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A $10,000 Obamacare penalty? Doubtful.

A viral Facebook post claims that former President Barack Obama's health insurance law penalized a family a large amount of money for not buying health insurance and that President Donald Trump was responsible for stopping the practice.

29 Oct 2020

Study suggests new strategies to prevent complications in cardiac patients

Patients in cardiac intensive care units (CICUs) could benefit from the CICU health care team using a daily checklist to prevent infections and other common complications.

29 Oct 2020

CTA scans may offer rapid, early detection of COVID-19 in stroke patients

Computed tomography angiogram (CTA) scans may offer fast and early detection of COVID-19 in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, according to new research published today in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

29 Oct 2020

App-based companies pushing Prop. 22 say drivers will get health benefits. Will they?

App-based driving services such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart are bankrolling California's Proposition 22, which would keep their drivers classified as independent contractors, not employees.

29 Oct 2020

Study confirms link between childhood smoking and higher risk for premature death

Current smokers faced nearly three times the risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease compared with people who never smoked, with the risk being higher among those who began smoking during childhood, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

28 Oct 2020

For each critically ill COVID patient, a family is suffering, too

The weeks of fear and uncertainty that Pam and Paul Alexander suffered as their adult daughter struggled against COVID-19 etched itself into the very roots of their hair, leaving behind bald patches by the time she left the hospital in early May.

28 Oct 2020

Readers and tweeters shed light on vaccine trials and bias in health care

In the piece about the AstraZeneca vaccine trial subject who suffered severe spinal cord inflammation, that person was repeatedly referred to as a "patient" ("NIH 'Very Concerned' About Serious Side Effect in Coronavirus Vaccine Trial," Sept. 14).

28 Oct 2020

Study provides perspectives of individuals with disabilities on health care policy

Politicians discuss the ins and outs of health care while trying to win votes, but for some Americans, policymakers do not seem to be listening. University of Kansas researchers have published a study about perspectives of individuals with disabilities on health care policy, and respondents overwhelmingly stated access to health care is vital and they would like policymakers to pay more attention to their needs.

28 Oct 2020

If Trump wins, don’t hold your breath waiting for that ACA replacement plan

If President Donald Trump wins reelection next week, it seems unlikely he will unveil the health plan he's been promising since before his election in 2016. Still, other aspects of health care could be featured in his second-term agenda.

27 Oct 2020

Arguing to undo the ACA. Harming Medicare. Do they go hand in hand?

It's a tried-and-true campaign strategy. Candidates go on the attack, claiming their opponent will do harm to Medicare. After all, people 65 and older are good about making it to the polls on Election Day. These voters are also generally motivated to protect the federal health insurance program for seniors.

23 Oct 2020

Did Trump confuse the public option with ‘Medicare for All’?

During the final presidential debate, President Donald Trump claimed that 180 million people would lose their private health insurance to socialized medicine if the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, is elected president.

23 Oct 2020

Progressive group highlights Trump, Tillis weakness on insulin price tags

During the first presidential debate of 2020, President Donald Trump touted his efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices and declared that insulin is now "so cheap, it's like water."

20 Oct 2020

People born with a heart defect have low risk of moderate or severe COVID-19 infection

Results of a retrospective analysis suggest that people born with a heart defect who developed COVID-19 symptoms had a low risk of moderate or severe COVID-19 infection, according to a new article published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

14 Oct 2020

National experts to discuss origins, impacts, and potential future of Affordable Care Act

This year marks both the 10th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and a pivotal moment for its future because of the national election and a pending Supreme Court case.

14 Oct 2020

Black doctors work to make coronavirus testing more equitable

When the coronavirus arrived in Philadelphia in March, Dr. Ala Stanford hunkered down at home with her husband and kids.

13 Oct 2020

Research shows 10 or more medications are prescribed to older heart failure patients

More than half of older patients hospitalized for heart failure, a progressive condition in which the heart doesn't pump blood as well as it should, are discharged from the hospital with prescriptions for 10 or more medications, according to new research published today in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

13 Oct 2020

As Trump touts his ‘great’ COVID drugs, the pharma cash flows to Biden, not him

Pharmaceutical giants Regeneron and Gilead Sciences got the kind of publicity money can't buy this week after President Donald Trump took their experimental drugs for his coronavirus infection, left the hospital and pronounced himself fully recovered.

9 Oct 2020

WHO’s report may lead to greater awareness and deliver better eye health for all

Of the world's 7.8 billion people, 2.2 billion have impaired vision. Of this number, about half are treatable. In effect, they are one-eyed kings who are better off than the 39 million who are completely blind. Nevertheless, they are handicapped for normal living, as we gleaned from the first world report on vision by WHO.

9 Oct 2020

In debate, Pence and Harris offer conflicting views of nation’s reality

The Trump administration's pandemic response: decisive action that saved lives, or the greatest failure of any presidential administration? During Wednesday's vice presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence and the Democratic challenger, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, offered drastically different takes — from behind plexiglass screens — on how the president has handled the COVID-19 crisis.

8 Oct 2020

Job-based health insurance costs are up 4% this year, 55% in past decade

Health insurance costs for Americans who get their coverage through work continued a relentless march upward with average family premiums rising 4% to $21,342 this year, according to a study published Thursday.

8 Oct 2020