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Using big data to hack the aging code

Aging is the most important single factor behind chronic diseases and death. As "silver tsunami" approaches, healthcare and social protection systems face the looming crisis.

27 Nov 2018

In health insurance wastelands, rosier options crop up for 2019

In recent years, places such as Memphis and Phoenix had withered into health insurance wastelands as insurers fled and premiums skyrocketed in the insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act. But today, as in many parts of the country, these two cities are experiencing something unprecedented: Premiums are sinking and choices are sprouting.

23 Nov 2018

Attention, marketplace shoppers: Don’t delay on 2019 enrollment

Don't procrastinate. Most consumers who buy their own insurance on the federal health insurance marketplace face a Dec. 15 deadline. Advocates are reminding these customers that if they miss the deadline, they may not have a plan that starts in January 2019.

21 Nov 2018

Smoke-free laws associated with reduced systolic blood pressure

Smoke-free policies have been associated with lower systolic (top number) blood pressure readings among non-smokers, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

21 Nov 2018

Report outlines inequalities in access to healthcare

The European Social Policy Network, which is funded by the European Commission and managed jointly by LISER, Applica and the European Social Observatory, has just published a Synthesis Report describing the main features of health systems in terms of access to healthcare in 35 European countries.

21 Nov 2018

Check your medical records for dangerous errors

When Liz Tidyman's elderly parents moved across the country to be closer to their children and grandchildren years ago, they carried their medical records with them in a couple of brown cardboard folders tied with string.

21 Nov 2018

Buyers of short-term health plans: Wise or shortsighted?

Supporters of the nation's health law condemn them. A few states, including California and New York, have banned them. Other states limit them.

20 Nov 2018

LDR brachytherapy for treating early-stage prostate cancer lacks conclusive data

Interstitial brachytherapy uses slightly radioactive particles implanted into the prostate to deliver radiation directly to the tumour (low-dose-rate, LDR).

20 Nov 2018

MCO places increasing emphasis on helping people find and access healthy food

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one out of every eight U.S. households experiences food insecurity. Access to healthy food is an important socioeconomic factor, or social determinant, in one's health, and for millions of Americans, it remains elusive.

16 Nov 2018

Brigham investigators examine opioid use among Massachusetts adolescents, prescription trends

Opioid-related overdoses and deaths remain a major public health concern in Massachusetts, yet adolescents who experience opioid-related nonfatal overdose have been rarely studied.

13 Nov 2018

Trumpeted new Medicare Advantage benefits will be hard for seniors to find

For some older adults, private Medicare Advantage plans next year will offer a host of new benefits, such as transportation to medical appointments, home-delivered meals, wheelchair ramps, bathroom grab bars or air conditioners for asthma sufferers.

9 Nov 2018

Montana’s legislature could decide Medicaid expansion’s fate

A ballot initiative that would have continued funding Montana’s Medicaid expansion beyond June 2019 has failed. But advocates say they’ll continue to push for money to keep the expansion going after that financial sunset.

9 Nov 2018

Midterm election boosts Medicaid expansion, but challenges remain

Medicaid — which has been a political football between Washington and state capitols during the past decade — scored big in Tuesday’s election.

8 Nov 2018

House Dems in new seats of power will steer health policy, attack drug prices

For the first time since passing the Affordable Care Act, Democrats will soon control the House of Representatives and its powerful health committees. But Republicans' tightened grip on the Senate means those hoping for another round of dramatic, progressive reforms may be disappointed.

7 Nov 2018

California dreamin’? With Newsom’s win, single-payer unlikely to follow anytime soon

Californians on Tuesday elected a governor who campaigned for a complete overhaul of how people get their health coverage — but they shouldn't hold their breath.

7 Nov 2018

Prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy may have higher heart failure risk

Androgen deprivation therapy was associated with a 72 percent higher risk of heart failure in a study of patients with prostate cancer.

7 Nov 2018

Quick: What’s the difference between Medicare-for-all and single-payer?

Betsy Foster and Doug Dillon are devotees of Josh Harder. The Democratic upstart is attempting to topple Republican incumbent Jeff Denham in this conflicted, semi-rural district that is home to conservative agricultural interests, a growing Latino population and liberal San Francisco Bay Area refugees.

5 Nov 2018

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ Open enrollment and a midterm preview

Nov. 1 marks the start of Open Enrollment for people buying their own coverage for 2019 in most states. Despite the turmoil surrounding the Affordable Care Act, most consumers will have more choices and mostly flat — and in some cases lower — premiums.

1 Nov 2018

Childlessness influences Chinese adults' end-of-life care preferences

Chinese adults who have children prefer to receive end-of-life care from family members at home, while those who lost their only child prefer to be cared for in hospice or palliative care institutions, finds a new study led by an international team of researchers and published in the November issue of The Journal of Palliative Medicine.

1 Nov 2018

With one hand, administration boosts ACA marketplaces, weakens them with another

In the span of less than 12 hours this week, the Trump administration took two seemingly contradictory actions that could have profound effects on the insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act.

30 Oct 2018