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State highlights: Colo. effort to reduce hospital readmissions pays off

A 2-year-old initiative between the Colorado Hospital Association and UnitedHealthcare to reduce costly unnecessary readmissions is reporting major gains on a lingering problem. The readmission rate for "same cause" patients -- those coming back for the same malady as their initial visit -- dropped to just over 5 percent from 9.8 percent the year before, at 19 Colorado hospitals, according to a release by the collaboration (Booth, 8/21).

26 Aug 2013

Republicans continue to pound Obamacare, threaten budget vote

News outlets covered the ongoing "defunding" controversy. Sen. Ted Cruz [R-Texas] said on Sunday he doesn't have the votes yet to pass a budget resolution to defund Obamacare. "We do not have the votes right now," the Texas Republican said on CNN's "State of the Union,"

26 Aug 2013

Local governments wrestle with employee hours and health coverage

Even though the requirement that employers -- including governments -- offer full-time employees health coverage does not kick in for 16 months, there are already changes, The Washington Post reports.

26 Aug 2013

BESTCILIA project aims to improve screening, treatment of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia is mainly a lung disease: a rare, genetically heterogeneous disorder resulting from dysfunction of small hair-like organelles (cilia) that clean the upper and lower airways. It can also affect multiple organs beside the respiratory system, and may cause serious impairment and lower quality of life. Its prevalence is estimated to be about 1 in 16,000.

26 Aug 2013

Federal court strikes down Arizona abortion law

The measure would have kept Medicaid funding from some providers, including Planned Parenthood.

26 Aug 2013

Congressional Obamacare sparring matches continue at home

Both sides of the political aisle in Washington are continuing their Obamacare sparring sessions at home in their districts during the August recess with town hall meetings and debates on the law taking spotlight.

26 Aug 2013

80 House GOP members urge Boehner to defund Obamacare

House Speaker John Boehner floated the idea of a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown in October. But conservatives in his caucus expressed opposition, insisting that funds be stripped from the health care law even if that forces a government shutdown.

26 Aug 2013

Smartphone-based portable device to conduct kidney tests invented at UCLA

A lightweight and field-portable device invented at UCLA that conducts kidney tests and transmits data through a smartphone attachment may significantly reduce the need for frequent office visits by people with diabetes and others with chronic kidney ailments.

26 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 23, 2013

Today's headlines include reports on what's becoming of the potential for a deficit deal, as well as the political posturing related to the House GOP efforts to block health law funding even if it means shutting down the government.

23 Aug 2013

WHO hand-hygiene compliance strategy easy for health-care workers to practise

WHO's strategy for improving hand hygiene is easy for health-care workers to practise, according to a new study published today in "Lancet Infectious Diseases". Health care-associated infections are a major threat to patient safety worldwide and transmission in these settings is mainly from the hands of health-care workers.

23 Aug 2013

Birth control mandate could cause health law's speedy Supreme Court return

ObamaCare's birth control mandate is putting the president's signature legislative issue on a fast track back to the Supreme Court.

23 Aug 2013

Experts test new tool for providing tailor-made health care to elderly

Providing health care modulated on the specific needs of elderly for re-orienting national health systems toward a change of approach with patients. This should become the reference health strategy for the European Union, if it wants to achieve effective and efficient therapeutic goals, lowering costs while ensuring all appropriate health services, in particular when addressing the paramount issue of population progressive aging.

23 Aug 2013

State highlights: Health plan settles with D.C. over payments; Ga. judge won't stop contract despite UnitedHealthcare concerns; Calif. voters know little on Obamacare

A selection of health policy stories from the District of Columbia, Georgia, California, New York, Montana, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

23 Aug 2013

Longer looks: Gunshot season for surgeons; Hispanic teen suicide; the economics of pregnancy

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

23 Aug 2013

New studies indicate the law's first year will be marked by slightly higher costs, more wellness incentives

As American workers prepare for the first open enrollment season of the Obamacare era, hints are surfacing about what awaits them - higher deductibles, more incentives for staying well and premium hikes that continue to out-strip wages, albeit by more moderate amounts than in the past. For coverage in 2014, the first year in which key parts of the Affordable Care Act's healthcare reforms take effect, premium increases will be about 5 percent, according to two studies (Pinsker, 8/21).

23 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Health spending driving U.S. recovery; time to get rid of the insurance middle man

Here is the most interesting fact about the economy that you've never heard: Without health-care spending, the rest of the economy is barely producing more than it did in late 2007, just before the start of the Great Recession.

23 Aug 2013

Report finds number of doctors accepting Medicare patients is up

The number of physicians accepting new Medicare patients rose by one-third between 2007 and 2011 and is now higher than the number of physicians accepting new private insurance patients, according to a Department of Health and Human Services report obtained by USA TODAY. In 2007, about 925,000 doctors billed Medicare for their services. In 2011, that number had risen to 1.25 million, according to the report by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (Kennedy, 8/22).

23 Aug 2013