Health Highlights: June 30, 2014

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Former Business Executive to be Nominated to Lead VA

Former Procter & Gamble executive Robert McDonald will be nominated Monday by President Barack Obama to lead the Veterans Affairs department, according to a White House official.

McDonald, 61, has a military background. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as a captain in the Army, the Associated Press reported.

If confirmed by the Senate as the new VA secretary, McDonald would succeed Eric Shinseki, who resigned last month over reports of long treatment delays and cover-ups at VA health facilities.

McDonald spent 33 years at Procter & Gamble and his nomination appears to show that Obama is placing an emphasis on management experience in his choice for the new head of the VA, the Associated Press reported.

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New Plan Would Permit Doctors to Treat Patients in Other States

A proposal to make it much easier for doctors licensed in one state to treat patients in other states in person, online or by videoconference has been prepared by the Federation of State Medical Boards, which includes the agencies that license and discipline doctors.

The draft plan would lead to the biggest change in medical licensing in the United States in decades and could help ease the doctor shortage that’s becoming a growing problem as millions of people get health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, The New York Times reported.

The proposal was created in the form of a legally binding agreement among states. In a recent letter, 10 Republican and six Democrat senators endorsed the plan.

“The proposed compact would create a new pathway to speed the licensing of doctors seeking to practice medicine in multiple states,” Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, president of the Federation of State Medical Boards, told The Times. “It would allow doctors to see more patients than ever before, if they want to.”

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