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Please send items you would like to have included in future issues of NCC News to: cjohnson@prevent.org. |
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The May issue of NCC News will be a special "Research Edition", highlighting exciting research in the field and introducing the newly formed NCC Research Committee. | |
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Dear Colleague,
Welcome to NCC News. This online newsletter was created to keep you up-to-date on all things chlamydia, and related areas of interest. We hope you will find it useful and informative. Please feel free to share this with your colleagues who may also find it of use.
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We Need Your Help!
| The NCC Public Awareness Committee is working on a project designed to develop, implement, and promote a web-based resource library, the Chlamydia Resource Exchange (CRE), that will provide centralized access to existing high quality, accurate, multi-media public awareness/education materials on chlamydia and other sexual health issues. The audience for the CRE is professionals who are planning and implementing STD and/or chlamydia-specific outreach and awareness programs at various types of organizations across the country.
The committee is surveying potential users so that we can incorporate your feedback into the design of the site. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey by Friday, May 14th. |
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How Will Health Reform Legislation Impact Coverage for Chlamydia Screening?
| Health reform legislation includes provisions that are likely to increase availability of health insurance among young adults and to improve coverage for chlamydia screening.
Among the provisions scheduled to take effect in 2010 are:
- Extension of Dependent Coverage. Young adults, who represent nearly one-third of the uninsured, may remain on their parents' health plans until age 26, even if they are married. This is scheduled to go into effect six months after the legislation was enacted. As of this writing, two insurers have announced they will put this provision in place earlier.
- Expanded Medicaid eligibility. States have the option of offering Medicaid coverage to all persons, including childless adults, with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level.
- Coverage of Preventive Health Services. In private health plans for groups or individuals, as well as Medicare, preventive services will be covered without cost-sharing payments from the patient. This includes services that received "A" or "B" ratings from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, ACIP recommended immunizations, and additional provisions for children's and women's health. The exact timing for this provision will be defined in regulations.
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Chlamydia Screening HEDIS Data Available
| | Visit the NCC website for the new table showing the percentage of female health plan enrollees screened for chlamydia by state for the years 2000-08. CDC worked with NCQA to make these data available. |
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Research Update
(Research article of the month) | |
 Randomised controlled trial of screening for Chlamydia trachomatis to prevent pelvic inflammatory disease: the POPI (prevention of pelvic infection) trial
Researchers in London conducted a randomized control trial, published in the April issue of the British Medical Journal, to investigate whether chlamydia screening and treatment reduced the incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) over the next 12 months. Although 1.3% of women screened for chlamydia and 1.9% of those not screened developed PID within 12 months, most episodes of PID occurred in women who tested negative for chlamydia at the baseline. These findings suggest that annual chlamydia screening may not be enough for some women. For a detailed summary of study findings, click here. |
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Funding Opportunity: Teen Pregnancy Prevention
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The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) has released guidance to apply for funding from the new teen pregnancy prevention initiative. A total of $75 million is available on a competitive basis for the purpose of "replicating evidence-based programs that have been proven through rigorous evaluation to reduce teenage pregnancy, behavioral risks underlying teenage pregnancy, or other associated risk factors." A list of programs eligible for replication with this funding is included in the guidance announcment. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on June 1st. |
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Resource Corner
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Text4Baby Service Available Free of Charge
 Pregnant women and new mothers will be able to get health information delivered regularly to their mobile phones by text message at no charge under a public service program launched in February by a coalition of mobile phone service providers, health professionals, and federal, state, and local agencies. The new program, called text4baby, is an educational program developed by the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies coalition. The mobile information service provides timely health information to women from early pregnancy through their babies' first year. The service sends important health tips that are timed to the mother's stage of pregnancy or the baby's age.
Preventive Services Widget
 The recently launched myhealthfinder widget provides personalized screening and prevention recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force based on age, sex, and pregnancy status. You can add it to your website or blog. |
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Research Round-Up
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Study Finds Home STI Screening Popular among Women
A new study in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology finds that home screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea using self-collected vaginal swabs is much more popular than clinic screening. In a study of 462 women, 75.1% preferred to screen for STIs at home, versus 16.1% who preferred to go to a walk-in clinic and 8.2% who preferred to be screened by their medical provider.
Study: Health Care Reform Will Increase Demand for Health Care among Young Adults
A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research projects that demand for health care by previously uninsured young adults will increase dramatically due to the expansion of health insurance coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Young adults are one of the largest groups of uninsured Americans, with approximately 45% of individuals aged 19 to 29 uninsured for at least part of 2009. |
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