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Long-term disability insurance gets little attention but can pay off big time

"It won't happen to me." Maybe that sentiment explains consumers' attitude toward long-term disability insurance, which pays a portion of your income if you are unable to work.

10 Oct 2017

Overlooked by ACA: Many people paying full price for insurance ‘getting slammed’

Paul Melquist of St. Paul, Minn., has a message for the people who wrote the Affordable Care Act: "Quit wrecking my health care."

9 Oct 2017

4 takeaways from HHS rollback of key contraception coverage provision

On Friday, the Trump administration announced new regulations governing contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The rules will make sweeping changes to the law's requirement that most employers provide coverage of birth control with no out-of-pocket costs to women.

6 Oct 2017

Association health plans: A favorite GOP approach to coverage poised for comeback

Not even 24 hours after the latest "repeal and replace" proposal ran out of steam, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ignited a new round of health policy speculation by predicting, during a cable news interview, impending Trump administration action on a longtime Republican go-to idea: association health plans.

6 Oct 2017

Bariatric surgery linked to reduced risk of cancer for severely obese patients

Severely obese patients who undergo bariatric surgery lower their risk of developing cancer by at least a third, according to a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researcher leading a large retrospective cohort study of patients in the western United States.

5 Oct 2017

Podcast: ‘What the Health?’ Congress chips away at health insurance for kids

Oct. 1 marked the official end to this year's effort to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act. But the start of fiscal 2018 also marked the end of the federal authorization for the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program.

4 Oct 2017

Medicaid patients with melanoma more likely to experience surgical treatment delays

A retrospective review of several thousand melanoma cases in North Carolina found that Medicaid patients were more likely to experience surgical treatment delays than patients with private insurance, according to a study by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers.

4 Oct 2017

Las Vegas tragedy prompts examination of hospital’s capacity to treat victims

Las Vegas is not only a glittering strip of casinos and hotels but a fast-growing region with more than 2 million residents — and one hospital designated as a highest-level trauma center.

4 Oct 2017

Study finds high rate of work dropout a year after heart attack

One in four people leave their job within a year of returning to work after having a heart attack, according to a newly published study from Denmark in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

4 Oct 2017

5 takeaways from Congress’ failure to extend funding for children’s coverage

Congress finally seems ready to take action on the Children’s Health Insurance Program after funding lapsed Sept. 30.

3 Oct 2017

Flat-fee primary care helps fill niche for Texas’ uninsured

Darrell Kenyon had been punting for years on various medical issues — fatigue, headaches, mood swings. The 43-year-old uninsured carpenter was particularly worried about his blood pressure, which ran high when he checked it at the grocery store. Then he heard about a different type of physician practice, one that provided regular primary care for a monthly fee.

3 Oct 2017

Digital revolution could radically change Europe’s healthcare system, says EESC

The digital revolution will radically change the way healthcare is provided in the next few years from a system based on cure to one focused on participatory, preventive, personalized and even predictive medicine, the so-called "4P medicine".

30 Sep 2017

Podcast: ‘What the health?’ Repeal and replace is dead. What now?

As predicted, the last-ditch GOP effort to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act ended the way its predecessors did this week — in failure.

30 Sep 2017

Congress’ cold shoulder sends shivers through community health centers

One community health center in New York has frozen hiring. Another in Missouri can't get a bank loan to expand.

30 Sep 2017

The GOP repeal bill is imploding. Here are 5 things left hanging on Obamacare

Republicans officially pulled the plug on their last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday.

26 Sep 2017

Emergency departments write shorter duration and smaller-dose opioid prescriptions, study shows

Opioid prescriptions from the emergency department are written for a shorter duration and smaller dose than those written elsewhere, shows new research led by Mayo Clinic.

26 Sep 2017

Research reveals curious pattern of autism recurrence based on gender

Having one child with autism is a well-known risk factor for having another one with the same disorder, but whether and how a sibling's gender influences this risk has remained largely unknown.

26 Sep 2017

Treating cartilage grafts with bone marrow concentrate before joint replacement speeds recovery

Biologic joint restoration using donor tissue instead of traditional metal and plastic may be an option for active patients with joint defects. Although recovery from a biologic joint repair is typically longer than traditional replacement, successful biologic restoration allows patients to return to full activity. However, in some cases, the transplanted bone does not heal correctly.

25 Sep 2017

Medicaid has a bull’s-eye on its back, which means no one is entirely safe

When high levels of lead were discovered in the public water system in Flint, Mich., in 2015, Medicaid stepped in to help thousands of children get tested for poisoning and receive care.

25 Sep 2017

GOP health bill’s changes go far beyond preexisting conditions

The latest GOP effort to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act is getting a lot of attention, even if its passage seems unlikely. But there is far more to the measure than its changes to rules regarding preexisting health conditions.

22 Sep 2017