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House votes to repeal CLASS Act — A part of the 2010 health law

The GOP-led push to repeal this long-term care insurance program, which the Obama administration already made clear it would not implement, drew some Democratic votes. During floor speeches, Republican lawmakers cast it as a barrier to achieving a real reform.

3 Feb 2012

VA purchase of $1.2 billion in pharmaceutics termed a 'team failure'

These comments came during a Wednesday House Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing. Meanwhile, in other news related to veterans' health, USA Today reports that the return of combat troops is driving a medical-care backlog.

3 Feb 2012

Over-exposure to noise can cause more lasting changes to auditory circuitry

We all know that it can take a little while for our hearing to bounce back after listening to our iPods too loud or attending a raucous concert. But new research at the University of Michigan Health System suggests over-exposure to noise can actually cause more lasting changes to our auditory circuitry - changes that may lead to tinnitus, commonly known as ringing in the ears.

2 Feb 2012

USF receives DOD grant for battlefield-related TBI research

The University of South Florida (USF) has received a $1.57 million U.S. Department of Defense grant to conduct translational research on traumatic brain injury and other battlefield related injuries and diseases.

2 Feb 2012

A mind-reading machine could be reality soon

Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have devised a method by which they can hear thoughts. They conducted a small study in which they could predict what people were thinking based on their brain activity.

1 Feb 2012

Minn. lawmakers set to resume health insurance exchange fight

Gov. Mark Dayton says his administration may be unable to build an exchange without legislative approval. But the Republican-controlled legislature is split over whether to support implementation of that provision of the health care law.

1 Feb 2012

Musical training can avoid age-related hearing loss

Age-related delays in neural timing are not inevitable and can be avoided or offset with musical training, according to a new study from Northwestern University. The study is the first to provide biological evidence that lifelong musical experience has an impact on the aging process.

31 Jan 2012

States roundup: 'Cost-conscious' coverage in Mass.; Health exchange planning to Gov. in Minn.; Kansas judges gave to anti-abortion PAC

In just three years, a new way of paying for medical care has spread rapidly across Massachusetts, and now more than 1.2 million people are covered by plans that put providers on a budget in an effort to restrain health spending.

30 Jan 2012

Too much social networking makes girls less happy: Study

Researchers have studied the effects of too much social networking among young girls and found that it is ruining their girlhood. The new Stanford University study looks at data from girls between the ages of 8 and 12 who spend “considerable” time using social media and finds that they are likely to be “less happy” than their unplugged peers.

30 Jan 2012

Research Down Syndrome enters second year of national running program

Research Down Syndrome (RDS), a nonprofit foundation that is among the leading sources for funding of Down syndrome related cognitive research, is entering the second year of its national running program, Race for the Extraordinary, to help increase public awareness and funding for Down syndrome research. The mission of RDS is the development of safe and effective therapies to address the intellectual difficulties associated with Down syndrome.

30 Jan 2012

PIP breast implant mastermind arrested

The founder of the company - Poly Implant Prothese or PIP was arrested Thursday in an early-morning police raid on his luxury home in the south of France. The PIP implants have been the center of controversy and fear after reports of rupture of the breast implants due to use of second grade materials in their manufacture.

29 Jan 2012

Reason for language development delay in boys – Testosterone: Study

For the new study researchers collected umbilical cord blood from 767 Australian newborns and tested for testosterone. Newborn boys are exposed to 10 times the levels of testosterone before birth, compared to girls. Sex hormones, like testosterone, are known to play a key role in shaping how the brain develops. Then, the researchers evaluated the children’s language skills when they were 1, 2 and 3 years of age.

29 Jan 2012

CMS officials focus on health care innovation

At yesterday's 'Summit,' officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services advanced the notion that finding new ways to improve quality of care is also the best way to address high health care costs.

27 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 27, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Christian Torres reports on a speech given at the Care Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C., by Marilyn Tavenner, the president's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about the health law's accomplishments: "Tavenner will likely make some of the same arguments for the law and CMS initiatives when – or if – she encounters a grilling at her yet-to-be scheduled Senate confirmation hearing.

27 Jan 2012

Poll: Most Americans think justices' personal ideology will affect high court's health law decision

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation January tracking poll, a majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court's health law ruling will result from the justices' own ideology rather than legal analysis. The poll also found that the public believes the uninsured will benefit most from the overhaul.

27 Jan 2012

Diabetes may cause women to experience hearing loss as they age

Having diabetes may cause women to experience a greater degree of hearing loss as they age, especially if the metabolic disorder is not well controlled with medication, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

27 Jan 2012

Link between genetic abnormalities and cerebral palsy

For years it was thought that a difficult birth and other perinatal factors were the leading causes of cerebral palsy (CP), a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing and thinking. Now, researchers at Geisinger Health System find that the majority of cerebral palsy causes may in fact be caused by genetic abnormalities.

27 Jan 2012

Roundup: Problems outlined at Parkland hospital in Dallas; Mass. closing a mental hospital; Adult day care in Calif.

The Department of Mental Health plans to close Taunton State Hospital, one of the six state-run psychiatric hospitals in Massachusetts by the end of this year. The move is part of a plan to redistribute the placement of patients with chronic and severe mental illness as a large new state hospital opens in Worcester this summer.

27 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 26, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports about House GOP plans to offer a 'replace' bill after the Supreme Court rules on the health law.

26 Jan 2012

High court rejects request for debate over Elena Kagan's recusal from health law review

The justices, who are scheduled to hear more than five hours of arguments challenging the health law, turned down the request without comment. Kagan did not participate in the decision.

25 Jan 2012