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New abortion restrictions continue torrid pace with Texas law at center

Between 2011 and 2013, more than 200 abortion restrictions were passed in states, NPR reports. At the center of recent controversy is a Texas law that would require doctors giving abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

7 Jan 2014

Diabetic patients benefit from online patient portal, study finds

Patients with diabetes who used an online patient portal to refill medications increased their medication adherence and improved their cholesterol levels, according to a new study in the journal Medical Care.

7 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Rethinking what health insurance should cover; Sen. Johnson suing over congressional health plan; Medicaid's unsung success

The proper role of health insurance should be to finance necessary and expensive medical services without the patient incurring devastating financial consequences. Over the last decade, however, Americans have come to expect their health insurance to subsidize the consumption of all medical care. ... This shift in expectation has meant that health insurance stands out as entirely different from all other types of insurance. Ask yourself: Would you use automobile insurance to buy gasoline? Would you use homeowner insurance to finance painting your house? This wrongheaded view has played an important role in contributing to rapidly rising health care costs (George P. Shultz, Scott W. Atlas and John F. Cogan, 1/5).

7 Jan 2014

Antidepressant medications do not increase suicide risk in children

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center study released today shows there is no evidence that the risk of suicide differs with two commonly prescribed antidepressants prescribed to children and adolescents.

7 Jan 2014

Have more people lost health insurance than gained it?

Fact checkers from the Washington Post and FactCheck.Org examine GOP claims about the number of people who have lost coverage -- both in terms of individual and employer-provided coverage -- as a result of the health law.

7 Jan 2014

Wis. Senator suing Obama administration over health law subsidies

Meanwhile, fellow Republicans Sen. Rand Paul and Phil Gingrey also are heavily criticizing the law.

7 Jan 2014

Research: Daily meditation may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression

Some 30 minutes of meditation daily may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, a new Johns Hopkins analysis of previously published research suggests.

7 Jan 2014

Eyes peeled on health law, GOP shrinks expectations for major election year legislation

Republican lawmakers are refocusing their election-year political efforts on hammering the health law's unpopularity even as the agenda for getting legislation done shrinks amid a tightening political climate, which could stall immigration and unemployment benefit measures.

7 Jan 2014

New school meal guidelines aim at reducing salt intake by children

New findings show that many Americans are at risk for high blood pressure because of too much sodium in our diets — and the risk is especially high for children.

6 Jan 2014

White House seeks to tighten background checks to keep guns from mentally ill

The Obama administration is proposing regulatory changes to clarify who is prohibited from owning a gun for mental health reasons and to tighten background checks. In the meantime, lawmakers consider increasing mental health funding after the Sandy Hook massacre.

6 Jan 2014

Medicaid expansion efforts facing challenges from HealthCare.gov problems

The Washington Post and Kaiser Health News report that some people who would be eligible for this coverage may be falling through the cracks. Meanwhile, Bloomberg examines how access to health care plays out differently in states that pursued the expansion and those that didn't and a look at the difficult issue of people moving between Medicaid and private insurance.

6 Jan 2014

How Obamacare coverage is shaking out

Even with the health law's insurance options, consumers struggling with chronic diseases may still face such high out-of-pocket costs on some plans that they could have trouble staying out of debt, reports the Associated Press. Meanwhile, several major drugstore chains are offering to fill prescriptions for those who enrolled in new health plans but don't have ID numbers yet.

6 Jan 2014

Administration: Contraception rule does not burden religious groups

In the latest legal skirmish over the so-called contraceptive mandate in the health law, Obama administration lawyers urged Justice Sonia Sotomayor to drop an appeal from the Little Sisters of the Poor and other Catholic groups.

6 Jan 2014

Implanting tubes in ears is less likely to improve long-term cognitive and functional development

Watchful waiting or ear tube surgery? It is a decision faced by millions of families of children with recurrent or chronic otitis media with effusion (non-infected fluid in the middle ear) each year.

6 Jan 2014

The fight against HIV/AIDS: an interview with Dr. Mit Philips, HIV/AIDS Policy Analyst, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

People mainly speak about the progress in HIV/AIDS. We at MSF know and are very conscious of the fact that there has been enormous progress, but the progress is very uneven.

6 Jan 2014

Cord Blood America achieves AABB accreditation for cell therapy activity

Cord Blood America, Inc. today announced it has achieved AABB accreditation for cell therapy activity associated with cord blood processing, storage and distribution.

6 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 6, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about how the health law fits into the Capitol Hill agenda for the year ahead.

6 Jan 2014

FDA grants orphan drug designation for DiaVacs' type 1 diabetes mellitus therapy

DiaVacs, Inc. announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation for the company's type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) therapy.

6 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Stop 'bailout' of Obamacare; health law not to blame for all insurance woes; 'theft' of Medicare advantage money

Shrinking revenues and rising costs could bring on the "death spiral" - an unbalanced patient pool forcing huge premium increases (to restore revenue) that would further unbalance the patient pool as the young and healthy drop out. End result? Insolvency

6 Jan 2014

Romney, Paul knock health law, Reid: 'It's already working'

On ObamaCare, Reid defended the new law, even though he criticized the initial rollout by the Obama administration as "awful." Citing a recent conversation with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Reid said the enrollment numbers for the insurance exchanges would be "staggering" come April 1, when the six-month sign-up period ends. "It's already working," he said of the law (Berman, 1/5).

6 Jan 2014