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Pneumonia risk increased in schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia are at an increased risk for developing pneumonia, results from a large Taiwanese study show.

16 Jan 2013

Analyzing how well the individual mandate may work

Politico looks at the practical task ahead for the health law's individual mandate.

16 Jan 2013

Ariz. governor backs Medicaid expansion under health law

Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican critic of the law, surprised many when she announced in her State of the State speech that she would support expansion of the federal-state program for low-income residents.

16 Jan 2013

Advocates place focus on need for 'seamless transitions' between Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance

A Medicare Rights Center report cautioned that seniors will face coverage gaps unless officials streamline enrollment for Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance under the health law's state exchanges.

16 Jan 2013

Abortion, contraception coverage fights continue as Roe v. Wade anniversary nears

Abortion and contraception coverage make news in Texas, Virginia and Pennsylvania while both sides prepare for the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

16 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Health law's 'sticker shock;' Changing Medicare eligibility age is not a simple solution

President Obama said a fair bit during the fiscal-cliff negotiations - speaking for 45 minutes in one 50-minute meeting, for example - but today let's zero in on the claim he kept repeating: "We don't have a spending problem. We have a health-care problem." For our money - and yours - those are two of the most remarkable sentences our Orator in Chief has ever strung together.

15 Jan 2013

Research roundup: Effectiveness of mobile clinics; Can more alternative medicine coverage save money?

Approximately 2,000 mobile health clinics in the U.S. have 6.5 million patient visits annually. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 6,000 patients from 2010 to 2012 from one program, to examine the clinical impact and cost-effectiveness.

15 Jan 2013

State highlights: Calif. governor earmarks money for Medi-Cal expansion; Mental health reforms take shape in Kan., Colo.

Brown earmarked $350 million in his spending plan to help enroll more Californians in Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor. Under the proposal, enrollment rules would be simplified to cover residents who are currently eligible but not enrolled.

15 Jan 2013

Governors urge feds to give them bigger health care voice

Democratic and Republican leaders of the National Governors Association asked for greater flexibility from the federal government on health law implementation.

11 Jan 2013

PlusNews examines potential cuts in U.S. HIV funding to Ethiopia

PlusNews discusses potential cuts in U.S. funding for HIV-related activities in Ethiopia and the role of greater in-country funding for health. In 2013, "Ethiopia will experience a 79 percent reduction in U.S. HIV financing from PEPFAR," according to a blog post written last year by Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, the news service notes.

11 Jan 2013

Obama taps White House chief of staff to head Treasury department

News outlets report that although Jack Lew is known as a deficit hawk, he has been a defender of Medicaid and other safety net programs.

11 Jan 2013

States continue efforts to advance health exchanges

States look for creative ways to publicize the online marketplaces where people can shop for and purchase coverage beginning next fall. Meanwhile, Minnesota legislators introduce a measure to set up such a market, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott releases new, much smaller estimates of the cost of expanding that state's Medicaid program.

11 Jan 2013

Anthem proposes double-digit rate hikes in Calif., prompting insurance commissioner outcry

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is calling a recent double-digit rate hike proposal and reinsurance fee by Anthem Blue Cross in his state "unreasonable," though he doesn't have much power to change it.

11 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Rove says GOP unlikely to make much 'structural change' to entitlements; Roe anniversary and fading public understanding; Fast food workers' health insurance

As a matter of policy, rather than politics, it is no more sensible to draw the line at $620 billion in additional revenue over the next decade than to insist, as have some Democrats, that Medicare and Social Security remain untouched. The country's structural deficit poses too large a threat to future prosperity, and there is no politically or fiscally realistic scenario under which entitlement cuts alone can solve the problem.

11 Jan 2013

Medicaid cost estimates trigger Florida flap

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's concerns about the health law's Medicaid expansion during a meeting Monday with HHS Secretary Sebelius is continuing to draw criticism that he is exaggerating the potential cost.

11 Jan 2013

Insurers in California, elsewhere, propose steep rate hikes

California's insurance commissioner criticized Anthem Blue Cross for raising rates for small businesses but acknowledged he has no authority to block it. Medpage Today looks at double-digit increases in the individual and small group markets nationwide.

11 Jan 2013

Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than others

On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. The report finds that this health disadvantage exists at all ages from birth to age 75 and that even advantaged Americans -- those who have health insurance, college educations, higher incomes, and healthy behaviors -- appear to be sicker than their peers in other rich nations.

11 Jan 2013

Lower education level negatively impacts cancer screening rates

When researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues conducted a random telephone survey among blacks, whites and Hispanics in New York, Baltimore and San Juan, Puerto Rico, they found that Hispanics are nearly twice as likely to report that fear of being used as a "guinea pig" and lack of trust in medical professionals contribute in being unwilling to participate in cancer screenings.

11 Jan 2013

Sebelius, Fla. Gov. Scott have health care chat with no immediate results

A meeting Monday between HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Florida Gov. Rick Scott on the health care law didn't seem to yield any immediate results on whether the GOP governor will implement parts of the law, but his willingness to meet may signal he is willing to do just that.

9 Jan 2013

Judge orders trial on Kan. law restricting insurance coverage for abortions

A federal judge turned down the ACLU's request to summarily invalidate the measure, but said the issues must be adjudicated at trial.

9 Jan 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

Pneumonia risk increased in schizophrenia

Analyzing how well the individual mandate may work

Ariz. governor backs Medicaid expansion under health law

Advocates place focus on need for 'seamless transitions' between Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance

Abortion, contraception coverage fights continue as Roe v. Wade anniversary nears

Viewpoints: Health law's 'sticker shock;' Changing Medicare eligibility age is not a simple solution

Research roundup: Effectiveness of mobile clinics; Can more alternative medicine coverage save money?

State highlights: Calif. governor earmarks money for Medi-Cal expansion; Mental health reforms take shape in Kan., Colo.

Governors urge feds to give them bigger health care voice

PlusNews examines potential cuts in U.S. HIV funding to Ethiopia

Obama taps White House chief of staff to head Treasury department

States continue efforts to advance health exchanges

Anthem proposes double-digit rate hikes in Calif., prompting insurance commissioner outcry

Viewpoints: Rove says GOP unlikely to make much 'structural change' to entitlements; Roe anniversary and fading public understanding; Fast food workers' health insurance

Medicaid cost estimates trigger Florida flap

Insurers in California, elsewhere, propose steep rate hikes

Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than others

Lower education level negatively impacts cancer screening rates

Sebelius, Fla. Gov. Scott have health care chat with no immediate results

Judge orders trial on Kan. law restricting insurance coverage for abortions

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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