Health and Human Services News and Research

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Two weeks in, Healthcare.gov still confronts technical difficulties

The volume of visits to the site, as well as the platform's design, are being blamed for the problems. Some experts see the necessary fixes as being projects that could take months to complete.

18 Oct 2013

Top nursing leaders to discuss health needs of veterans at national annual conference

Top nursing leaders and scientists from around the country will meet to discuss health needs for veterans, service members and their families Monday, Oct. 21, at a daylong conference hosted by the University of South Florida College of Nursing. A pre-conference will be held from Noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 20.

18 Oct 2013

Study: Sleep allows brain to flush out damaging molecules linked with neurodegeneration

A good night's rest may literally clear the mind. Using mice, researchers showed for the first time that the space between brain cells may increase during sleep, allowing the brain to flush out toxins that build up during waking hours.

18 Oct 2013

Sebelius says she won't resign, asks public to try exchanges again

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius doesn't intend to resign over the health law's shaky rollout of insurance exchanges, despite GOP pressure. In the meantime, she is also calling on the public to renew their attempts at buying coverage on the exchanges.

18 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 17, 2013

Today's headlines include reports and analyses of the Capitol Hill deal to raise the debt limit and reopen the federal government, as well as the latest developments regarding the health law's federal and state health insurance exchanges.

17 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Young people could spark needed entitlement changes; Priebus demands that Sebelius go; GOP's 'absurd debate' on Hill health coverage

Eventually this shutdown crisis will end. And eventually the two parties will make another stab at a deal on taxes, investments and entitlements. But there's one outcome from such negotiations that I can absolutely guarantee: Seniors, Wall Street and unions will all have their say and their interests protected. So the most likely result will be more tinkering around the edges, as our politicians run for the hills the minute someone accuses them of "fixing the deficit on the backs of the elderly" or creating "death panels" to sensibly allocate end-of-life health care.

17 Oct 2013

Sebelius gets 'full confidence' from Obama despite shaky exchange rollout

Amid a Republicans chorus calling for her to be fired, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius got the "full confidence" of President Barack Obama Tuesday.

17 Oct 2013

Duke University launches new HIV/AIDS specialty concentration within Primary Care Nurse Practitioner

Duke University School of Nursing is currently accepting applications for its new HIV/AIDS specialty concentration within the Primary Care Nurse Practitioner major for the fall 2014 semester.

17 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 16, 2013

Today's headlines including stories detailing how certain health law provisions are factoring in to the continuing congressional budget stalemate.

16 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: 'False hysteria' over health law's part-time criteria; marketplaces 'flunk' initial test; Ben Carson's surprising assessment

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has had a difficult launching, but the more serious challenges for the law relate not to glitch-filled Web sites but rather to its possible long-term effects on the United States economy. The law is not likely to last if it imposes a severe drag on growth and job creation, or involves large costs obscured by the legislative gimmicks used to shape the scoring of the bill by the Congressional Budget Office. Indeed, Casey B. Mulligan has discussed the negative effects of the legislation on the American labor market in a series of posts on Economix, while the policy expert Charles Blahous explains in detail why the "fiscally reckless" legislation will aggravate the already difficult federal and state fiscal situations (Philip Swagel, 10/14).

16 Oct 2013

Shutdown commentaries: Compromise may take nick out of health law; 'The Party of Gimme'

But the tentative agreement includes two problematic provisions related to health care reform. One would require the Department of Health and Human Services to verify that people receiving subsidies for insurance have incomes low enough to qualify.

16 Oct 2013

Family caregivers of chronically ill patients enjoy 18% survival advantage, says study

Contradicting long-standing conventional wisdom, results of a Johns Hopkins-led analysis of data previously gathered on more than 3,000 family caregivers suggests that those who assist a chronically ill or disabled family member enjoy an 18 percent survival advantage compared to statistically matched non-caregivers.

16 Oct 2013

Senate leaders close in on deal that leaves health law intact

The agreement could include a one-year delay in the health law's reinsurance tax, as well as a measure to tighten income verification standards for qualifying for health insurance subsidies.

16 Oct 2013

Confusion, anger and criticism mark some Obamacare attitudes

The public is still puzzled, tea party groups seeth with anger over the piecemeal chipping away of the health law and Sen. Mary Landrieu stands out among colleagues from the South for supporting the law. Meanwhile, a former Obama administration spokesman reveals criticism over the insurance exchange launches.

15 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 15, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how the budget deal taking shape in the Senate would not derail the health law, but would include some tweaks.

15 Oct 2013

GOP lawmakers probe marketplace bugs

Republicans on both sides of the Capitol are investigating technical problems with the health law's online health insurance marketplaces -- with one senator going so far as to call for the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Others bemoan the lost opportunity to publicize the balky rollout because public attention was focused instead on the government shutdown.

15 Oct 2013

Experts worry about other trouble spots with health law marketplaces

Politico reports that other steps in the online enrollment process, including computing subsidies and transferring signup information to insurers may also have bugs. The Associated Press reports that some insiders predicted the problems well before the website launch, while The Washington Post notes that paper applications are increasingly popular because of the problems.

15 Oct 2013

NIH selects Salk scientist for EUREKA grant

The National Institutes of Health has selected Axel Nimmerjahn for a highly competitive EUREKA (Exceptional Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) grant. Dr. Nimmerjahn is an Assistant Professor in the Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center and holds the Richard Allan Barry Developmental Chair.

13 Oct 2013

Blame for Healthcare.gov's problems placed on key design element

As outside experts offered opinions about the reasons for the glitches in the federal health insurance exchange, administration officials asked consumers for patience while the system undergoes repairs. Meanwhile, House and Senate Republicans launched investigations into the difficulties.

12 Oct 2013

State highlights: Calif. gov. OK's extension of autism treatment coverage; Kansas tries to improve billing, Medicaid flap in N.C.

Gov. Jerry Brown has approved a 2 1/2-year extension of a program that requires insurance coverage for early autism treatment. Since its creation in 2011, the program has helped more than 12,500 Californians, according to Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), the author of the bills creating and extending the program (McGreevy, 10/10).

12 Oct 2013

Health and Human Services News and Research

Two weeks in, Healthcare.gov still confronts technical difficulties

Top nursing leaders to discuss health needs of veterans at national annual conference

Study: Sleep allows brain to flush out damaging molecules linked with neurodegeneration

Sebelius says she won't resign, asks public to try exchanges again

First Edition: October 17, 2013

Viewpoints: Young people could spark needed entitlement changes; Priebus demands that Sebelius go; GOP's 'absurd debate' on Hill health coverage

Sebelius gets 'full confidence' from Obama despite shaky exchange rollout

Duke University launches new HIV/AIDS specialty concentration within Primary Care Nurse Practitioner

First Edition: October 16, 2013

Viewpoints: 'False hysteria' over health law's part-time criteria; marketplaces 'flunk' initial test; Ben Carson's surprising assessment

Shutdown commentaries: Compromise may take nick out of health law; 'The Party of Gimme'

Family caregivers of chronically ill patients enjoy 18% survival advantage, says study

Senate leaders close in on deal that leaves health law intact

Confusion, anger and criticism mark some Obamacare attitudes

First Edition: October 15, 2013

GOP lawmakers probe marketplace bugs

Experts worry about other trouble spots with health law marketplaces

NIH selects Salk scientist for EUREKA grant

Blame for Healthcare.gov's problems placed on key design element

State highlights: Calif. gov. OK's extension of autism treatment coverage; Kansas tries to improve billing, Medicaid flap in N.C.

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