October 23, 2009

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the award of $17 million to fund projects to fight costly and dangerous health care-associated infections, or HAIs. "When patients go to the hospital, they expect to get better, not worse," Secretary Sebelius said. "Eliminating infections is critical to making care safer for patients and to improving the overall quality and safety of the health care system. We know that it can be done, and this new initiative will help us reach our goal." HAIs are one of the most common complications of hospital care. Nearly 2 million patients develop HAIs, which contribute to 99,000 deaths each year and $28 billion to $33 billion in health care costs. HAIs are caused by different types of bacteria that infect patients being treated in a hospital or health care setting for other conditions. The most common HAI-causing bacteria is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The number of MRSA-associated hospital stays has more than tripled since 2000, reaching 368,600 in 2005, according to HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Full release.

The Justice Department today filed a motion to intervene in Disability Advocates Inc. v. David A. Paterson, et al. in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. The United States alleges that the state of New York has failed to house thousands of individuals with mental illness who currently reside in large, institutional "adult homes" in the most integrated setting, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. An integrated setting is a setting that enables individuals with disabilities to interact with nondisabled persons to the fullest extent possible. On Sep. 8, 2009, the district court ruled that the state discriminated against individuals with mental illness residing in adult homes, in violation of the integration mandate of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The case has entered a stage where the court will determine a remedy for the violations. The United States now seeks to participate in crafting that remedy. "As the Supreme Court determined in the landmark Olmstead v. L.C. case, unjustified institutionalization stigmatizes individuals with disabilities as unworthy of participation in community life," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "New York successfully provides community-based housing, such as scattered site apartments with supportive services, for individuals just like those currently residing in adult homes, and should provide the same opportunity for adult home residents." Full release.

A new survey of National Safety Council members has revealed that 99 percent of companies with policies prohibiting the use of cell phones and messaging devices while driving have experienced no change in productivity -- and some have seen an increase in productivity -- after the policies took effect. Productivity concerns were the top reason given by respondents who have not established a cell phone policy. Fifty-eight percent (1,163 out of 2,004 respondents) said their organization had a cell phone policy of some kind. Of those, 469 member companies have enacted full cell phone prohibition policies, which prohibit employees from using hands-free or handheld phones. "Companies today face serious economic challenges, and we are very pleased to see that this critical safety issue is being taken seriously by business leaders across the country," said Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of NSC. "Policies banning cell phone use while driving make sense as companies strive to improve employee safety and stay profitable." Full release.

A new study released today details the inequalities faced by same-sex couples in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Without legal recognition of their relationships under federal law, the report concludes, lesbians and gay men have less retirement income and are disadvantaged in their ability to pass on savings to their families after their death. The study, "The Impact of Inequality for Same-Sex Partners in Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans," provides the first detailed demographic portrait of older same-sex couples. It was released by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law with funding support from Merrill Lynch in conjunction with National Save for Retirement Week. "The findings show that, in particular, female same-sex couples have far less retirement income than different-sex married couples," says study author Naomi Goldberg. Full release.

The National Automobile Dealers Association, at a hearing on Friday, urged the federal agencies in charge of finalizing fuel economy and greenhouse gas rules for motor vehicles to work toward a unified and consistent single, national standard that clearly rejects the "flawed patchwork" approach adopted by a state air resources board in California. Testifying on behalf of auto dealers, Forrest McConnell, chairman of NADA's regulatory affairs committee, told officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that "a single, national standard is essential and must set only feasible and affordable mandates." (Click here for the full testimony.) "While the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has a long history addressing mobile source criteria and hazardous pollution, incorporation of its greenhouse gas rules (GHG) is neither practically necessary nor legally appropriate for a well-designed single, national fuel economy and greenhouse gas program," McConnell said. "It is in this light that NADA has objected strongly to EPA's recent reversal of its prior denial of CARB's request for authority to regulate motor vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gases." Full release.

A new consumer financial protection regulator was wounded but not crippled by a barrage of special interest lobbying and amendments before final approval of the bill in the House Financial Services committee yesterday, said the nonpartisan Consumer Watchdog. "Americans want an end to the culture of greed and consumer abuses that led to the financial crisis. This bill is an essential step toward reform, but it was weakened by the financial firms who want to avoid strong oversight," said Carmen Balber with Consumer Watchdog. "We look to Congress to strengthen the bill as it moves forward so consumers are truly protected against abuses and outrageous treatment by lenders and financial institutions." One major target of the financial industry was states' authority to enact stronger laws when federal rules do not provide consumers with enough protection. Commercial banks, finance and credit card companies spent $42 million lobbying to make their case from January through June, according to data released by Common Cause this week. They won a partial victory: the bill as amended gives the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) the ability to preempt some state laws. The OCC is the regulatory agency most responsible for overriding important state protections over the last decade, said Consumer Watchdog. Full release.

Today, world governments took the first significant steps towards a Legally Binding Treaty to control mercury pollution at a United Nations Environmental Program meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. Their recommendations now provide countries with a basis to head into the International Negotiating Committee (INC) meetings starting in Stockholm, June 2010. "We are happy that governments agreed on rules of procedures, which allow NGO participation, and a time table to adopt a treaty by 2013," said Elena Lymberidi-Settimo of the European Environmental Bureau and the Zero Mercury Working Group. During the meeting, information on supply and trade, products and artisanal scale gold mining were provided. Countries and regions expressed their opinion on how discussions should unfold in the INC meetings, and governments updated participants on activities controlling mercury in their own countries. Full release.

As part of October's National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the AbilityOne Program's central nonprofit agencies are releasing survey results that demonstrate Americans have an overwhelming acceptance of the work capabilities of people who are blind or have other significant disabilities. The survey findings also reveal that more than 9 out of every 10 Americans believe the government should support employment opportunities for people who are blind or have other significant disabilities through programs like the federal AbilityOne Program. This strong support of people who are blind or have other significant disabilities is an important part of the efforts to reduce the unemployment rate of people with disabilities, which hovers above 60 percent. The national survey, conducted by Greenfield Online(R), polled 1,000 Americans, 18 to 55+ years of age, regarding their attitudes and views on the capabilities of people who are blind or have other significant disabilities to create quality products and services. Full release.

After falling over the summer then ticking upward in September, key tracking measures of public support for health care reform held steady in October with more Americans backing an overhaul of the U.S. health system than opposing it, according to the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Fifty-five percent of Americans believe that it is more important than ever to take on health care reform now, while 41 percent say the country cannot afford it right now, similar to last month. Just over half say the country will be better off if reform passes, unchanged from September. "Our October poll finds no big change in public opinion that would move the debate, but the decisive moment for public opinion is still to come," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman. "The key milestone - both in the political process and in public opinion - will be reached when there is a single bill that Americans can put under a microscope and debate." Although the big picture was not dramatically different, the new poll did reveal some new wrinkles in public opinion. Full release.

Environmental Defense Fund will send a team of experts to Havana, Cuba, on Sunday to discuss ways to eliminate overfishing, protect coral reefs, conserve coastal areas, and tap potential ocean energy - a signal that greater environmental cooperation may be on the horizon. EDF scientists and policy experts and Cuban scientists and environmental officials will have a series of meetings about how the United States and Cuba can work together to protect ocean waters and marine resources shared by the two countries. The meetings come on the heels of a September visit to the United States by Cuban environmental officials. "The United States and Cuba share many ecological resources, but the countries have different ways of managing them," said Daniel Whittle, a senior attorney at EDF and director of its Cuba Program. "Fishing, coastal development, and offshore oil and gas exploration in Cuba can have impacts in the United States, and vice-versa. The sooner we work together to manage shared resources and find solutions common problems, the sooner we'll see benefits for the people, the environment and the economy in both countries." Full release.

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