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Help wanted: CMS begins search for HealthCare.gov contractor

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released an 84-page solicitation this week seeking a company to oversee the operations of the troubled health exchange website.

19 Jul 2014

Largest U.S. insurer to be major Obamacare player in 2015

Insurance giant UnitedHealthcare said Thursday that it would sell policies through online insurance markets in as many as 24 states next year, up from only four this year.

19 Jul 2014

Phase 3 VIVID-DME trial of EYLEA Injection for treatment of DME shows improvement in visual acuity

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that in the Phase 3 VIVID-DME trial of EYLEA® (aflibercept) Injection for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), EYLEA 2 milligrams (mg) dosed monthly (2Q4) and EYLEA 2 mg dosed every two months (after 5 initial monthly injections, 2Q8) showed a sustained improvement from baseline in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at week 100 (2 years), compared to laser photocoagulation.

18 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 18, 2014

Today's headlines include reports from the marketplace, including UnitedHealthcare's move toward the health law's insurance marketplaces and the latest on the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into insider trading related to a health policy change.

18 Jul 2014

State highlights: Missouri gives green light to med-school graduates to treat patients as assistant physicians; Georgia hospitals brace for broader gun-carry law

Missouri will allow medical-school graduates to work as "assistant physicians" and treat patients in underserved rural areas, though they haven't trained in residency programs, despite strong opposition from some doctors' groups.

18 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: GOP's 'cynical' lawsuit against Obama; debt crisis is not over

There's not much that Republicans like about the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but one thing they particularly dislike is the requirement that employers with 50 or more full-time workers provide comprehensive health insurance.

18 Jul 2014

Hour-long educational coaching session reduces re-admission odds, cost for Medicare patients

A new study in Journal of General Internal Medicine reports that an hour-long educational coaching session and two or three follow-up phone calls after a hospital stay reduced re-admission odds by 39 percent among Medicare patients.

18 Jul 2014

New analysis reveals 40% decrease in incidence of stroke in older Medicare patients

Rates Declined for Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke and Mortality in Both Men and Women 65 Years and Older, Reports The American Journal of Medicine

17 Jul 2014

New study finds highest rates of decline in prescription drug misuse nationwide

Five states that have implemented multi-faceted prescription drug abuse prevention programs in recent years showed the highest rate of decline in prescription drug misuse rates nationwide, according to a new study issued today by Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services.

From Quest Diagnostics 17 Jul 2014

State highlights: Health insurance changes catch Detroit teachers off guard; United Healthcare cuts 500 Tenn. doctors from Medicare advantage network

A selection of health policy stories from Michigan, Tennessee, California, Wisconsin, New York and North Carolina.

17 Jul 2014

Surgeon explains who needs screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms

Bulges in body's major blood vessel can cause potentially lethal ruptures, blood clots. An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a potentially life-threatening condition: If the body's major blood vessel ruptures, it can prove deadly.

17 Jul 2014

California vows to cut Medi-Cal backlog to 350,000

Responding to federal pressure, state officials said they would slash the number of waiting applicants nearly in half over the next six weeks. Kansas, meanwhile, promised to fix its computers so they can communicate with the federal system.

17 Jul 2014

CBO: Slowed federal health spending yields savings

Federal spending on health care has slowed sharply, partly as a result of the federal health care law, reports the Congressional Budget Office.

17 Jul 2014

Texas Medicaid rolls grow even without expansion

More than 80,000 Texans have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act last fall, despite the state's decision not to participate in the health law's expansion of eligibility. Enrollment and marketplace developments in Colorado and Maryland are also tracked.

17 Jul 2014