Two National Web Sites with Valuable Health Care Information

As reported in the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) newsletter Orphan Disease UPDATE , two organizations have added detailed information to help medical consumers sort through the complex issues of finding health coverage and learning detailed safety information about specific medications.

Health Care Coverage Options
The National Association of Health Underwriters has created a database that provides information on health insurance options for low-income U.S. residents, people who change jobs and those who have pre-existing health conditions. The Health Care Coverage Options Database provides a state-by-state list of public health insurance programs for low-income residents, such as Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). It also details 32 states that offer high-risk insurance pools for those with pre-existing health problems.

The database can be accessed at www.nahu.org/consumer/healthcare/.

Drug Safety Information
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently added a new feature to its web site, providing specific safety information about individual drug products on the market. The new “Drug Specific Information” page presents details on more than 200 approved drugs. Each drug has a core page with links to all the safety information from throughout the FDA’s web site, including general risk information and any past alerts issued about a given drug.

This new page—part of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research—is located at http://www.fda.gov/cder/drugSafety.htm.

For links to other medical and CFIDS-specific resources, visit the Association’s Community: Resources and Links section at http://www.cfids.org/community/link-resources.asp.