Health

In an "operational update", the International Committee for the Red Cross reported that it had trained and equipped "over 70 members of the armed opposition" as part of a programme to deal with battlefield injuries.

For years, Madlyn and Leonard Abramson have given millions of dollars to fund cancer research at Penn Medicine, including the naming of the Abramson Cancer Center and the establishment of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.

Safeway Inc. and The Safeway Foundation announced that they raised $10.7 million in April during the company's annual Support for People with Disabilities Campaign and pledged to continue its efforts to support two of the most prominent organizations that assist people with disabilities: Easter Seals and Special Olympics.

(Reuters) — The U.S. health care overhaul bill will provide insurance coverage for millions of Americans and possibly lower healthcare cost inflation, but it poses an increased credit risk for nonprofit providers, Standard & Poor's said on Thursday.

"We expect that the expanded insurance coverage will create winners and losers among providers, based on their existing and future payor mix, their ability to meet demand from newly insured patients, the impact on disproportionate share funding, and the impact on commercial health care insurance availability and rates," said S&P analyst Liz Sweeney in a new report.

The outlook for 2010 remains one of stable credit quality after a period of deterioration from 2007 to 2009. But risk will increase in the next three to five years as many of the key provisions of the bill go into effect, S&P said.

With Americans' access to health care expanding because of changes in the health-care system spearheaded by the Obama administration, state and local governments hungry for revenue are creating fiscal barriers that limit nonprofit hospitals' ability to provide needed services, a trade group for nonprofit health-care providers' philanthropic programs says.

Some lawmakers, claiming nonprofit health-care groups and hospitals do not provide enough community benefit, have "stripped hospitals of their rightful entitlement to tax-exempt status," says the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

Other lawmakers have tried to "extract funds from nonprofits by eliminating specific tax exemptions and instituting new fees and taxes," the group says. "These actions ignore the challenges America's health-care nonprofits face and the good they do in their communities."

May 3, 2010, American Medical News — Health system reform could give nonprofit hospitals some short-term gains and some long-term pain, according to a credit rating agency report. Meanwhile, pension obligations also could provide a drag on those same hospitals' finances, another credit rating agency said.

Moody's Investors Service on April 12 published a report finding that although bad debt and charity care would likely go down in the immediate future, efforts to control costs would diminish revenues over time.

April 22, 2010, Reuters — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, billionaire Bill Gates and Queen Rania of Jordan will put their fame to work this week as they join a Twitter campaign to end malaria deaths.

Ashton Kutcher, Ryan Seacrest and other Hollywood celebrities have also joined the Twitter campaign. Starting on Wednesday, the participants will send out "tweets" encouraging the public to donate to buy bednets which guard against the mosquitoes that spread malaria in Africa.

Gates will also take part in TV charity fundraiser "Idol Gives Back" on Wednesday to promote the fight against malaria and other health causes.

Organizers of the Twitter fund-raising push are working with the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers.

April 22, 2010, News Journal (Delaware) — AstraZeneca has pledged $25 million to be parceled out in grants to U.S.-based nonprofits that exhibit innovative ways to improve heart health, the pharmaceutical giant said Tuesday.

The company donated the money in December to the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, a nonprofit it created, to fund the multiyear Connections for Cardiovascular Health program.

Grants will be at least $150,000, and applications for this year's awards are due by July 31. Grant winners will be notified in November. The foundation expects to hand out at least $1 million this year to nonprofits with creative ways to address unmet needs in heart health, said Dr. James W. Blasetto, chairman of the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation.

The $25 million pledge is the largest corporate contribution in AstraZeneca's history, the company said.

March 29, 2010, Nonprofit Quarterly — As the entire nation tries to interpret exactly what Congress passed and President Obama signed as the health care reform legislation, we find it interesting that in the past few days, there have been several articles about  “hundreds” waiting in line for free health clinic examinations in Roanoke, Virginia, Atlanta, Georgia, and Belmar, New Jersey. Both the Belmar and Roanoke clinics were heavily focused on dental care.

Will health insurance reform mean that recent free clinics in these places—plus Houston, New Orleans, and Little Rock—no longer be necessary?  The executive director of the Scotland Community Health Clinic in Laurinburg, North Carolina appears to think that the need for free clinics won’t disappear with the President’s signature on health insurance legislation: "The early talk is that there will still be a long term need for free clinics (because) … (e)ven with vouchers, not everyone will be able to purchase medicines, and some will not qualify for Medicaid. I don't see the need for free clinics going away just yet."

Back in 2008, many Americans got their first taste of social networking for good through the Web site mybarack
obama.com (or "MyBO" as it came to be known). The site engaged Barack Obama supporters online with a goal of inspiring action offline — attending events, canvassing, phone banking and, of course, donating.