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California shuts down 10 sites imitating state insurance marketplace

The California attorney general said her office shuttered 10 websites that had mimicked the state's official health insurance exchange "in order to lure consumers away from plans that provide the benefits of the Affordable Care Act."

16 Nov 2013

Allergy shots for insect stings decreases anxiety and depression

Stinging insects are everywhere making them nearly inescapable. The thought of being stung can cause depression and anxiety for the two million Americans that are allergic to their venom.

8 Nov 2013

Decision-making process may occur in localized region of the prefrontal cortex

While eating lunch you notice an insect buzzing around your plate. Its color and motion could both influence how you respond. If the insect was yellow and black you might decide it was a bee and move away. Conversely, you might simply be annoyed at the buzzing motion and shoo the insect away. You perceive both color and motion, and decide based on the circumstances. Our brains make such contextual decisions in a heartbeat.

7 Nov 2013

Consumers losing their health policies could become potent political force

Several news stories examine how this group is adept at generating attention, especially among its elected representatives.

5 Nov 2013

Data suggest state-run online insurance marketplaces making progress -- 38,000 people have signed up; 100,000 have completed applications

Meanwhile, headlines across the country offer updates on specific state exchanges in California, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota and Colorado.

16 Oct 2013

State highlights: Md. submits plan to tie overhaul hospital charges to state's economy

A selection of health policy stories from Maryland, California, Missouri and Florida.

15 Oct 2013

State health exchanges running more smoothly than federal marketplace

The New York Times reports that, while difficulties continue for consumers in the 30 states that are using the federal government's online health insurance marketplace, those who live in states that have chosen to operate their own are faring better.

10 Oct 2013

Selenium in plants causes mortality and delays development in honey bee, say researchers

Traditionally, honey bee research has focused on environmental stressors such as pesticides, pathogens and diseases. Now a research team led by entomologists at the University of California, Riverside has published a study that focuses on an anthropogenic pollutant: selenium (Se).

4 Oct 2013

Traffic reports: High volume causes health insurance shoppers to experience delays

Across the country, states reported computer problems and long wait times as consumers tried to check out the new insurance options available through the health law's online insurance marketplaces. At the same time, though, many states reported tallies of applications and hits that exceeded expectations.

3 Oct 2013

For consumers shopping for insurance on new health exchanges, a lot will be determined by where they live

People who live in states where officials were less enthusiastic about the health law's new online marketplaces will likely have to look harder to find information about them. Meanwhile, coverage costs will vary widely, not just from state to state, but sometimes between cities and regions within the same state.

1 Oct 2013

Outreach efforts, especially for young adults and minorities, take center stage

The Detroit Free Press looks at the challenges in getting the message about the new insurance programs out to the uninsured, while in Florida, some officials are defying the governor's decision to curb federal outreach efforts.

26 Sep 2013

Health law enrollment: Gearing up to get the message out

Health law outreach efforts are proceeding with fits and starts, as one company returns its "navigator" grant because of the high level of scrutiny, while others vow they will be ready to begin enrolling people in the health law's new coverage.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers show network of genes which enforce cooperative state within cells

We often think of human cells as tiny computers that perform assigned tasks, where disease is a result of a malfunction. But in the current issue of Science, researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center offer a radical view of health — seeing it more as a cooperative state among cells, while they see disease as result of cells at war that fight with each other for domination.

13 Sep 2013

State highlights: N.Y. docs must now check drug database before prescribing painkillers; Fla. nursing homes quietly drop pediatric units; birth control at issue in Va. Gov. Race

A selection of health policy stories from New York, Florida, Virginia, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

29 Aug 2013

State highlights: Judge nullifies 2011 Brooklyn hospital deal

A selection of health policy stories from New York, California, Alaska, Georgia and Texas.

22 Aug 2013

Sebelius urges Texas leaders to pitch plan to cover poor

Speaking in Texas, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said it was up to state leaders to propose alternative ways to expand health coverage to the poor.

21 Aug 2013

Longer looks: Fight against meth labs faces drug makers' opposition

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

16 Aug 2013

State highlights: Hundreds lost D.C. Medicaid without cause, some allege; N.Y. firms accused of political wrongdoing in Medicaid; unions fight NYC health care plan

A selection of health policy stories from the District of Columbia, New York, California, Florida, North Carolina and Colorado.

13 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Fears of health law's adverse selection; GOP's 'fundamental miscalculation;' special deal for Congress keeps dissent low

Yet despite the care the administration took in establishing incentives and safeguards, even some of Obamacare's most committed backers are wondering whether the experiment will work as advertised -; or, like Harvard's P.P.O., go off the rails along the way. Adverse selection is perhaps the direst threat. ... Healthier Americans will probably flock to cheaper bronze plans. And insurers will vie to enroll the healthy. In some states, big insurers have chosen not to participate in exchanges to avoid their strictures. On the outside, they could still sell cheap plans to skim off the healthy and avoid a rule that insurers on the exchanges must also offer more generous silver and gold plans (Eduardo Porter, 8/7).

9 Aug 2013

State highlights: Wis. AG says hospitals can't deny admitting privileges to abortion docs

Plans by three Catholic hospital systems in Wisconsin to deny admitting privileges to doctors who perform abortions would "be in active violation of federal law," state Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen's Department of Justice said in a court filing last week. Federal law "provides that hospitals accepting federal funds may not discriminate against a physician because that physician has participated in or refused to participate in abortions," the state Justice Department said in its filing in federal court (Ahmed, 8/7).

8 Aug 2013