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Aetna is helping to reverse abuse of prescription painkillers

Abuse of prescription painkillers, known as opioids, is a widespread and growing problem in the United States. The epidemic adds billions of dollars to health care, work place and criminal justice costs each year.

10 Jan 2014

Longer reads: Hospice drains Medicare; false Obamacare 'horror stories;' growing up without vaccines

Hospice patients are expected to die: The treatment focuses on providing comfort to the terminally ill, not finding a cure. To enroll a patient, two doctors certify a life expectancy of six months or less. But over the past decade, the number of "hospice survivors" in the United States has risen dramatically, in part because hospice companies earn more by recruiting patients who aren't actually dying, a Washington Post investigation has found. Healthier patients are more profitable because they require fewer visits and stay enrolled longer (Peter Whoriskey and Dan Keating, 12/26).

9 Jan 2014

More insurers extend premium payment deadlines

The relaxed timetables reflect efforts by the insurance industry, as well as the Obama administration, to "coax" people towards "cementing" their 2014 coverage, reports Bloomberg News. In addition, a Commonwealth survey finds more people are shopping on the new health insurance marketplaces. News outlets also report developments from Minnesota, California, Oregon, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Michigan.

9 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 9, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about how the politics of the health law continue to play out on Capitol Hill.

9 Jan 2014

Adults with private or no health insurance coverage have lower levels of psychological distress

The Affordable Care Act, dubbed 'ObamaCare', has proven to be one of the most controversial legislative acts of the Obama presidency. New research, published in Stress & Health explores the psychological relationship between patients and health insurance coverage, finding that adults with private or no health insurance coverage experience lower levels of psychological distress than those with public coverage.

9 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Health law debate on contraceptive coverage; Cuccinelli: No investigators for Medicaid fraud; 50 years after the famed report on smoking

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization of Roman Catholic nuns that runs nursing homes around the country, is testing the contraceptive coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Last week, we're sorry to say, the nuns won a temporary reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Under the law, most employers are required to provide their employees with health insurance that covers birth control. But the Obama administration agreed to a compromise for nonprofit religious groups that object to contraception, exempting them from paying for such coverage. Instead, insurers agreed to absorb the cost. All the religious organization has to do is fill out a simple form attesting to its situation. Unfortunately, even that was too much for the Little Sisters of the Poor (1/7).

9 Jan 2014

Democrats reject GOP offer: Jobless benefits for health law suspension

Republicans are pushing proposals involving suspending parts of the health law in return for extending unemployment aid. Lawmakers also are making progress on a $1 trillion spending bill, again with health law negotiations at the center.

9 Jan 2014

Daily antibiotic use is effective for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in women

While daily antibiotic use is the most effective method for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in women, daily cranberry pills, daily estrogen therapy and monthly acupuncture treatments also have benefits that may be preferable for some patients, according to a new study by researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute.

9 Jan 2014

Feds develop 'workarounds' to make sure people who are eligible get covered by Medicaid expansion

Medicaid officials have developed methods to get around healthcare.gov's limitations in transmitting applications to state agencies, Modern Healthcare reports. But as election-year politics begin to heat up, some states continue to wrestle with the concept of expanding the low-income health insurance program.

9 Jan 2014

RNC launches 'Obamacare' attack ads

The advertisements, which will run in 12 states this week, target Democratic senators and representatives who supported the health law by attempting to link them to President Barack Obama's failed promise that people who like their coverage could keep it.

9 Jan 2014

A new health insurer raises funds after rapid growth

A new health insurer is betting that it can enter a crowded, but lucrative market. In the meantime, health care stocks helped markets surge Tuesday.

8 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 8, 2014

Today's headlines include news from Capitol Hill about how current events offer a window into the dynamics of the 2014 campaign season.

8 Jan 2014

Healthfirst invests in Infogix Cost Sharing Reduction Solution

Infogix, Inc., a developer of software that helps businesses automate the monitoring and analysis of operational data, today announced that Healthfirst, a not-for-profit managed care organization offering health insurance to individuals and families living in the New York metropolitan area, has invested in the Infogix Cost Sharing Reduction Solution to accurately forecast important financial formulas under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act legislation while also ensuring the integrity of all data involved.

8 Jan 2014

AIT initiates Phase II clinical trial of NOxCureCF for patients with cystic fibrosis

Advanced Inhalation Therapies, an Israeli drug development company, announced today that it has begun enrollment in Israel for a multicenter, open label, Phase II clinical trial of NOxCureCF, a respiratory treatment for patients with cystic fibrosis.

8 Jan 2014

Blue Shield Life and Health imposes excessive rate increase on over 80,000 Californians

Blue Shield Life and Health is imposing an unreasonable rate increase on over 80,000 Californians with individual health insurance policies, an average of 9.8% that adds up to a 22.8% increase for the year. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today that the company would not budge on its excessive rate hike.

8 Jan 2014

State highlights: States' troubled health law websites fall hardest on poor; Va. Sen. Deeds introduces mental health bills after son's death; state abortion battle strategies

A selection of health policy stories from Virginia, Florida, Texas, Georgia and California.

8 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; possibility of Medicaid deal in virginia; a new name for brain death

For decades a common refrain was that the rapid rise in health spending hurt the competitiveness of American businesses and ate into workers' take-home pay. Businesses and politicians from both sides of the aisle agreed that something had to be done to slow the growth of health-care costs.

8 Jan 2014

Health Insurance News and Research

Aetna is helping to reverse abuse of prescription painkillers

Longer reads: Hospice drains Medicare; false Obamacare 'horror stories;' growing up without vaccines

More insurers extend premium payment deadlines

First Edition: January 9, 2014

Adults with private or no health insurance coverage have lower levels of psychological distress

Viewpoints: Health law debate on contraceptive coverage; Cuccinelli: No investigators for Medicaid fraud; 50 years after the famed report on smoking

Democrats reject GOP offer: Jobless benefits for health law suspension

Daily antibiotic use is effective for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in women

Feds develop 'workarounds' to make sure people who are eligible get covered by Medicaid expansion

RNC launches 'Obamacare' attack ads

A new health insurer raises funds after rapid growth

First Edition: January 8, 2014

Healthfirst invests in Infogix Cost Sharing Reduction Solution

AIT initiates Phase II clinical trial of NOxCureCF for patients with cystic fibrosis

Blue Shield Life and Health imposes excessive rate increase on over 80,000 Californians

State highlights: States' troubled health law websites fall hardest on poor; Va. Sen. Deeds introduces mental health bills after son's death; state abortion battle strategies

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; possibility of Medicaid deal in virginia; a new name for brain death

Sen. Johnson's suit on Obamacare blasted by fellow republican

Texas hospital officials criticize proposal to limit Obamacare navigators

Maryland's troubled exchange spurs political debate

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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