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Viewpoints: Rove renews attack on health law; Calif. 'vaccination crisis'

The disconnect between what Americans think of most provisions of Obamacare (love them!) and what they think of "Obamacare" (hate it!) has been the most perplexing aspect of rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

5 Sep 2014

Study finds no association between bra wearing and increased breast cancer risk

A population-based case-control study found no association between bra wearing and increased breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, according to research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

5 Sep 2014

Financial hardships identified as potential predictors of health risk behaviors

Financial hardship, or feeling that one can't make ends meet, may be more predictive of health risk behaviors than actual income levels for people with low-incomes, finds a recent study in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

5 Sep 2014

Longer looks: Alzheimer's and a marriage; racism in medicine; abortion restrictions in Texas

The US, which has a mostly private health-care system, manages to spend more on its public health-care system than countries where the health-care system is almost entirely public. America's government spends more, as a percentage of the economy, on public health care than Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan or Australia. And then it spends even more than that on private health care.

5 Sep 2014

Three Johns Hopkins Medicine hospitals win 2014 Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in Hospitals

Three Johns Hopkins Medicine hospitals have been awarded the 2014 Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in Hospitals from the Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care, an independent, nonprofit health care quality improvement organization.

5 Sep 2014

Women's health issues key in Colorado Senate race

News outlets examine how contraception issues and the health law are playing in the Colorado and Kentucky Senate races.

5 Sep 2014

PARS technique enables surgeons to better repair torn Achilles tendon

In most surgeries, damaged tissue is cleaned out before surgeons make the necessary repairs. However, a new minimally-invasive surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon actually uses the damaged tissue to help repair the tear.

5 Sep 2014

Small business exchange to get soft launch in 5 states

Federal officials will give small businesses in five states an early chance to try out the delayed health insurance exchange for their employees to fix any glitches before the site goes live in other states. Meanwhile, Minn. Gov. Mark Dayton calls the MNsure rollout his "biggest disappointment," and the Covered Oregon board votes on a new course.

5 Sep 2014

New cancer drug renews debate about costs

The drug Opdivo, which went on sale in Japan this week, costs an average of $143,000 per patient, The Wall Street Journal reports.

5 Sep 2014

Health care spending projected to grow modestly

Government actuaries expect that U.S. health spending will increase over the next decade as a result of an aging population, a rebounding economy and the health law's expanded insurance coverage, but the growth rates will be lower than those seen for most of the last two decades.

5 Sep 2014

DaVita Kidney Care hosts online Google+ Hangout on Air

DaVita Kidney Care, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. and a leading provider of kidney care services, will host an online Google+ Hangout on Air called "Kidney Diet Tips: Diabetes Edition" on Monday, Sept. 8 at 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET.

4 Sep 2014

First Edition: September 4, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about a new government report that predicts a rebound in national health spending.

4 Sep 2014

LSU Health New Orleans receives $1.3 million grant to report cases of cancer in children

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health's Louisiana Tumor Registry a $1.3 million grant over five years to more rapidly find and report cases of cancer in children and young adults. One of only eight state registries to successfully compete for this funding, the award will support efforts to increase the availability of this data for surveillance and research activities at the local, state and national level.

4 Sep 2014

LSDF announces $750,000 in Proof of Concept grants to promote health-related technologies

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) today announced nearly $750,000 in Proof of Concept grants to Washington state for-profit and non-profit organizations to promote translation of health-related technologies from the laboratory to the commercial marketplace.

4 Sep 2014

Over-the-counter birth control issue finds its way into midterm election debates

Some Republican Senate candidates have expressed support for allowing certain types of contraception to be sold without a prescription. Critics say it is part of a strategy to "muddy the waters" regarding the Hobby Lobby case.

4 Sep 2014

Sepsis patients more likely to survive when treated at hospital with higher volume of cases

Patients with sepsis, one of the most time-sensitive and hard-to-detect illnesses in medicine, are more likely to survive the life-threatening condition when treated at a hospital that sees a higher volume of sepsis cases.

4 Sep 2014

States not expanding Medicaid paying 37% of cost in other states: report

A McClatchy newspaper analysis also finds that most of the money comes from five non-expansion states: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Other news outlets report on the continuing debate in a number of states.

4 Sep 2014

On campaign trail, Ky. GOP candidates promise Medicaid expansion repeal

In the meantime, Illinois bets on birth control as a way to drive down Medicaid costs, and Florida Health News looks at the top Medicaid managed care companies in Florida.

4 Sep 2014

Researchers examine impact of continuous increases in health care costs

If continuing increases in health care costs are inevitable, as some economists predict, is it possible for health care delivery reform to succeed in reducing the overall burden of health care expenditures on the U.S. economy? According to the results of a new study, the focus should shift from cost control to improving utilization rates and quality outcomes, as described in detail in an article in Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

4 Sep 2014

Virginia Mason introduces surgical warranty for hip and knee replacements

Virginia Mason, a national leader in improving quality and safety and controlling health care costs, today introduced a surgical warranty for hip and knee replacements.

4 Sep 2014