Health and Human Services News and Research

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Hospitals with higher rates of readmissions may suffer cut in Medicare payments by 2015

Hospitals that treat more poor seniors who are on both Medicaid and Medicare tend to have higher rates of readmissions, triggering costly penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, finds a new study in Health Services Research.

8 Jan 2014

Scientists believe that new links between brain cells help encode new memories and skills

In adults, some brain regions retain a "childlike" ability to establish new connections, potentially contributing to our ability to learn new skills and form new memories as we age, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle.

8 Jan 2014

Hotspots of fuel consumption in adult brain also show key characteristics of developing brain

Although brain growth slows as individuals age, some regions of the brain continue to develop for longer than others, creating new connections and remodeling existing circuitry.

7 Jan 2014

Maryland's troubled exchange spurs political debate

Democratic and Republican critics of Maryland's dysfunctional exchange urged state officials to consider alternatives to the current online insurance marketplace. The issue has also become campaign fodder for gubernatorial candidates.

7 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 7, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of reports about state developments related to the health law's online marketplaces as well as details regarding the latest Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' figures on health costs.

7 Jan 2014

State highlights: N.C. officials detail Medicaid personal info mishap; comparing childbirth at Mass. hospitals; fixing Fla.'s pharmacy law 'glitch'

North Carolina health officials have clarified precisely when they first learned that cards with the personal information of nearly 49,000 children receiving Medicaid benefits had been mailed to the wrong addresses.

7 Jan 2014

Kentucky Health Cooperative adds more staff to address consumers’ queries related to health insurance

Kentucky Health Cooperative, Inc. is addressing higher call volumes and Kentuckians' interest in enrolling in health plans by extending call center hours and by adding call center staff.

6 Jan 2014

People with severe mental illness may have higher risk for substance use

People with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk for substance use, especially cigarette smoking, and protective factors usually associated with lower rates of substance use do not exist in severe mental illness, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

5 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Michael Moore finds health law affordability 'a cruel joke'; can more marketing help sell insurance?

Now that the individual mandate is officially here, let me begin with an admission: Obamacare is awful. That is the dirty little secret many liberals have avoided saying out loud for fear of aiding the president's enemies, at a time when the ideal of universal health care needed all the support it could get. ... For many people, the "affordable" part of the Affordable Care Act risks being a cruel joke. ... And yet -- I would be remiss if I didn't say this -- Obamacare is a godsend (Michael Moore, 12/31/13).

3 Jan 2014

Second Obama administration official resigns after troubled healthcare.gov rollout

Michelle Snyder oversaw technology experts who helped build healthcare.gov and is the second administration official to leave after problems with the website where Americans can buy health insurance.

3 Jan 2014

Detailing the numbers: Parsing the latest HHS tally of new enrollees

According to reports, 2.1 million people have signed up for new insurance coverage and 3.9 million have been found eligible for Medicaid. Who are these people and what do the numbers mean?

3 Jan 2014

First Edition: Jan. 2, 2014

The early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about what to expect of the health law in 2014.

2 Jan 2014

Amgen announces romosozumab Phase 2 trial results in postmenopausal women with low BMD

Amgen and UCB (Euronext Brussels:UCB) today announced results from a Phase 2 trial evaluating romosozumab (AMG 785/CDP7851) in postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density (BMD).

2 Jan 2014

ACR supports USPSTF recommendations for CT lung cancer screening in high-risk patients

The American College of Radiology (ACR) supports the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation (Grade B) for low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening of adults aged 55 to 80 years who have a 30 pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years.

2 Jan 2014

BioCryst receives $2.5M to advance development of BCX4430 for Marburg virus disease treatment

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has exercised an option to conduct the investigational new drug enabling program and to submit an IND.

30 Dec 2013

Robert Wood Johnson Partners selected as new Accountable Care Organization

Robert Wood Johnson Partners has been selected as one of 123 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in Medicare, providing approximately 1.5 million more Medicare beneficiaries with access to high-quality, coordinated care across the United States, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

27 Dec 2013

ICSA awards 2014 ONC HIT certification to Acumen EHR system

Acumen Physician Solutions, a market leading EHR and practice management system for nephrology, announced today that its product Acumen EHR, Version 7.0 is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as a Complete EHR.

27 Dec 2013

Medicare drug program gets Senator's scrutiny after vulnerability report

A Senate committee chairman said he is concerned about the "serious vulnerabilities" detailed in a ProPublica report about scams that target Medicare's popular prescription drug program.

26 Dec 2013

3 states take divergent paths on health care for poor

Media outlets look back at the decisions made by Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas leaders about expanding coverage to the poor under the health law and what that will mean for residents living just above the poverty line.

24 Dec 2013

Study finds link between genes affected by testosterone and antibody responses to influenza vaccine

A new study has identified a link between certain genes affected by testosterone and antibody responses to an influenza vaccine. The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that testosterone levels may partially explain why men often have weaker responses to vaccines than women.

24 Dec 2013

Health and Human Services News and Research

Hospitals with higher rates of readmissions may suffer cut in Medicare payments by 2015

Scientists believe that new links between brain cells help encode new memories and skills

Hotspots of fuel consumption in adult brain also show key characteristics of developing brain

Maryland's troubled exchange spurs political debate

First Edition: January 7, 2014

State highlights: N.C. officials detail Medicaid personal info mishap; comparing childbirth at Mass. hospitals; fixing Fla.'s pharmacy law 'glitch'

Kentucky Health Cooperative adds more staff to address consumers’ queries related to health insurance

People with severe mental illness may have higher risk for substance use

Viewpoints: Michael Moore finds health law affordability 'a cruel joke'; can more marketing help sell insurance?

Second Obama administration official resigns after troubled healthcare.gov rollout

Detailing the numbers: Parsing the latest HHS tally of new enrollees

First Edition: Jan. 2, 2014

Amgen announces romosozumab Phase 2 trial results in postmenopausal women with low BMD

ACR supports USPSTF recommendations for CT lung cancer screening in high-risk patients

BioCryst receives $2.5M to advance development of BCX4430 for Marburg virus disease treatment

Robert Wood Johnson Partners selected as new Accountable Care Organization

ICSA awards 2014 ONC HIT certification to Acumen EHR system

Medicare drug program gets Senator's scrutiny after vulnerability report

3 states take divergent paths on health care for poor

Study finds link between genes affected by testosterone and antibody responses to influenza vaccine

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