Health and Human Services News and Research

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HHS releases new insurance exchange rules, includes controversial surcharges

Health insurance companies will have to pay to play in new health insurance markets coming under President Barack Obama's health care law, the administration said in a regulatory notice issued Friday. The Health and Human Services department is proposing a "user fee" amounting to 3.5 percent of premiums for health insurers who want to offer policies in new federal exchanges coming in 2014.

2 Dec 2012

Mass. Republicans want top state health official to resign

The state's Republicans are challenging the handling of the recent meningitis outbreak and drug test tampering allegations.

1 Dec 2012

New Weill Cornell campaign to improve hypertension prevention, detection and control

The Weill Cornell Physician Organization at Weill Cornell Medical College has joined more than 120 medical groups and health systems nationwide to launch the new health campaign Measure Up, Pressure Down aimed to improve high blood pressure prevention, detection and control.

1 Dec 2012

New national healthcare campaign aims at controlling high blood pressure

A majority of patients can't recall whether their physician mentioned their blood pressure numbers and among patients with high blood pressure, only 56 percent say they talked with their doctor about ways to reduce their high blood pressure, according to a new survey released today by the American Medical Group Foundation, the nonprofit education and research arm of the American Medical Group Association.

1 Dec 2012

Appeals court temporarily blocks contraception mandate for Missouri business owner

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a preliminary injunction from the rule for Frank O'Brien and his company -- which is the fourth private business to secure such a temporary order.

1 Dec 2012

NAP and SAL injection during pregnancy improve memory, learning tasks in offsprings

Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

30 Nov 2012

States, courts, employers contend with health law's requirements

News outlets follow developments on health insurance exchanges, requirements for mental health parity and employer coverage and assess still-pending lawsuits

30 Nov 2012

Inpatients falling under the effects of hypnotic agent

Hospital patients taking the commonly prescribed hypnotic agent zolpidem are at an increased risk for falls, which in turn significantly increase morbidity and healthcare costs, say US researchers.

30 Nov 2012

Uncertainty reigns as some states mull Medicaid expansion

With key details left to be sorted out, including estimates of coming tax revenue to cover the cost, Colorado, Missouri and South Carolina are confronting whether to expand Medicaid to millions -- a vital part of the health law's coverage provisions.

30 Nov 2012

First Edition: November 30, 2012

Today's headlines include news about the continuing partisan back and forth regarding "fiscal cliff" negotiations as well as reports on the health law's implementation.

30 Nov 2012

Roundup: Conn. health care programs face $70M cut; Miss. abortion clinic again asks judge to block law that could force it to close

Connecticut's social services safety net and its public colleges and universities took the brunt Wednesday of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's first effort to whittle down a $363 million state budget deficit.

30 Nov 2012

AstraZeneca receives FDA approval for Cometriq to treat medullary thyroid cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cometriq (cabozantinib) to treat medullary thyroid cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastasized).

29 Nov 2012

States confront menu of Medicaid changes

A two-year payment hike for primary care doctors who treat Medicaid patients, called for by the health care law, might not happen without a struggle in Florida. Meanwhile, Kansas waits to hear back from the feds on its proposal to change Medicaid, and New Hampshire officials seek more money for their program.

29 Nov 2012

Naked AIDS protesters arrested in Boehner's congressional office

Seven people took their clothes off in a House office building Tuesday to protest cuts to AIDS funding, and three women were arrested. The group was joined by dozens of other -- clothed -- protesters.

29 Nov 2012

IL17RC-mediated immune responses can be crucial in causing AMD

Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults, based on preliminary research conducted by National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators.

29 Nov 2012

HHS, PEPFAR work toward AIDS-free generation

"As World AIDS Day 2012 approaches, it is a timely opportunity to reflect on what we learned at this year's International AIDS Conference" and recognize "the United States, through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has been a remarkable vehicle in this fight, employing sound science to offer the highest quality interventions and treatment," Nils Daulaire, director of the Office of Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), writes in the AIDS.gov blog.

28 Nov 2012

High-resolution real-time images show how nerves may be damaged during earliest stages of MS

High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, leaks into the central nervous system and activates immune cells called microglia.

28 Nov 2012

Decker School of Nursing to provide financial support for graduate students

The Decker School of Nursing has received a two-year, $757,000 traineeship grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to provide financial support for graduate students.

28 Nov 2012

Health law implementation proceeds -- with fits and starts

Even as the election has altered the landscape for lawmakers who hoped to repeal the 2010 health law, some opponents are pressing on with legal challenges. Specific elements of the law, such as its health exchanges, also present logistical and financial issues for the Obama administration.

27 Nov 2012

Diabetes can remit after gastric bypass surgery

After gastric bypass surgery, diabetes goes away for some people-often even before they lose much weight. So does that mean gastric surgery "cures" diabetes? Not necessarily, according to the largest community-based study of long-term diabetes outcomes after bariatric surgery.

27 Nov 2012