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White House: As deadline approaches, Obamacare sign ups top 6 million

Many questions remain about what this number means, though, including how many of those enrolling in new coverage had been uninsured before signing up and whether young and healthy people will be adequately represented.

29 Mar 2014

Public not crazy about health law but believes it's here to stay

A new Associated Press-GfK survey finds that 26 percent of Americans say they support the health law, and a narrow majority expects it to be implemented with only minor changes. Another survey shows Hispanic support for the president and the health law declining, although nearly half still approve of both.

29 Mar 2014

Hospitals find better care means more money under the health law

Elsewhere, gay couples find that insurance coverage depends on where you live, and hospitals prepare to offer their own insurance plans.

29 Mar 2014

In new Hampshire, Medicaid expansion becomes law

Gov. Maggie Hassan signed a bill setting up a 2 and 1/2 year pilot program to provide health insurance to 50,000 low-income adults. The program will use federal Medicaid funds to pay private insurers.

29 Mar 2014

Marriage linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease

Marriage is criticized for many things — justly and unjustly — but not heart disease, according to findings of a recent study conducted by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center.

29 Mar 2014

Parlance announces new partnership with Doctors Community Hospital

Parlance Corporation today announced a new partnership with Doctors Community Hospital (DCH) of Lanham, MD. The 219 bed community hospital has implemented Parlance's Operator Assistant™ automated call handling solution to improve service levels to callers, manage operator call load, and reduce operator services costs.

29 Mar 2014

UCL partners with Novo Nordisk to fight urban diabetes

UCL is partnering with Novo Nordisk and the Steno Diabetes Center - a world leading institution in diabetes care and prevention - to launch the Cities Changing Diabetes initiative, an ambitious new partnership programme to fight urban diabetes.

29 Mar 2014

Physicians suspect that chemotherapy can accelerate aging process

Physicians have long suspected that chemotherapy can accelerate the aging process in patients treated for cancer. Using a test developed at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to determine molecular aging, UNC oncologists have directly measured the impact of anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs on biological aging.

29 Mar 2014

Research: Underweight puts people at highest risk of dying, just as obesity does

Being underweight puts people at highest risk of dying, just as obesity does, new research has found. The connection between being underweight and the higher risk of dying is true for both adults and fetuses.

29 Mar 2014

Political cartoon: 'Dear President Obama'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Dear President Obama" by Mark Martin.

28 Mar 2014

High-quality early childhood development programs can help prevent onset of adult chronic disease

High-quality early childhood development programs with health care and nutritional components can help prevent or delay the onset of adult chronic disease, according to a new study by Nobel laureate economist James Heckman and researchers at the University of Chicago, University College London and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina.

28 Mar 2014

House passes 12-month 'doc fix' by voice vote

The bill would avoid a 24 percent reduction in payment for doctors who treat Medicare patients, but the deal is still angering some Republican rank-and-file.

28 Mar 2014

Marital status affects risk of heart disease, survey shows

Analysis of surveys of more than 3.5 million American men and women, administered at some 20,000 health centers across the country - believed to be the largest analysis of its kind ever performed - found that married people, regardless of age, sex, or even cardiovascular risk factors, had significantly less chances of having any kind of cardiovascular disease than those who were single, divorced or widowed.

28 Mar 2014

5 Senate Dems seek changes to health law

The Democrats, and one independent, want to modify a health law provision requiring companies to provide coverage if they have more than 50 employees. The senators want to make the cutoff 100 workers. Other proposals include offering consumers additional health plan choices, among them, a less-expensive "copper" option.

28 Mar 2014

EC approves Roche's SC formulation of MabThera for common forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved Roche's new subcutaneous (SC) formulation of MabThera (rituximab) for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

28 Mar 2014

Health law commentary: A series of delays; Senators' ideas for a fix; GOP should drop 'excuses' in Va. Medicaid debate

One by one, the myths of the Affordable Care Act have been revealed. When the curtain on open enrollment falls on March 31, the last remaining big myth of ObamaCare will be fully exposed: The individual mandate has failed. After a last-ditch effort with President Obama himself encouraging "young invincibles" to sign up before the deadline, the administration is scrambling to boost enrollment. On Tuesday, the White House announced that people who applied for coverage on the federal health-insurance exchange will have until mid-April to finish the paperwork (Abby McCloskey and Tom Miller, 3/26).

28 Mar 2014

State highlights: Parents of disabled kids blast Minnesota Gov.; N.Y. reins in tanning salon claims

A tearful mother, one of several who testified at a State Capitol press conference Wednesday to make an impassioned plea for a medical marijuana law, said that Gov. Mark Dayton had earlier suggested to her and others that they obtain the drug illegally.

28 Mar 2014

Longer looks: Exercise to treat depression; crowdsourcing treatment decisions; nitroglycerin shortage

Depression is the most common mental illness - affecting a staggering 25 percent of Americans - but a growing body of research suggests that one of its best cures is cheap and ubiquitous.

28 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 28, 2014

The White House said on Thursday that more than six million people had signed up for medical insurance plans under President Obama's health care law, exceeding the administration's revised goal for enrollment by the Monday deadline.

28 Mar 2014

Surge of sign ups expected to hit HealthCare.gov before March 31

Consumers who at least begin the enrollment process before Monday's deadline can avoid the health law's tax penalty, according to this week's Obama administration decision. The change, which some are calling an extension, has triggered some worry from insurers and a round of new attacks from the overhaul's opponents.

28 Mar 2014