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Debate over California's Proposition 45

The ballot initiative would give the elected state insurance commissioner the power to regulate health insurance rates for small businesses and individuals. Proponents say it would make the rate-setting process more transparent. But a coalition of hospitals, doctors and health plans contend it would give too much power to one person.

7 Oct 2014

Closures force Texas abortion center staff, patients to reassess options

The decision last week by a federal appeals court closed many of the remaining abortion clinics in Texas and left some women scrambling for services.

7 Oct 2014

Calif. won't challenge 2015 rate increases

The state's regulators didn't raise concerns about premium increases for the 10 plans in California's online marketplace. In addition, enrollment efforts make news in Missouri and Minnesota.

7 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Health costs and income inequality; vital matters when approaching life's end

Government data show that health costs are the biggest driver of income inequality in America today. Most employers pay workers a combination of wages and benefits, the most important of which is health coverage. Economic theory says that when employers' costs for benefits like health coverage rise, they will hold back on salary increases to keep total compensation costs in check. That's exactly what seems to have happened: Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that from June 2004 to June 2014 compensation increased by 28 percent while employer health-insurance costs rose by 51 percent. Consequently, average wages grew by just 24 percent (Mark J. Warshawsky and Andrew G. Biggs, 10/6).

7 Oct 2014

Correcting flaws in the Ebola response

How hospital and health workers react to suspected cases of Ebola going forward is the subject of much scrutiny. But, even as public health and many elected officials urge calm, some potential 2016 presidential candidates say President Obama isn't doing enough to keep the disease out of the U.S.

6 Oct 2014

Democrats spotlight women's health issues

The issue is figuring prominently in races in Colorado and New Hampshire, where Democratic incumbents are highlighting their differences with Republican challengers.

6 Oct 2014

As new Obamacare enrollment period approaches, challenges loom

Officials hope to renew coverage for the 15 million people who signed up last year as well as expand the pool by another 10 million, but there are concerns about consumer costs and choices.

6 Oct 2014

Wal-Mart stores to offer health insurance

DirectHealth.com will set up counters in Walmart stores where consumers can compare and purchase health plans.

6 Oct 2014

Study provides better glimpse at the biology of height

The largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date, involving more than 300 institutions and more than 250,000 subjects, roughly doubles the number of known gene regions influencing height to more than 400.

6 Oct 2014

Care lags for people who have stroke in hospital, study finds

At the first sign of a stroke, time is of the essence. For every minute of delay in treatment, people typically lose almost two million brain cells. Yet a new study presented at the Canadian Stroke Congress reveals that those delays - in getting the right tests and the right drugs - can be longer when people experience a stroke in a hospital.

6 Oct 2014

'Win-win' program provides better care to stroke patients, reduces hospital bed days

An innovative patient management system at the acute stroke unit of Kelowna (BC) General Hospital has reduced the number of stroke patient bed days by more than 25 per cent, according to a study of the system presented at the annual Canadian Stroke Congress in Vancouver.

6 Oct 2014

New study suggests that family meals may be protective against obesity

Increasing rates of adolescent obesity and the likelihood that obesity will carry forward into adulthood, have led to various preventive initiatives. It has been suggested that family meals, which tend to include fruits, vegetables, calcium, and whole grains, could be protective against obesity.

5 Oct 2014

Silicon Valley using health care perks to lure talent

High salaries and free food aren't enough any more in Silicon Valley, where maturing companies are competing for talent with creative health care and "wellness" programs that use gadgets to promote good behavior. Standard benefits at the largest technology companies, including Google Inc and Apple Inc, range from fertility treatments to deluxe on-site medical clinics, to new technology treats like health-tracking bracelets. The health largesse separates Silicon Valley's raging economy from many other sectors in the United States, but tech companies' experiments with perks show signs of spreading, benefits managers say.

5 Oct 2014

Obama, health law star in campaign ads

The Center for Public Integrity says there have been more than 300,000 Obama-related ads this election cycle. Elsewhere, abortion figures prominently in Senate races such as Colorado's where Democrats look to push their differences with the GOP.

5 Oct 2014

MU researcher gets $1 million from CDC to enhance FASDs prevention efforts

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), like Autism Spectrum Disorders, manifest in childhood as physical abnormalities along with social, attention and learning difficulties that range in severity and continue into adulthood.

5 Oct 2014

Medicare fines 2,610 hospitals for excessive readmissions

Medicare is fining a record number of hospitals – 2,610 – for having too many patients return within a month for additional treatments, federal records released Wednesday show. Even though the nation's readmission rate is dropping, Medicare's average fines will be higher, with 39 hospitals receiving the largest penalty allowed, including the nation's oldest hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia (Rau, 10/2).

5 Oct 2014

Majority of remaining Texas abortion clinics likely to close after court ruling

A federal appeals court Thursday allowed Texas to immediately begin enforcing tough new abortion restrictions that will effectively close all but seven abortion facilities in America's second most-populous state. A panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans stayed a lower judge's ruling while it considers the overall constitutionality of key portions of Texas' sweeping 2013 abortion law, which Republican Gov. Rick Perry and other conservatives say is designed to protect women's health (10/2).

5 Oct 2014

Aflac announces new campaign to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Aflac, the leading provider of voluntary insurance in the United States, announced a new campaign aimed at helping stamp out breast cancer during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with net proceeds going to the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation.

3 Oct 2014

Financial ties between doctors and health firms explored

Federal data shows that doctors and other health care professionals made more than $212 million in speaking and consulting for drug and device makers in the five months at the end of last year, reports The New York Times.

3 Oct 2014