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Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states.

Study: VA hospitals provide better quality care than other health providers

The VA health care system performs similar to or better than non-VA systems on most measures of inpatient and outpatient care quality, although there is high variation in quality across individual VA facilities, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

26 Apr 2018

Prenatal marijuana use linked to increased chance of low birth weights

With marijuana use during pregnancy on the rise, a new study led by the Colorado School of Public Health shows that prenatal cannabis use was associated with a 50 percent increased likelihood of low birth weight, setting the stage for serious future health problems including infection and time spent in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

23 Apr 2018

New imaging technology to effectively screen for colorectal cancer among young adults

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the country. While the rates of colorectal cancer among patients older than 50 years old has decreased in recent years due to screening, it has increased by 22 percent among those under the age of 50, which could place a burden on the health care system over the next decade.

20 Apr 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Nothing in health care ever goes away

Congressional Republicans have struck a decidedly different tone when talking about the Affordable Care Act, and the Democrats have introduced a new Medicare expansion bill.

20 Apr 2018

Teva and Procter & Gamble Company terminate PGT Healthcare partnership

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has announced that Teva and the Procter & Gamble Company have agreed to terminate the PGT Healthcare partnership that the two companies established in 2011 to market OTC (Over The Counter) medicines.

19 Apr 2018

Experts propose new solutions to increase benefit, affordability of targeted cancer medicines

Spending on cancer drugs in the United States has nearly doubled in the past five years and continues to grow, imposing substantial financial burden on patients with cancer.

18 Apr 2018

New automated text messaging service may help combat opioid epidemic

A new automated text messaging service may curb opioid abuse and reduce the likelihood of relapse while also decreasing treatment costs, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Epharmix, a St. Louis-based digital health company.

17 Apr 2018

Study reports decreasing rates of liver transplantation among HCC patients in the U.S.

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) waiting for a liver transplant in the USA are now significantly less likely to receive a new liver than they were around a decade ago. A nationwide study presented today at The International Liver Congress™ 2018 in Paris, France, has confirmed that patients with HCC on the liver transplant list in the USA were more than 50% less likely to receive a transplant in 2014-2016 than they were in 2005-2007.

13 Apr 2018

PrEP campaign aims to block HIV infection and save lives in D.C.

A big part of Washington, D.C.’s plan to get its HIV rate down is to get more uninfected people on PrEP, a two-medicine combination pill that’s sold under the brand name Truvada.

13 Apr 2018

CReM researchers optimize process to engineer disease- or patient-specific lung stem cells

The Center for Regenerative Medicine at Boston University and Boston Medical Center has engineered two new categories of lung epithelial cells in vitro using pluripotent stem cells.

12 Apr 2018

A tale of two CT scanners — one richer, one poorer

Benjamin Hynden, a financial adviser in Fort Myers, Fla., hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks last fall. He’d had pain and discomfort in his abdomen.

9 Apr 2018

Atlanta struggles to meet MLK’s legacy on health care

While public safety commissioner Bull Connor's police dogs in 1963 attacked civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Ala., leaders in Martin Luther King Jr.'s hometown of Atlanta were burnishing its reputation as "the city too busy to hate."

4 Apr 2018

Medicare Advantage plans cleared to go beyond medical coverage — even groceries

Air conditioners for people with asthma, healthy groceries, rides to medical appointments and home-delivered meals may be among the new benefits added to Medicare Advantage coverage when new federal rules take effect next year.

3 Apr 2018

Don’t get tripped up by the IRS’ tweak to health savings accounts

It's tax time, and this week I answered questions from readers about the penalty for not having health insurance as well as changes to health savings accounts. I also discuss health insurance coverage options for a reader's parents who are immigrants and green card holders.

3 Apr 2018

Medicaid minus stigma: In Indian country, it’s part of the fabric of life

On a crisp sunny day, Tyson Toledo, a precocious 5-year-old boy, hobbled into a private health clinic to have his infected foot examined.

2 Apr 2018

Time’s running out: The frail in Puerto Rico face end of hurricane relief programs

Straddled across Ausberto Maldonado’s backyard in Bayamon, a suburb of San Juan, is a nagging reminder of Hurricane Maria’s destructive power.

30 Mar 2018

Plastic surgery done in developing countries can carry substantial risks of complications

Patients traveling to developing countries for plastic surgery procedures may experience severe complications—requiring extensive and costly treatment after they return to the United States, reports a study in the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

30 Mar 2018

Pitt scientists develop new emergency and trauma care referral map to improve health care quality

In response to repeated calls for an integrated and coordinated emergency and trauma care system in the U.S., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists and UPMC physicians rose to the challenge and divided the nation into hundreds of referral regions that describe how patients access advanced care, in a way that respects geopolitical borders.

29 Mar 2018

Testosterone therapy not linked to rise in estrogen levels among transgender men

Testosterone therapy is not associated with a rise in estrogen levels among transgender men, according to a new study led by Boston Medical Center. In fact, the researchers observed an initial decline in estrogen levels, which later stabilized and remained within the normal range during the study's six-year period.

27 Mar 2018

Medicare metrics may not completely reflect hospital quality for readmissions

Over the past several years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have reported hospital quality measures on the Hospital Compare website, providing the public with a way to compare hospital performance.