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Review: Program produces positive results for offenders with mental health or addiction issues

A review of a state program launched two years ago to improve recovery and reduce recidivism among felony offenders who have mental health or addiction issues shows the program is producing positive results.

30 Nov 2017

Urban American-Indian, Alaskan Native community more likely to have lower cancer survival rates

Compared with the non-Hispanic white population, the urban American-Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) community was more likely to have lower survival rates following invasive prostate and breast cancer.

29 Nov 2017

Parents are not liable for medical debts of adult children on shared insurance

Are parents responsible for adult children's medical debts? Should people squeeze in appointments and expensive procedures before year's end because of changes that might come with the GOP tax bill? Should consumers pay a broker to help them enroll in a plan? I answer these questions from readers this week.

28 Nov 2017

Marketplace confusion opens door to questions about skinny plans

Consumers coping with the high cost of health insurance are the target market for new plans claiming to be lower-cost alternatives to the Affordable Care Act that fulfill the law's requirement for health coverage.

27 Nov 2017

UCLA study: ACA appears to have encouraged more people to use preventive care for heart health

By reducing out-of-pocket costs for preventive treatment, the Affordable Care Act appears to have encouraged more people to have health screenings related to their cardiovascular health, a UCLA study found.

23 Nov 2017

Got food allergies? Add milk to the worries for your meal

Since her son Matt was an infant, Lynda Mitchell knew he had a milk allergy. She controlled the symptoms by switching his baby formula. But when he was 1, Halloween proved horrifying. While trick-or-treating in a pumpkin costume, Matt grabbed a chocolate bar and bit through the wrapper. Although he spit out the candy, his violent allergic reaction morphed into a mess of hives, swelling and labored breathing. He ended up in the emergency room.

22 Nov 2017

CF patients in the U.S. show faster rate of improvement in lung function and nutrition

New research comparing cystic fibrosis patients in the United States and Canada showed that, although the patients' nutritional status and lung function improved in both countries over the period from 1990 to 2013, the rate of improvement was faster in the United States.

22 Nov 2017

Deaths due to diabetes higher than expected in Germany

In the October 2017 issue of the journal Diabetes Care, DDZ scientists published their study on the number of deaths in Germany due to diabetes and its complications.

21 Nov 2017

Displaced Puerto Ricans face obstacles getting health care

The federal government has granted people affected by the devastating hurricanes that wracked coastal states and Puerto Rico 15 extra days to sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

21 Nov 2017

Indonesian study finds low rates of awareness about cervical and breast cancer screening

Just one in five Indonesian women are aware of cervical cancer screening, according to a study presented at the ESMO Asia 2017 Congress. The research in nearly 5,400 women also found that only 5% knew about mammography for early detection of breast cancer.

20 Nov 2017

Podcast: ‘What the Health?’ Tax bill or health bill?

Republican efforts to alter the health law, left for dead in September, came roaring back to life this week as the Senate Finance Committee added a repeal of the "individual mandate" fines for not maintaining health insurance to their tax bill.

17 Nov 2017

About a third of Americans unaware of Obamacare open enrollment

While the Affordable Care Act's fifth open enrollment season is off to a surprisingly good start, many uninsured people said they weren't even aware of it, according to a survey released Friday.

17 Nov 2017

Despite ACA cost protections, most adolescents skip regular checkups

As children move through adolescence, some face health hurdles like obesity, sexually transmitted infections, depression and drug abuse. Regular checkups could help families address such problems, and the Affordable Care Act paved the way by requiring insurers to fully cover well-child visits, at no charge to patients.

17 Nov 2017

Medicaid expansion takes a bite out of medical debt

As the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress look to scale back Medicaid, many voters and state lawmakers across the country are moving to make it bigger.

17 Nov 2017

Tax reform proposal could impact care for older Americans

Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office advised members of Congress that the U.S. House of Representative's tax reform bill (the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," or H.R. 1) would result in automatic cuts to key federal programs, including a $25 billion cut to the Medicare program in 2018 as a result of existing Congressional "pay-go" rules.

16 Nov 2017

California fines Anthem $5 million for failing to address consumer grievances

California's managed-care regulator announced Wednesday it has fined insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross $5 million for repeatedly failing to resolve consumer grievances in a timely manner.

15 Nov 2017

Children have better odds of receiving preventive care when parents get Medicaid through ACA expansion

When low-income parents enroll in Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) state expansion program, their children have considerably better odds of receiving annual preventive care pediatrician visits, according to a new analysis by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University.

13 Nov 2017

Brokers are reluctant players in a most challenging ACA open-enrollment season

Lee Nathans, like insurance brokers in many states, expects to be crazy busy for the next several weeks, fielding calls from "people who are not going to be happy."

13 Nov 2017

Parity laws may not fully address affordability for patients needing cancer drugs

State laws designed to ensure that the pill form of cancer drugs is not more costly than treatments given through an infusion in a clinic or hospital have had a mixed impact on patients' pocketbooks, according to University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers.

9 Nov 2017

Insurer tries a soft touch — puppies! — for this year’s hard sell of Obamacare plans

Can a puppy video get you to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges? Florida Blue, a major insurer in that state, hopes the answer is yes.

6 Nov 2017

Health Insurance News and Research

Review: Program produces positive results for offenders with mental health or addiction issues

Urban American-Indian, Alaskan Native community more likely to have lower cancer survival rates

Parents are not liable for medical debts of adult children on shared insurance

Marketplace confusion opens door to questions about skinny plans

UCLA study: ACA appears to have encouraged more people to use preventive care for heart health

Got food allergies? Add milk to the worries for your meal

CF patients in the U.S. show faster rate of improvement in lung function and nutrition

Deaths due to diabetes higher than expected in Germany

Displaced Puerto Ricans face obstacles getting health care

Indonesian study finds low rates of awareness about cervical and breast cancer screening

Podcast: ‘What the Health?’ Tax bill or health bill?

About a third of Americans unaware of Obamacare open enrollment

Despite ACA cost protections, most adolescents skip regular checkups

Medicaid expansion takes a bite out of medical debt

Tax reform proposal could impact care for older Americans

California fines Anthem $5 million for failing to address consumer grievances

Children have better odds of receiving preventive care when parents get Medicaid through ACA expansion

Brokers are reluctant players in a most challenging ACA open-enrollment season

Parity laws may not fully address affordability for patients needing cancer drugs

Insurer tries a soft touch — puppies! — for this year’s hard sell of Obamacare plans

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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