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Sebelius resigning, OMB director Burwell tapped to head HHS

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning from the Obama administration after the rocky rollout of President Barack Obama's signature health care law, a White House official said Thursday.

11 Apr 2014

NextGen earns ONC 2014 Edition criteria certification for Emergency Department Solution

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today that NextGen® Emergency Department Solution version 6.0 is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as an electronic health record (EHR) Module on March 7, 2014 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ACB, in accordance with the applicable Hospital certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

10 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Sebelius' questionable arithmetic; Rand finds 9.3 million gained insurance; new numbers on your doctor

In setting the 2015 calendar parameters for health plans and employers, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, quietly did some creative but questionable arithmetic that forced taxpayers to give still more help to businesses and people who buy health insurance (Casey B. Mulligan, 4/9).

10 Apr 2014

NIH study could offer clues for developing new antiviral treatments

A National Institutes of Health study reports that a rare genetic disease, while depleting patients of infection-fighting antibodies, may actually protect them from certain severe or recurrent viral infections.

10 Apr 2014

Two new dementia care models seek to improve quality of care for older adults

The number of older adults with dementia in the United States is forecast to more than double over the next 40 years. Caring for these individuals will have a significant impact on caregivers as well as the health care system and its workforce.

9 Apr 2014

HHS reverses plan to cut Medicare advantage rates

Administration officials announce that they will slightly boost rates paid to insurers offering the private Medicare plans. In February they had suggested cuts to the funding, but Republican and Democratic lawmakers had opposed the suggestion.

9 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 8, 2014

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jay Hancock reports: "Under intense, bipartisan political pressure, the Obama administration backed down for the second year in a row on proposed payment cuts for insurance companies that offer private plans to Medicare members.

8 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: Despite enrollment success, health law has internal problems; burdens for both parties

For the foreseeable future, the health care debate probably isn't going to get any less intense. Instead, what we've watched unfold since 2009 is what we should expect for years, decades, a generation: a grinding, exhausting argument over how to pay for health care in a society that's growing older, consuming more care, and (especially if current secularizing trends persist) becoming more and more invested in postponing death.

8 Apr 2014

New analysis shows signs of emerging middle way toward reducing ranks of uninsured

With the political divide over health care reform still strong going into this year's elections, a new analysis of state-level decisions shows signs of an emerging middle way toward reducing the ranks of the uninsured.

8 Apr 2014

Medical professionals offer tips for preventing accidents during spring cleaning

Medical professionals at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center want to make sure that families and children stay safe this spring while participating in spring cleaning.

8 Apr 2014

Study shows spinal stimulation therapy may have potential to change prognosis of people with paralysis

Four people with paraplegia are able to voluntarily move previously paralyzed muscles as a result of a novel therapy that involves electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

8 Apr 2014

Medicaid enrollment increases by 3 million since health law enrollment began

The number is not yet complete because some states have not reported their numbers and it doesn't include March sign-ups.

8 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 7, 2014

Today's headlines include stories about the next round of health law challenges the Obama administration faces as well as the new Medicare Advantage rates scheduled to be announced today.

7 Apr 2014

$Higher education level linked with decreased fracture incidence among non-white women$

Higher education level linked with decreased fracture incidence among non-white women

If you are a middle-aged African-American or Asian woman, your social class may play a significant role in how likely you are to suffer bone fractures, a UCLA-led study suggests.

7 Apr 2014

Buying health insurance no longer a year-round option

The Associated Press reports that those who purchase coverage directly from insurers must do it within open enrollment periods, unless they experience a life-changing event such as a move or a job change.

7 Apr 2014

Rural nursing presents challenges, rewards

Providing comprehensive health care can be a daunting task for nurses serving nearly 60 million people living in rural America.

3 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: GOP can no longer wait for Obamacare 'to implode;' Ryan's version of 'trickle-down economics'

Now that Obamacare has finished with an amazing surge in signups, apparently passing the 7 million mark for the exchanges, there have been two main responses. Republicans are in full-on denial - the books are cooked! Nobody has paid! It's only because people have been forced to do it! Benghazi! Vince Foster! Meanwhile, progressives are full of caution.

3 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: 'Thrice-buried' Obamacare 'looks very much alive;' Ted Cruz 'gets an earful'

Back when rate shock, website problems and lagging enrollment were threatening to unravel the new health care law before it fully took effect, I concluded a column on Obamacare's repeated near-death experiences with the following warning to conservatives: ... What isn't killed outright grows stronger the longer it's embedded in the federal apparatus, gaining constituents and interest-group support just by virtue of its existence even if it doesn't work out the way it was designed. ... the serious right-of-center alternatives to Obamacare have always included policies to expand coverage, and with a coverage expansion accomplished, Republicans may find themselves effectively forced in a more serious direction. ... wherever they go and whatever they do, they will have to deal with the reality that Obamacare, thrice-buried, looks very much alive (Ross Douthat, 3/31).

2 Apr 2014

Looking forward: How to judge the rollout; challenges to come

Following the official end of the enrollment season, some outlets turn their attention to the upcoming issues surrounding the law.

2 Apr 2014

Study: Obesity causes changes in colon that may lead to colorectal cancer

Obesity, rather than diet, causes changes in the colon that may lead to colorectal cancer, according to a study in mice by the National Institutes of Health. The finding bolsters the recommendation that calorie control and frequent exercise are not only key to a healthy lifestyle, but a strategy to lower the risk for colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.

2 Apr 2014

Health and Human Services News and Research

Sebelius resigning, OMB director Burwell tapped to head HHS

NextGen earns ONC 2014 Edition criteria certification for Emergency Department Solution

Viewpoints: Sebelius' questionable arithmetic; Rand finds 9.3 million gained insurance; new numbers on your doctor

NIH study could offer clues for developing new antiviral treatments

Two new dementia care models seek to improve quality of care for older adults

HHS reverses plan to cut Medicare advantage rates

First Edition: April 8, 2014

Viewpoints: Despite enrollment success, health law has internal problems; burdens for both parties

New analysis shows signs of emerging middle way toward reducing ranks of uninsured

Medical professionals offer tips for preventing accidents during spring cleaning

Study shows spinal stimulation therapy may have potential to change prognosis of people with paralysis

Medicaid enrollment increases by 3 million since health law enrollment began

First Edition: April 7, 2014

Higher education level linked with decreased fracture incidence among non-white women

Buying health insurance no longer a year-round option

Rural nursing presents challenges, rewards

Viewpoints: GOP can no longer wait for Obamacare 'to implode;' Ryan's version of 'trickle-down economics'

Viewpoints: 'Thrice-buried' Obamacare 'looks very much alive;' Ted Cruz 'gets an earful'

Looking forward: How to judge the rollout; challenges to come

Study: Obesity causes changes in colon that may lead to colorectal cancer

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