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Viewpoints: Baucus applauds 'listening to customers' on employer mandate delay; Unions 'wake up' to problems with health law; Medicare's 'two midnights' rule

Any successful business leader will tell you the importance of listening to customers, gathering their input and suggestions and always putting them first. That lesson was not lost on the Obama administration earlier this month when it correctly decided to push back the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's employer responsibility provision - the employer mandate - until 2015. I'm sure this was a tough call, but it was the right one. It shows the administration is listening to the business community and working to address its concerns, as well as the concerns of Congress (Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., 7/17).

19 Jul 2013

UK Markey Cancer Center receives National Cancer Institute designation

The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center was joined by national, state and local leaders last Friday to celebrate its designation as a National Cancer Institute cancer center.

19 Jul 2013

Some employers continue to offer 'skinny' plans

Even though the Obama administration will not enforce the mandate requiring large employers to offer coverage for another year, some companies still plan to offer so-called "skinny," or limited benefit plans -- and the federal government will permit them, according to Politico. Other reports look at the growth in part-time jobs and whether that is a result of the health care law.

17 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 16, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews reports: "Since smokers' health-care costs tend to be higher than those of nonsmokers, is it reasonable for smokers to pay higher premiums when they buy insurance through the new state marketplaces that are scheduled to open in October? A handful of states and the District say the answer is no" (Andrews, 7/16).

16 Jul 2013

Researchers to study effectiveness of palliative care home health visits for people with HIV

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing will assess how effective palliative care home health visits are in treating people with HIV and other chronic illnesses in a new four-year, $1.7-million study funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

12 Jul 2013

Immunization in developing countries: an interview with Dr. Jos Vandelaer, Chief of Immunization for UNICEF

Overall, worldwide, immunization programs reach around 83% of all children – this is an enormous achievement. With this level of immunization coverage, we prevent over 2 million deaths, year after year. This statistic is often forgotten or taken for granted.

11 Jul 2013

Restaurant owner welcomes delay on law’s insurance requirement

The New York Times profiles the challenges that one business owner faced with the health law. Other outlets offer news on the law, including the problems the administration faces in setting up the online marketplaces, concerns about scams targeting consumers and help for Medicare beneficiaries.

11 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 10, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles about House Republican plans to seek a delay in the health law's requirement that nearly all Americans get health insurance.

10 Jul 2013

For a year, consumers will be on the honor system for health law subsidies

With the delay in the employer mandate, the administration announced Friday that it would scale back verification rules on enrollees' income and health status.

9 Jul 2013

Researchers develop program to reduce hospital readmissions by more than half

When a Medicare patient heads home from the hospital, the last thing they want is to be part of the revolving door of readmission that costs the healthcare industry and Medicare billions of dollars each year.

4 Jul 2013

Patients with high education show less impairment on neuropsychological evaluation

Multiple sclerosis (MS) can lead to severe cognitive impairment as the disease progresses. Researchers in Italy have found that patients with high educational levels show less impairment on a neuropsychological evaluation compared with those with low educational levels. Their results are published in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

3 Jul 2013

Administration delays health law requirement for large employers to provide coverage

Businesses won't be penalized next year if they don't provide workers health insurance after the Obama administration decided to delay a key requirement under its health-care law, two administration officials said. The decision will come in regulatory guidance to be issued later this week. It addresses vehement complaints from employer groups about the administrative burden of reporting requirements, though it may also affect coverage provided to some workers (Dorning and Wayne, 7/2).

3 Jul 2013

Transformational leadership style associated with increased well-being among employees

A transformational leadership style—valued for stimulating innovation and worker performance—is also associated with increased well-being among employees, reports a study in the July Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

2 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: The entitlement crisis is not over; VA needs to deal more effectively with mental health issues; Iowa gives governor new abortion duty

Americans are used to hearing that health care will bust the budget. The Congressional Budget Office projected last year that Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs would eat up 9.6 percent to 10.4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product by 2037, crowding out many other vital programs. But a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests that the United States is not the only country that will struggle to contain public spending on medical care (Eduardo Porter, 6/27).

29 Jun 2013

Combination of better healthcare and community awareness improves maternal and newborn care

A five-year programme that mobilised communities to improve the quality of care for mothers and newborns reduced newborn mortality by 30 percent and saved at least 1,000 newborn lives in rural Malawi.

25 Jun 2013

State highlights: Ga. ponders higher health plan rates for employees

Home health care providers in Oregon and their allies say their industry is in a bind. The state's rural home health providers don't make as much as they should from serving Medicare patients, and the state's providers overall are slated for an even bigger hit next year, according to the industry's advocates and allies in Congress.

15 Jun 2013

Farmworkers continue to experience excessive heat even after leaving the fields, shows research

Hot weather may be the work environment for the 1.4 million farmworkers in the United States who harvest crops, but new research shows that these workers continue to experience excessive heat and humidity even after leaving the fields.

14 Jun 2013

Viewpoints: Administration 'finally' comes around on Plan B; 'Legal loophole' creates another compounded drug scare

Reluctantly yielding to a federal-court decision, the Obama administration announced on Monday that it will take steps to allow a version of the so-called morning-after pill, known as Plan B One-Step, to be sold over the counter to girls and women of all ages. They will not need a prescription, nor will they be required to show any identification to obtain the emergency contraceptive. There will be no restrictions on where the drug can be sold; it will be up to the manufacturer to propose appropriate venues (6/11).

13 Jun 2013

Three health education leaders to be honored as 2013 Champions of Health Professions Diversity

Three inspiring leaders in health education will be honored by The California Wellness Foundation as the 2013 Champions of Health Professions Diversity for their successful efforts to improve the health and wellness of California's most underserved communities.

4 Jun 2013

Experts to discuss on resuscitation efforts at Euroanaesthesia

One of the most difficult moments faced by anaesthetists and other healthcare staff is when to carry on attempts to resuscitate a person, and when those efforts should reasonably stop. This dilemma is the subject of a session at Euroanaesthesia, the annual congress of the European Society of Anaesthesiology.

3 Jun 2013