Health and Human Services News and Research

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First Edition: October 22, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the Obama administration's plans to address the problems with healthcare.gov.

22 Oct 2013

Scientists highlight novel way to develop universal influenza vaccine that can protect against multiple flu strains

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists highlights a new approach for developing a universal influenza vaccine that could protect against multiple flu strains, including deadly pandemic strains. The research appears today in the advance online edition of the scientific journal Nature Immunology.

22 Oct 2013

President says website problems are 'unacceptable"; urges insurance shoppers to keep trying

President Obama said Monday that problems with the new health care website are unacceptable, but argued that the law overall will benefit millions of Americans. While Healthcare.gov "hasn't worked as as smooth as it was supposed to have worked," Obama said in a White House speech that thousands of once-uninsured Americans have signed up for coverage.

22 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: HHS officials must tell Congress, citizens what is happening to marketplaces; 'rate shock' didn't materialize; problems with medical credit cards

The Affordable Care Act's botched rollout has stunned its media cheering section, and it even seems to have surprised the law's architects. The problems run much deeper than even critics expected, and whatever federal officials, White House aides and outside contractors are doing to fix them isn't working. But who knows? ... Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is even refusing to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a hearing this coming Thursday. ... The department is also refusing to make available lower-level officials who might detail the source or sources of this debacle (10/18).

22 Oct 2013

'Tech Surge' mounted to fix healthcare.gov

The Obama administration promised Sunday to enlist experts both inside and outside the government to solve the problems that have crippled healthcare.gov and caused consumers frustration as they attempt to shop for coverage. But some federal contractors worry the system may be weeks away from operating smoothly.

22 Oct 2013

GOP leaders want answers to questions about website difficulties

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is among the people some congressional Republicans want to testify about what some have termed the health exchanges' "failure to launch."

22 Oct 2013

UH professor awarded $1.56M NCI grant to explore preventive therapy against colon cancer

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., colon cancer affects both men and women and is expected to cause more than 50,000 deaths this year. University of Houston professor Cecilia Williams has been awarded a $1.56 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to investigate the mechanistic basis for novel colon cancer prevention and therapy.

22 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 21, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest reports about how the Obama administration plans to make the necessary fixes in the health law's online insurance marketplace.

21 Oct 2013

Republicans attacking Sebelius on insurance exchange rollout

News outlets covered the Sunday talk show circuit.

21 Oct 2013

Tech experts say total overhaul of healthcare.gov may be needed

Beyond consumers' problems using the federal website, insurers are getting flawed enrollment data from the few who manage to sign up for plans, the Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Health marketplace already has eligibility verification; entitlement fight lies ahead

If I were an entrepreneur in Washington, I'd be racing to print a bunch of T-shirts that said, "My tea party Republican shut down the government, and all I got was this lousy income verification mandate."

19 Oct 2013

HMS Holdings reports third quarter 2013 financial and operating results

HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) today announced it will report its third quarter 2013 financial and operating results at 8:00 a.m. Central/9:00 a.m. Eastern on Friday, November 8, 2013. Supplemental financial information including the press release and presentation will be available at http://investor.hms.com/events.cfm at approximately 7:30 a.m. Eastern on November 8.

19 Oct 2013

Study: Skin tanning gene linked to higher risk for testicular cancer in white men

A gene important in skin tanning has been linked to higher risk for testicular cancer in white men, according to a study led by scientists from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the University of Oxford in England.

19 Oct 2013

Health law is back in the hot seat

Now that lawmakers have an extension on pressing budget issues, they are refocusing attention on the health law's "rocky rollout." For instance, GOP leaders are pressing administration officials for answers about what's gone wrong with the federal online health insurance marketplace.

19 Oct 2013

Opsumit drug receives FDA approval to treat adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Opsumit (macitentan), a new drug to treat adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a chronic, progressive and debilitating disease that can lead to death or the need for lung transplantation.

19 Oct 2013

Longer looks: Making Romneycare work for other states; primary care's new challenge; Boston Marathon first responders continuing battle

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

18 Oct 2013

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

Health and Human Services News and Research

First Edition: October 22, 2013

Scientists highlight novel way to develop universal influenza vaccine that can protect against multiple flu strains

President says website problems are 'unacceptable"; urges insurance shoppers to keep trying

Viewpoints: HHS officials must tell Congress, citizens what is happening to marketplaces; 'rate shock' didn't materialize; problems with medical credit cards

'Tech Surge' mounted to fix healthcare.gov

GOP leaders want answers to questions about website difficulties

UH professor awarded $1.56M NCI grant to explore preventive therapy against colon cancer

First Edition: October 21, 2013

Republicans attacking Sebelius on insurance exchange rollout

Tech experts say total overhaul of healthcare.gov may be needed

Viewpoints: Health marketplace already has eligibility verification; entitlement fight lies ahead

HMS Holdings reports third quarter 2013 financial and operating results

Study: Skin tanning gene linked to higher risk for testicular cancer in white men

Health law is back in the hot seat

Opsumit drug receives FDA approval to treat adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Longer looks: Making Romneycare work for other states; primary care's new challenge; Boston Marathon first responders continuing battle

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

Event guide: 6th Operationalize Expanded Access Programs Summit East eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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