Health and Human Services News and Research

RSS

Obamacare tweaks continue amid complaints

The government will allow consumers who experience life changes, such as a marriage or the birth of a child, to update their plan choices, the administration said. It is also looking at requiring insurers to accept third-party payments, such as those made under the Ryan White CARE Act, to help people with HIV/AIDS pay for expensive drugs. Meanwhile, The Washington Post examines the history of Accenture, the contractor hired to fix healthcare.gov, and finds troubled projects and allegations of ethical lapses.

10 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 10, 2014

Today's headlines include stories about the health law's coverage gap.

10 Feb 2014

Highlights for first quarter of fiscal 2014 from MAXIMUS

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services worldwide, today reported financial results for its first quarter ended December 31, 2013.

6 Feb 2014

HHS to insurers: You may have to add more doctors, hospitals in Obamacare plans

Other stories today examine the administration's enrollment effort and how many people it could reach if it just focused on 116 of the nation's 3,143 counties. Also examined is how the insurer WellPoint's bottom line is changing because of the law.

6 Feb 2014

Expanded Medicaid enrollment in Washington state exceeds expectations

By Jan. 30, the state had enrolled 172,700 people, already surpassing its goal for April. But in Missouri, enrollment in the government health program has actually declined with state officials blaming error-ridden data from the federal exchange. Media outlets also follow developments in Arkansas and Nevada.

5 Feb 2014

Sebelius urges Kansas, Missouri to expand Medicaid

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appeared in Missouri and Kansas to urge officials to accept federal expansion funds, calling it a moral and financial imperative. Meanwhile, a new poll finds support for the expansion in Virginia and news outlets cover developments in Florida and South Carolina.

5 Feb 2014

For people who faced enrollment issues with healthcare.gov, appeals hearings to begin soon

But news outlets report that the computer and phone systems designed to address those appeals have yet to be launched. So far, an estimated 22,000 requests for fixes have been submitted via the mail.

5 Feb 2014

Findings expand treatment options for hormone-dependent breast cancer

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. For patients whose breast cancers are hormone-dependent, current treatment focuses on using drugs that block estrogen (a type of hormone) from attaching to estrogen receptors on tumor cells to prevent the cells from growing and spreading.

5 Feb 2014

New rule allows patients direct access to lab results

The Obama administration released new regulations Monday that would allow patients to get test results without going through their doctor first. The rules are part of an effort to empower patients and give them more control over their health care.

5 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 4, 2014

Today's headlines include progress reports on health exchanges in Washington state and New York as well as poll results on Virginia's Medicaid Expansion.

4 Feb 2014

Discovery may have implications for HIV vaccine research

NIH scientists have discovered a mechanism involved in stabilizing key HIV proteins and thereby concealing sites where some of the most powerful HIV neutralizing antibodies bind, findings with potential implications for HIV vaccine research.

4 Feb 2014

Efforts to reduce sudden unexpected infant death and prematurity can help close the gap

Researchers consider infant mortality to be a key indicator of population health. Currently, the United States ranks 27th among industrialized nations in infant mortality, but rates within the U.S. vary significantly by race, socioeconomic status, and geography.

4 Feb 2014

GOP considers tying debt-limit deal to repeal of part of health law

House Republicans are considering linking their support for raising the national debt to a repeal of the health law's risk corridors, which helps mitigate risk for insurers. In other news, lawmakers continue to weigh proposals to change how Medicare pays doctors and the House health appropriations subcommittee gets many new Republican faces.

4 Feb 2014

In pre-game rumble, Obama pushes back on O'Reilly questions about health care

The president told the Fox anchor that he regrets his earlier comments that people who like their insurance would be able to keep it.

4 Feb 2014

Researchers use naturally occurring HIV variant to trace T cell lineage for 17 years

A team of researchers has reported a novel method for tracking CD4+ T cells in people infected with HIV. CD4+ T cells are critical for immune defense against an array of pathogens and are a primary target of HIV. In the study, researchers used a unique, replication-incompetent (defective) form of HIV identified in a patient in the early 1990s.

4 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 3, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of stories about how the health law is working in different locations across the country.

3 Feb 2014

Obama says 'main priority' on health law is improving web site

President Barack Obama faced questions Sunday on Obamacare, Benghazi and the IRS's targeting of conservative groups during a pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and dismissed much of the criticism of him as ginned up by the cable news channel. ... Asked if the "biggest mistake" of his presidency was his claim that Americans who liked their health insurance plans would be able to keep that coverage, Obama nudged his interviewer.

3 Feb 2014

National Mentor Holdings enters into new senior secured credit facilities with Barclays Bank

National Mentor Holdings, Inc. today announced that it has entered into new senior secured credit facilities (the "New Senior Secured Credit Facilities") with Barclays Bank PLC, as administrative agent, and a syndicate of banks, to replace its existing senior secured credit facilities.

31 Jan 2014

TCGA Research Network identify new potential therapeutic targets for major form of bladder cancer

Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified new potential therapeutic targets for a major form of bladder cancer, including important genes and pathways that are disrupted in the disease.

30 Jan 2014

Delbene takes on challenge of correcting healthcare.gov's flaws

Kaiser Health News profiles the Obama administration's new website fix-it guy. And, in other news, The Associated Press reports that some workers at a federal health care call center for the health exchanges are now suing the government because they allegedly were forced to work unpaid overtime.

30 Jan 2014