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Enrollment in exchanges key to health law success

Politico notes that enrollment in online marketplaces in California, Florida and Texas will have an outsized impact on whether the Obama administration achieves its nationwide goals for expanding coverage. Other outlets report how states will market the new insurance plans and how some Americans are confused by health insurance generally and Obamacare in particular.

23 Aug 2013

PDI Expands Focus With Mdx Commercialization Deal

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22 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 22, 2013

Today's headlines include news reports about how summer politics are shaking out around the health law's implementation.

22 Aug 2013

Ireland’s Health Research Board awards €1.2M to UL researchers

University of Limerick researchers have been awarded over €1.2 million funding by Ireland’s Health Research Board. The funding will support health research focused on; primary care reform in Ireland; avoidance of adverse outcomes in vascular surgery; dealing with the progression of chronic kidney disease and enhancing physical activity for multiple sclerosis patients.

22 Aug 2013

Use of psychotherapy on a clear decline in US

Psychotherapy has issues. Evidence shows that some psychosocial treatments work well for common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression and that consumers often prefer them to medication.

22 Aug 2013

Study looks at cost benefits of knee replacement surgery relative to societal, economic savings

The full impact of knee replacement surgery on both patients' lives and on society includes significant overall cost savings, according to a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

22 Aug 2013

Analyzing businesses' benefit decisions -- is Obamacare really to blame?

News outlets explore whether employer decisions are the result of the health law or part of long-term trends, as well as how agricultural businesses are preparing for the employer mandate, now delayed until 2015.

22 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Did Sen. Cruz get early benefits from Canadian health care?; Medicaid expansion won't work if doctors don't accept patients

Quite without realizing it, apparently, the location of Cruz's birth automatically made him a citizen of our socialist (in healthcare, at least) neighbor to the north. Did his mother receive excellent free medical care under Canada's single-payer healthcare system when her baby was born in Calgary, Alberta, in 1970? Did little Ted, who moved back to the United States with his Cuban-born father and American-born mother when he was 4, get free vaccinations and pediatric care from his Canadian doctors? We'll probably never know (Robin Abcarian, 8/20).

22 Aug 2013

USA Today probe finds thousands of docs practicing despite misconduct

Also, a study finds that Medicare patients leaving the hospital can't always remember what was wrong with them and how to follow up.

22 Aug 2013

State insurance exchanges go for flashy (or not) branding

New York named its health exchange, complete with new logo and ad. In Idaho, the GOP governor, a vocal opponent of the health law, lauds his state's insurance marketplace. Meanwhile, Florida officials express concerns about the federal exchange's "navigator" concept.

22 Aug 2013

Are they talking? Mixed messages on whether Texas is seeking health law funds

News outlets try to pin down whether Texas officials are in discussions with the Obama administration to gain access to an estimated $100 million in health law funds. Meanwhile, a South Dakota panel lays out the pros and cons of expanding Medicaid in that state.

22 Aug 2013

Heritage Action kicks off its 'defunding' tour

Heritage Action's push, which is being called the "last, best chance" to block the health law, features a bleak assessment of Republican Party's willingness to fight the measure.

22 Aug 2013

University of Adelaide wins $2.24M to establish new national Center of Research Excellence

The University of Adelaide has won US$2.24 million to establish a new national Center of Research Excellence, in partnership with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (NACCHO) and the University of Wollongong.

22 Aug 2013

State highlights: Judge nullifies 2011 Brooklyn hospital deal

A selection of health policy stories from New York, California, Alaska, Georgia and Texas.

22 Aug 2013

Survey: Premium costs increase slightly but wages don't keep pace

A Kaiser Family Foundation survey concluded that, for the second year in a row, employer-provided insurance costs went up only moderately in 2012. But employee wages still didn't keep pace.

22 Aug 2013

Sinai Hospital's chief of Surgery chosen to receive 2013 Innovator of the Year award

Mark R. Katlic, M.D., chief of Surgery at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, has been selected to receive a 2013 Innovator of the Year award from The Daily Record. He was recognized for his pioneering work as the director of the groundbreaking Sinai Center for Geriatric Surgery.

22 Aug 2013

Alarm therapy or drug therapy may solve bedwetting problems in children

Bedwetting affects up to 20 percent of five year olds—the age when most children have learned bladder control—and can result in an array of stressful and embarrassing social, emotional and psychological problems.

21 Aug 2013

Study: Participants who used community health workers showed improvement in diabetes control

The prevalence of diabetes among Hispanic Americans is growing and their likelihood of being hospitalized for uncontrolled diabetes is two times greater than that of non-Hispanic Whites. Rather than a new drug, the prescription for controlling diabetes may be a person.

21 Aug 2013

Constructing adult hospitals similar to children's may improve patient quality of life, health outcomes

An opinion piece in this week's JAMA from Penn Medicine fourth-year medical student Mark Attiah suggests that if adult hospitals were modeled more closely after Constructing adult hospitals similar to children's may improve patient quality of life, health outcomes—from the paint color to practice patterns—they may improve patient quality of life, satisfaction and even health outcomes.

21 Aug 2013

Virginia's Medicaid panel meets, but covers little new ground

During a Monday planning meeting, a Virginia Medicaid policymaking panel examined what other states are doing in terms of expanding the program. Hundreds of conservative activists who oppose this health law provision rallied at the state capitol.

21 Aug 2013