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Federal appeals court strikes down portion of Obamacare

A federal appeals court panel in New Orleans has dealt another blow to the Affordable Care Act, agreeing with a lower-court judge that the portion of the health law requiring most people to have coverage is unconstitutional now that Congress has eliminated the tax penalty that was intended to enforce it.

18 Dec 2019

Border fight: Trump’s plan to import cheaper drugs from Canada faces hurdles

In a historic shift, the federal government Wednesday proposed allowing states to import drugs from Canada. Officials said they believe it can be done safely and save significant money for Americans.

18 Dec 2019

Analysis: In medical billing, fraudulent charges weirdly pass as legal

Much of what we accept as legal in medical billing would be regarded as fraud in any other sector.

16 Dec 2019

Promising greater safety, a tiny widget creates chaos for tube feeders

Rachel Glenn loves to puree food and put it in her 4-year-old's feeding tube. The Arkansas mom said her thick concoctions of fruit, vegetables, meat and grains provide the concentrated nutrition he needs.

16 Dec 2019

What would happen if the ACA went away?

Any day now, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans could rule the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.

16 Dec 2019

Brown, Insight Therapeutics partnership to accelerate research on flu vaccines for older adults

With support from a three-year $2.1 million agreement with Insight Therapeutics, a private company that focuses on the health care of older adults, a team of Brown University public health researchers will look to identify the most effective flu vaccines for elderly nursing home residents.

14 Dec 2019

Government insured patients with breast cancer at increased risk of death

A retrospective study of nearly 9800 women with breast cancer who participated in randomized clinical trials was presented today at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

13 Dec 2019

IBM announces collaborations, launches AI Imaging Marketplace and Clinical Review 3.0 at RSNA

IBM Watson Health today published its 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals annual study identifying top U.S. hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services based on a balanced national scorecard of hospital performance metrics.

From IBM Watson 13 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Legislate-a-palooza

The House overwhelmingly passed a 2020 National Defense Authorization that included a provision that would give 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.

12 Dec 2019

New machine learning app aims to prevent severe patient falls

New research will be live in npj Digital Medicine on December 12, 2019, that will feature a machine learning app aimed at preventing patients from severe fall-related injuries and deaths.

12 Dec 2019

Supreme Court seems sympathetic to insurers in Obamacare case

No clear split between conservative and liberal Supreme Court justices emerged Tuesday as justices heard arguments over whether the federal government could renege on Congress' promise to pay health insurance companies billions to motivate them to participate in the Obamacare marketplaces.

10 Dec 2019

Study: Claim lines for Lyme disease have increased 117% from 2007 to 2018

From 2007 to 2018, claim lines with diagnoses of Lyme disease increased nationally 117 percent, according to a new white paper from FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information.

10 Dec 2019

Obamacare back at the high court — with billions for insurers on the line

More than $12 billion is at stake for the nation's health insurers Tuesday when the Supreme Court hears another Affordable Care Act case.

9 Dec 2019

Website errors raise calls for Medicare to be flexible with seniors’ enrollment

Saturday is the deadline for most people with Medicare coverage to sign up for private drug and medical plans for next year.

6 Dec 2019

Preoperative rehabilitation program for older adults leads to better outcomes

Older adults who "train" for a major operation by exercising, eating a healthy diet, and practicing stress reduction techniques preoperatively have shorter hospital stays and are more likely to return to their own homes afterward rather than another facility, compared with similar patients who do not participate in preoperative rehabilitation, according to research findings.

5 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: We spend how much on health care?

Health spending in the U.S. grew to $3.6 trillion in 2018, according to a new report from the federal government. The rate of growth — 4.6% — was up slightly from 2017's 4.2%, despite the fact that nearly a million more Americans lacked insurance.

5 Dec 2019

Pharma’s take on the Pelosi drug-pricing bill: Fair warning or fearmongering?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's flagship proposal to curb prescription drug prices, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act" - H.R. 3 - could come up for a vote in the chamber this month.

5 Dec 2019

California surprise-billing law protects patients but aggravates many doctors

More than two years after California's surprise-billing law took effect, there's one thing on which consumer advocates, doctors and insurers all agree: The law has been effective at protecting many people from bills they might have been saddled with from doctors who aren't in their insurance network.

5 Dec 2019

Less access to specialists associated with higher death, hospitalization rates among rural patients

Residents of rural areas are more likely to be hospitalized and to die than those who live in cities primarily because they lack access to specialists, recent research found.

3 Dec 2019

Transplant patients diagnosed with prostate cancer may not need to delay transplantation

Immunosuppressive medications – drugs given to organ transplant recipients so their bodies won't reject the donor organ - could weaken the immune system's ability to find and destroy cancer or fight infections that contribute to cancer.

3 Dec 2019