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Bill seeks team-based approach to caring for Medicare patients with chronic illness

Sen. Ron Wyden plans to unveil a bill to encourage team-based care in the program for older and disabled Americans. In the meantime, Medicare readies to deliver payment data for individual doctors on a "case-by-case" basis.

16 Jan 2014

Health law attack ads pressure democratic congressional candidates

An onslaught of ads targets vulnerable Democrats for their support of the overhaul. Health law opponents, notably the Americans for Prosperity group, which is in part financed by the Koch brothers, have spent an estimated $20 million on television advertising.

16 Jan 2014

New drug combination proves effective in treatment of hepatitis C

Efforts to cure hepatitis C, the liver-damaging infectious disease that has for years killed more Americans than HIV/AIDS, are about to get simpler and more effective, according to new research at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere.

16 Jan 2014

In states opposed to health law, many low-income residents are left out

Politico examines the stark differences in the impact of the Affordable Care Act between Republican-led states fighting it and others that have accepted the health overhaul. Meanwhile, USA Today finds that even with the law, many consumers will face troubling medical debt.

16 Jan 2014

State officials seek ways to undermine Obamacare

Lawmakers in some states continue to look for ways to stop implementation of the health law, making proposals to ban state employees from carrying out the law, forbidding state officials from taking federal money to implement it, and suspending the state licenses of insurers who take federal subsidies meant to defray the premiums of poor and middle-class consumers.

15 Jan 2014

Research shows how coevolution between humans and bacteria can affect gastric cancer risk

Research carried out in two distinct communities in Colombia illustrates how coevolution between humans and bacteria can affect a person's risk of disease. Working with colleagues in Columbia and the U.S., Scott Williams, PhD, a professor of genetics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and his graduate student Nuri Kodaman discovered that the risk of developing gastric cancer depends heavily on both the ancestry of the person and the ancestry of Helicobacter pylori with which that person is infected.

15 Jan 2014

Coverage, payment confusion persists for insurers, consumers

The CT Mirror details how coverage delays are affecting consumers while the Sacramento Bee reports on how some insurers on California's health exchange have pushed back the due date for premium payments while others are not

15 Jan 2014

Enrollment deadline extended for people in high-risk pools

A special insurance program for about 30,000 people with a history of cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses will be extended for an additional two months so enrollees can continue treatments while they search for other coverage, the Obama administration announced Tuesday.

15 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 15, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that people who get their health insurance through high-risk insurance pools will have an extra two months before this program ends.

15 Jan 2014

State legislators contemplate flaws in New York's online insurance marketplace

Testimony during a New York State Senate hearing Monday explored problems that have emerged during the rollout of New York State of Health. News outlets also reported the latest related developments from Maryland and California.

15 Jan 2014

Latham & Watkins recognized with CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation

Latham & Watkins, a leading global law firm, is working with its lawyers and staff to promote healthy lifestyle choices and encourage workplace wellness. The CEO Roundtable on CancerTM has accredited Latham & Watkins with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard recognizing the firm's efforts to reduce the risk of cancer for its employees and covered family members by establishing programs to reduce cancer risk, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings, and ensuring access to quality treatment.

15 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: 'Celebrating' enrollment numbers; Maryland's website 'debacle;' abortion battle moves again to high court

Today the federal government released the most comprehensive data yet about who signed up for Obamacare through Dec. 28. There's reason to cheer for both the law's supporters and its detractors. ... Today's numbers don't settle the question of whether the administration will hit its goals for enrollment in the exchanges, measured either in raw numbers or demographic breakdown. But they show that those goals are within reach (Christopher Flavelle, 1/13).

15 Jan 2014

State highlights: Mass. health care system eyes new expansion; some health program cuts not addressed in Calif. gov.'s budget

Facing challenges in their home state, top executives of Boston-based Partners HealthCare System told a national audience of investors Monday that they will create a bold "new medical model" by integrating hospitals and their medical services with insurance products and by drawing patients from across the country. Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Partners' chief executive, Gary L. Gottlieb, said his organization, which owns Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's hospitals in Boston, plans to improve medical care and lower costs by further expanding its network of community hospitals and primary care physicians in Eastern Massachusetts (Weisman, 1/14).

15 Jan 2014

Lawmakers introduce $1T spending bill with health law prevention fund cuts

The $1 trillion spending bill that lawmakers introduced Monday cuts $1 billion from the health law's Prevention and Public Health Fund and holds down funding for other health law programs to 2013 levels, but leaves it otherwise untouched.

15 Jan 2014

New minimally invasive procedure for AF patients who are intolerant of blood-thinning medications

Sanford Heart Hospitals in Fargo and Sioux Falls now provide a new, minimally invasive procedure for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients who are intolerant of blood-thinning medications. Atrial fibrillation is a heart disorder that affects nearly 3 million adults in the United States.

15 Jan 2014

For many working low-income residents, health law's promise is still unaffordable

Stateline examines the difficulty for many working families to buy insurance while KHN spends time at a California hospital to survey how some without insurance try to afford care. Other news coverage on health law outreach and enrollment looks at narrow networks in some plans and an effort in Connecticut to attract consumers.

15 Jan 2014

Most primary care practices have only few resources to counsel patients about weight control

Only a quarter of U.S. primary care physicians surveyed are doing a thorough job of helping patients achieve and maintain a healthy weight, finds a study in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

15 Jan 2014

Rep. Miller, close Obamacare ally, to retire

Rep. George Miller will retire at the end of his term, he announced Monday. The California Democrat is a close ally of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the health law.

15 Jan 2014

SCOTUS won't hear appeal on Arizona abortion ban

The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from Arizona seeking to reinstate an abortion law there that disallowed most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It's the third time this term the Court has refused to hear an appeal of an abortion-related case.

15 Jan 2014

Presence of gene variant in people with MCI associated with accelerated rates of brain atrophy

The presence of a gene variant in people with mild cognitive impairment is associated with accelerated rates of brain atrophy, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

15 Jan 2014

Health Care News and Research

Bill seeks team-based approach to caring for Medicare patients with chronic illness

Health law attack ads pressure democratic congressional candidates

New drug combination proves effective in treatment of hepatitis C

In states opposed to health law, many low-income residents are left out

State officials seek ways to undermine Obamacare

Research shows how coevolution between humans and bacteria can affect gastric cancer risk

Coverage, payment confusion persists for insurers, consumers

Enrollment deadline extended for people in high-risk pools

First Edition: January 15, 2014

State legislators contemplate flaws in New York's online insurance marketplace

Latham & Watkins recognized with CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation

Viewpoints: 'Celebrating' enrollment numbers; Maryland's website 'debacle;' abortion battle moves again to high court

State highlights: Mass. health care system eyes new expansion; some health program cuts not addressed in Calif. gov.'s budget

Lawmakers introduce $1T spending bill with health law prevention fund cuts

New minimally invasive procedure for AF patients who are intolerant of blood-thinning medications

For many working low-income residents, health law's promise is still unaffordable

Most primary care practices have only few resources to counsel patients about weight control

Rep. Miller, close Obamacare ally, to retire

SCOTUS won't hear appeal on Arizona abortion ban

Presence of gene variant in people with MCI associated with accelerated rates of brain atrophy

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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