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Cochlear implant an option for unhappy stapes patients

Cochlear implantation is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with far advanced otosclerosis who have not benefitted from stapedectomy, report US researchers.

25 Sep 2012

State roundup: Anthem dumps Cedars-Sinai, UCLA docs

Two of the most prestigious names in Southern California health care -- Cedars-Sinai and UCLA -- are getting shut out of a major insurance plan for being too expensive. In a bold cost-cutting move, Anthem Blue Cross has eliminated doctors affiliated with the hospitals from a health plan offered to about 60,000 employees and dependents at the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles.

25 Sep 2012

Tips for health care providers when communicating with deaf or hearing impaired

This week is the International Week of the Deaf, held to draw attention to deaf and hearing-impaired people, their accomplishments and challenges they face. One health care issue is a potential communication barrier between medical providers and deaf or hard-of-hearing patients.

25 Sep 2012

Health on the Hill: House Republicans attack Obama administration on Medicare Advantage

In this edition of Health on the Hill, Kaiser Health News' Mary Agnes Carey interviews CQ Roll Call's Emily Ethridge about last week's House Ways and Means health subcommittee hearing on the health law's cuts to the private Medicare Advantage program.

25 Sep 2012

Lawmakers spar on Medicare Advantage plans

In a Capitol Hill hearing Friday, Republicans challenged the Obama administration's so-called Medicare Advantage "bonuses."

24 Sep 2012

Bilateral cochlear implants may restore binaural sound processing in the brain

Cochlear implants - electronic devices surgically implanted in the ear to help provide a sense of sound - have been successfully used since the late 1980's. But questions remain as to whether bilateral cochlear implants, placed in each ear rather than the traditional single-ear implant, are truly able to facilitate binaural hearing. Now, Tel Aviv University researchers have proof that under certain conditions, this practice has the ability to salvage binaural sound processing for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

24 Sep 2012

Broker bill gets House Energy and Commerce Committee OK

The House panel approved legislation that would modify the health law's medical loss ratio provision to protect the earnings of insurance brokers and agents.

21 Sep 2012

CMS eyes improper Medicare payments for power wheelchairs

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday that 80 percent of this type of fee-for-service Medicare claim should not have been paid.

21 Sep 2012

Administration touts thriving Medicare Advantage under health law

Enrollment in the private plans is projected to increase 11 percent next year, while premiums hold steady, officials say, disproving predictions made by critics of the health care law.

21 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 20, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that the health law's penalty for not obtaining health insurance could hit as many as 6 million people.

21 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: Romney's comments point to entitlements' role as big part of 'budget paralysis;' Kristof says candidate inflated 'underlying truth'

Stigmatizing almost everyone with a federal benefit is not just bad politics. It's the worst sort of social stereotyping. But beyond (GOP presidential candidate Mitt) Romney's bluster lies a genuine problem.

21 Sep 2012

House panel to consider health law change that would help brokers

A House committee is preparing a bill that would change the health law's medical loss ratio provision to exclude brokers' fees from counting as administrative costs.

20 Sep 2012

Music underlies the ability to acquire language

Contrary to the prevailing theories that music and language are cognitively separate or that music is a byproduct of language, theorists at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) advocate that music underlies the ability to acquire language.

19 Sep 2012

Phonologic awareness impacts receptive vocabulary in kids with CIs

Children with cochlear implants experience developmental delays in phonologic awareness and nonword repetition, research shows.

19 Sep 2012

Delirium widespread among older people but often goes ignored and untreated

Delirium is widespread among older people but often goes ignored and untreated, according to new research by US and UK researchers including the University of East Anglia (UEA).

19 Sep 2012

Roundup: Filipino nurses in Calif. win $1M in language discrimination lawsuit; Texas Lawmakers hear of Medicaid managed care woes; Calif. soda limits could be next

A group of Filipino nurses who claimed they were mocked for their accents and ordered to speak "English only" won a nearly $1-million settlement against a Central California hospital where bosses and co-workers were allegedly urged to eavesdrop on the immigrant workers.

19 Sep 2012

News from the Hill: GOP lawmakers continue to investigate aspects of the health law's implementation

House Republican lawmakers are questioning hiring practices at the Department of Health and Human Services as well as how the Internal Revenue Service will enforce provisions of the health law.

18 Sep 2012

Healthcare costs could total more than household assets for elderly at end of life

For more than 25% of elderly US citizens, healthcare costs incurred during the last 5 years of life will amount to more than their total household assets, show data reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

17 Sep 2012

Researchers identify gene mutations in Wolfram syndrome that affects insulin-secreting beta cells

The rare disorder Wolfram syndrome is caused by mutations in a single gene, but its effects on the body are far reaching. The disease leads to diabetes, hearing and vision loss, nerve cell damage that causes motor difficulties, and early death.

17 Sep 2012

MIT engineers use ultrasound waves to enhance permeability of skin to drugs

Using ultrasound waves, MIT engineers have found a way to enhance the permeability of skin to drugs, making transdermal drug delivery more efficient. This technology could pave the way for noninvasive drug delivery or needle-free vaccinations, according to the researchers.

15 Sep 2012