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Viewpoints: Health law problems plague Calif. too; Obamacare redistribution is from lucky to unlucky; FDA crackdown on genetic testing

While politicians in Washington are hailing California's exchange as proof of the law's success, voters in California don't seem to agree - and it's not hard to understand why. Policies for about 900,000 Californians are being cancelled because they don't meet the law's benefit mandates.

11 Dec 2013

CatchMyPain App for patients suffering from chronic pain

Pain management as an independent medical field has been significantly growing during the last few decades. Doctors and clinics specialize in the treatment of pain in general and chronic pain specifically. These specialists often suggest using a pain diary to track the pain, see its development and adjust the treatment accordingly. CatchMyPain is an electronic version of such a pain diary and a great solution for patients suffering from chronic pain.

11 Dec 2013

Simple and affordable hearing aids for children

Norwegian researchers are developing a simple and cheap hearing aid that can be adapted to compensate for a child's hearing loss without the need for specialists. The aim is to help more people in the third world.

11 Dec 2013

Simplicity, testing, keys to why some state-run exchanges work

Stateline explores why some insurance exchanges function well and others -- including the one operated by the federal government -- are struggling. Meanwhile, California Democrats say a lookalike GOP health insurance website is confusing consumers and Maryland faces a self-imposed mid-December deadline to repair its site.

11 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 10, 2103

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how health law advocates are developing new messaging strategies.

10 Dec 2013

Virginia Health Information publishes 2013 Health Care Pricing Report

As the price of health care increases, employers struggle to control costs and maintain employee health care benefits. One strategy increases the amount employees pay in deductibles or co-pays. With more money coming out of their pockets, information on the costs of care can help consumers make more informed health care purchasing decisions.

10 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Optimism about Obamacare; 834 errors; can-you-keep-your-doctor debate

This was the week when liberals decided that it was safe to feel optimistic about Obamacare again. ... A worst-case scenario, in which the website remained unusable well into the new year, seems to have been averted, and with it the danger that insurers or Congressional Democrats would begin to bail on Obamacare entirely.

10 Dec 2013

State insurance exchanges wrestle with rollout issues

In Iowa, an insurer uses sarcasm to woo consumers to buy policies away from the federal website. In Minnesota, insurers list problems which may keep consumers who think they've enrolled in a plan from being covered on Jan.1. Developments in Oregon and Colorado are also scrutinized.

10 Dec 2013

Accenture survey: 78% of Australian patients want full access to electronic medical records

The majority of Australian health patients (78 per cent) believe they should have full access to electronic medical records, but roughly only 1 in 4 consumers (22 per cent) say this what they currently have, according Accenture's nine-country survey of more than 9,000 consumers, including 1,002 Australians. These findings are also consistent with other research that shows only 18 per cent of Australian doctors believe patients should have full access to his or her own record.

10 Dec 2013

Study demonstrates feasibility to detect generalized tonic-clonic seizures with arm device

Medications remain the mainstay of epilepsy treatment, and to date there are no FDA-approved devices that provide an accurate means of detection for generalized tonic-clonic seizures, or convulsions, during activities of daily living. Two new studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. provide data that warrants the development of non-invasive devices with the capability to signal the onset of an epileptic seizure and could be crucial to optimal patient dosing.

10 Dec 2013

Drugmaker pushes new drug over cheaper equivalent at Medicare's expense

The Washington Post explores the public impact of doctors' decisions to choose a more expensive drug to prevent blindness despite trials showing the drug is equivalent to a much cheaper product.

9 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 9, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about new sticker-shock concerns over costs for coverage purchased through the health law's new online insurance marketplaces.

9 Dec 2013

Taking probiotics during pregnancy has no effect on asthma rate amoung infants

Taking probiotics has health benefits but preventing childhood asthma isn't one of them, shows newly published research led by medical scientists at the University of Alberta.

9 Dec 2013

Low-income women less likely to receive breast cancer treatment

Women with interruptions in health insurance coverage or with low income levels had a significantly increased likelihood of failing to receive breast cancer care that is in concordance with recommended treatment guidelines, according to results presented here at the Sixth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held Dec. 6-9.

9 Dec 2013

Ancon Technologies unveils new cancer-screening device

Ancon Technologies, a company devoted to finding new ways to beat cancer, recently unveiled a new cancer-screening device to the public, the NBT detector. The company's latest product aims to bring cancer detection to the next level: it uses Nanoparticle Biomarker Tagging technology to identify cancer biomarkers in exhaled air.

6 Dec 2013

NPS MedicineWise publishes set of FAQs on statins and heart disease

With the statins group of cholesterol-lowering medicines continuing to make headlines this week, independent organisation NPS MedicineWise has reviewed the latest clinical evidence and published a set of Frequently Asked Questions on its website addressing people’s key concerns.

6 Dec 2013

State highlights: S.C. Medicaid director touts lower spending; La. targets docs who steer patients into some managed care plans; Texas set to boost Medicaid payments

South Carolina's Medicaid director says his agency is on track to spend about $250 million less this fiscal year than allotted in the state budget. Director Tony Keck told a Senate panel on Wednesday the Department of Health and Human Services is projected to spend $6.2 billion in state and federal money (Adcox, 12/4).

6 Dec 2013

Return to play on the same day after sports concussions not recommended

Any athlete with concussion symptoms should not be allowed to return to play on the same day, according to the latest consensus statement on sports-related concussion. The updated guidelines are summarized in Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

6 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Coping with physician shortage; 'righteous' hobby lobby cause; enrolling millennials

In just over a decade the United States will need 130,000 more doctors than medical schools are producing. So says the Association of American Medical Colleges, which warns of a doctor shortage that will drive up wait times, shorten office visits and make it harder for Americans to access the care they need (Scott Gottlieb and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, 12/4).

6 Dec 2013

College students not only bring dirty socks but also mononucleosis to home

One of the hallmarks of heading home for winter break is the enormous amounts of laundry college students bring as a welcome home present for Mom and Dad. But the dirty socks might not be the only unwelcome guest they transport home. They might also bring mononucleosis, better known as mono.

6 Dec 2013