capacity Building Initiative for Community Living Project to help seniors and people with chronic conditions find suitable housing and live more independent lives.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act establishes a new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The center is intended to enhance the CMS’s role in promoting much-needed improvements in payment and service delivery. Lessons from the Medicare Health Support Program, a chronic care pilot program that ran between 2005 and 2008, illustrate the value of drawing on experience in planning for the center and future pilot programs.

The lessons include the importance of strong leadership; collaboration and flexibility to foster innovation; receptivity of beneficiaries to care management; and the need for timely data on patients’ status. The lessons also highlight pitfalls to be avoided in planning future pilot programs, such as flawed strategies for selecting populations to target when testing payment and service delivery reforms.

Growing enthusiasm about patient-centered medical homes, fueled by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on improved primary care, has intensified interest in how to deliver patient-centered care. Essential to the delivery of such care are patient-centered communication skills. These skills have a positive impact on patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, and self-management.

They can be effectively taught at all levels of medical education and to practicing physicians. Yet most physicians receive limited training in communication skills. Policy makers and stakeholders can leverage training grants, payment incentives, certification requirements, and other mechanisms to develop and reward effective patient-centered communication.

With more than 1,000 federally-funded benefits and assistance programs available to people with disabilities, Veterans and others, it’s no surprise that finding the benefits for which you might be eligible can sometimes be difficult. Here’s some information to help point you in the right direction:

• If you are looking for information about disability benefits start your search on Disability.gov by visiting  http://www.disability.gov/home/i_want_to/disability_benefits . Disability.gov’s Benefits section has information about the eligibility requirements for receiving Social Security disability (SSDI and SSI) benefits, disability benefits for children and how to apply for Social Security.  The site also has information about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (formerly referred to as welfare) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called Food Stamps).  You can also look for benefits in your state by visiting http://www.disability.gov/state/index?go.y=16&state=&go.x=31 and going to your state’s benefits section.
  

• Disability.gov also has information about benefits for Veterans, Service Members and their families.  Another good place to learn about benefits for Veterans and military families is the National Resource Directory.
  

• Remember that if you want to apply for benefits from Social Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs or another federal or state agency, you must contact that agency directly.  Disability.gov cannot not take applications for benefits.
  

• Benefits.gov’s new Benefits Finder is another easy way to find out which government benefits you may be eligible to receive.  After answering a few questions, you’ll get information about disability benefits, housing assistance, health care or other benefits for which you might be eligible. The Benefits Finder will also let you know about the next steps to take to apply for assistance and who to contact.

In research just published, scientists have studied human brain samples to isolate a set of proteins that accounts for over 130 brain diseases. The paper also shows an intriguing link between diseases and the evolution of the human brain.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publicly reports so-called process performance at all U.S. hospitals, such as whether certain recommended treatments are given to specific types of patients. We examined whether hospital performance on key process indicators improved during the three years since this reporting began. We also studied whether or not these changes improved patient outcomes or yielded other quality improvements, such as reduced hospital readmission rates.

We found that, from 2004 to 2006, hospital process performance improved and was associated with better patient and quality outcomes. Most notably, for acute myocardial infarction, performance improvements were associated with declines in mortality rates, lengths-of-stay, and readmission rates. Although we cannot conclude that public reporting caused the improvement in processes or outcomes, these results are encouraging, since improving process performance may improve quality more broadly.