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Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states.

Nurse scientist asks health-care systems to set patients up for mortality cliff

Longer lifespans, due to advances in medicine and public health, mean people are living longer with multiple chronic conditions.

28 Apr 2016

Expanded Medicaid coverage shows increase in health insurance rates among low-income adults

Researchers at UCLA have that found states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act saw a significant increase in rates of health insurance among low-income adults compared with states that did not expand the program.

20 Apr 2016

Delay in radiation therapy increases chances of DCIS recurrence in women

Delaying radiation therapy too long after surgery significantly increases the risk of recurrent tumors in women treated for very early, or what is referred to as "stage 0," breast cancer, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

19 Apr 2016

False-positive mammogram results may have varied effects on subsequent screening behavior of women

Depending on when they received their last mammogram, women who receive a false-positive result are more or less likely to get screened at recommended intervals, according to preliminary findings from a University of North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Center study.

18 Apr 2016

National plan outlines milestones, strategies for Alzheimer's patient care and caregiver support

The National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) was signed into law in 2011. Over the past five years milestones have been identified to meet the plan's biomedical research goal. However, similar milestones have not been created for the goals on patient care and caregiver support.

13 Apr 2016

Weekend effect in hospitals affect kidney stone treatment, outcomes

Patients with severe cases of kidney stones are 26 percent less likely to receive timely treatment when they're admitted to the hospital on the weekend, according to a study by researchers at Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

12 Apr 2016

New app can improve patients' choices of nursing home

A new app created at the University of California, Irvine can improve a patient's choice of a nursing home. This is important, because when rating quality measures for nursing homes, patients and experts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services usually don't agree on what is best, leading UCI researchers to conclude that patients may benefit from a more personalized approach to choosing a nursing home.

5 Apr 2016

Frequent TAVR to replace damaged aortic heart valve improves patient outcomes

The more frequently a hospital performs a minimally invasive technique called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, to replace a damaged aortic heart valve, the better patients fare, on average, immediately after the procedure, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

4 Apr 2016

Opioids could be dangerous, deadly at high doses

Most people know that heroin is a dangerous drug, but its cousins, the legal, pharmaceutical opioids, such as codeine or hydrocodone, must be safe, right?Not so fast.Opioids—which include the illegal drug heroin as well as prescription medications, including hydrocodone (such as Vicodin), oxycodone (such as OxyContin and Percocet), morphine and codeine—can be dangerous, even deadly, at high doses.

31 Mar 2016

Penn’s CHW model can now be used in outpatient settings

Penn's Innovative Community Health Worker (CHW) model, shown to reduce admissions and lead to better health outcomes for hospitalized patients, can now be used in outpatient settings, according to a study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine in the journal Population Health Management.

25 Mar 2016

Endocrine Society issues recommendations to improve care for people with diabetes

To provide integrated care for people who have diabetes and may be at risk of developing related medical complications, the U.S. health care system needs to continue building effective multidisciplinary care team models, according to new recommendations issued by the Endocrine Society today.

23 Mar 2016

Out-of-hospital birth rates continue to increase in U.S.

United States' out-of-hospital births increased to nearly 60,000 in 2014, continuing a decade-long increase. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that out-of-hospital births increased from 0.87% of US births in 2004 to 1.50% in 2014, an increase of 72%. Out-of-hospital birth rates increased for all race/ethnic groups, but most rapidly for non-Hispanic white women.

22 Mar 2016

Increased travel distance to cancer treatment facility affects receipt of RT

Increased travel distance to a cancer treatment facility negatively impacts the likelihood that patients with stage II/III rectal cancer will receive radiation therapy (RT) to treat their disease, according to a study analyzing 26,845 patient records from the National Cancer Data Base that was published in the March 2016 issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology .

22 Mar 2016

Conflicting expectations result in failure of young girls completing HPV vaccinations series

Conflicting expectations between parents and medical providers about who is responsible for scheduling follow-up appointments is resulting in a failure of young girls completing the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination series, according to a new study led by Boston Medical Center researchers.

16 Mar 2016

Indego exoskeleton receives FDA certification for U.S. use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given clearance to market and sell the powered lower-limb exoskeleton created by a team of Vanderbilt engineers and commercialized by the Parker Hannifin Corporation for both clinical and personal use in the United States.

11 Mar 2016

Phase 3 study: Sarilumab monotherapy meets primary endpoint in active rheumatoid arthritis patients

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sanofi today announced that a Phase 3 monotherapy study met its primary endpoint demonstrating that sarilumab was superior to adalimumab (marketed by AbbVie as HUMIRA) in improving signs and symptoms in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at Week 24.

11 Mar 2016

Study: 40% of U.S. infants from low-income families do not receive rotavirus vaccination

Rotavirus (RV) infection is the leading cause of diarrheal disease in young children worldwide, causing more than half a million deaths of children aged <5 years annually, according to the World Health Organization. There are two safe and effective RV vaccines, pentavalent Rotateq (Merck) and monovalent Rotarix (GSK), yet global coverage remains below 20% of children.

9 Mar 2016

Complex biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies lack evidentiary standards

Potentially useful biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies are not being adopted appropriately into clinical practice because of a lack of common evidentiary standards necessary for regulatory, reimbursement, and treatment decisions.

7 Mar 2016

PACE: A community-based long-term care model for elderly

A new article "A Case Exemplar for National Policy Leadership: Expanding Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)," in the March 2016 Journal of Gerontology, chronicles the beginnings of PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) and outlines its rise to nationwide acceptance. PACE is a viable and sustainable model of community-based long-term care that provides coordinated and comprehensive services with an interdisciplinary patient-centered team model that is paid for through Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers.