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Fact checker skewers attack ads 'based' on CBO report on health law

The first ads are already out based on the Congressional Budget Office report on the health law's impact on the labor market, and the Washington Post's Fact Checker finds plenty of distortions. Meanwhile, the White House seeks to persuade Americans that it's a good thing if the health care law means they can work less.

9 Feb 2014

Sunshine Health and Orange Bowl partner to create special graffiti wall with messages of hope

Sunshine Health, a subsidiary of Centene Corporation, partnered with the Orange Bowl at the City of Fort Lauderdale Orange Bowl Downtown Countdown on New Year's Eve to create a special graffiti wall with messages of hope and compassion for the Make-A-Wish Southern Florida.

9 Feb 2014

AOL blames health law for change in retirement benefits, without details

AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong on Thursday offered a number of unusual explanations for why his company pulled back its 401(k) benefits for employees this year. The first reason: Obamacare. The second: two women at the company who had "distressed babies" in 2012. ... "As a CEO and as a management team, we have to decide: Do we pass the $7.1 million of Obamacare cost to our employees? Or do we try to eat as much of that as possible and cut benefits?," said Armstrong in the CNBC interview (Yang, 2/6).

9 Feb 2014

States struggle to fix failed exchanges

The "spectacular failure" of health insurance exchanges in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland and Oregon -- despite their support of the health law -- gets a closer look from ProPublica. Repair efforts in Maryland and Oregon are also covered.

9 Feb 2014

Consumers might get to keep noncompliant health plans longer

Meanwhile, groups seeking to enroll young people in coverage use techniques honed in political campaigns, and critics of the law call on consumers to take more responsibility for their health.

9 Feb 2014

Hill committee leaders reach deal on replacing Medicare doctor pay formula

The agreement would get rid of the troubled system that has often left doctors uncertain about their reimbursements, but the bipartisan leaders have not yet found a way to pay for such a change.

9 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 7, 2014

Today's headlines include reports from Capitol Hill about the continuing efforts to overhaul Medicare's payment system for doctors.

9 Feb 2014

Arkansas' model Medicaid expansion plan in Jeopardy

Arizona's efforts to expand the program are also facing challenges while a new approach is being advanced in Virginia.

9 Feb 2014

'Risk corridors' become key GOP anti-health law talking point

During a hearing of the House Oversight And Government Reform Committee, Republicans tagged this provision as an insurance industry bail-out despite Congressional Budget Office projections cited by Democrats that it ultimately will collect billions of dollars from insurers rather than paying them money.

9 Feb 2014

Moderate aerobic exercise helps preserve nerve cells in retina after damage

Moderate aerobic exercise helps to preserve the structure and function of nerve cells in the retina after damage, according to an animal study appearing February 12 in The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest exercise may be able to slow the progression of retinal degenerative diseases.

9 Feb 2014

CBO findings on how the health law will impact the workforce become partisan flashpoint

During a House Budget Committee hearing, and also across the Capitol, and on social media and the airwaves, Democrats and Republicans sparred over the Congressional Budget Office report released this week.

7 Feb 2014

CBO report reax leads to fact-checking, heavy dose of political debate

Despite the political storm it has generated, the latest report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects the law will give several million people an opportunity to work less or not at all because they won't be stuck in jobs simply to keep their job-based insurance.

7 Feb 2014

Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon attempt to boot up exchanges

Meanwhile, PBS NewsHour looks at why enrollment lags among Latinos, the ethnic group with the highest uninsured rate, despite tens of millions being spent on outreach in states like California.

7 Feb 2014

SSOM to receive Moral Courage award from Faith in Public Life in recognition to accept qualified DACA

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) will receive the Moral Courage award from Faith in Public Life, a non-profit organization devoted to lifting up the voices of progressive faith leaders.

7 Feb 2014

Experts release stroke-prevention guidelines for women

While stroke occurrences have been on a consistent decline in the United States since the early 1900s, more women are still dying from them than are men. To aid in curbing these deaths, first-of-their-kind stroke-prevention guidelines for women have been released with the help of one University of Alabama at Birmingham expert.

7 Feb 2014

Study: More than half of the nation's uninsured people live in just 116 counties

The study, conducted for the Associated Press, suggests that, even as the clock ticks down on the insurance sign-up period, outreach to this target population may not be so difficult.

7 Feb 2014

CVS' tobacco move brings praise, analysis as marketing move

Some are praising CVS' decision not to sell tobacco products while others say it's a marketing ploy meant to position the drugstore keenly in the middle of consumer health care.

7 Feb 2014

Research: Clinicians often fail to follow evidence-based polices to prevent infections

While most hospitals have polices in place to prevent health care-associated infections, clinicians often fail to follow evidence-based guidelines established to prevent these infections, according to new research from Columbia University School of Nursing published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

7 Feb 2014

Insurers say limited doctor choice key to plan affordability under health law

Insurers are saying that offering more narrow networks of which doctors patients can see or hospitals they can go to is vital to keeping costs down in plans offered under the health law. In the meantime, some insurers are offering supplemental plans to fill in these gaps.

7 Feb 2014

Humana posts loss but says new members are younger than expected

Insurer Humana said it lost money in the fourth quarter of last year over increased expenses and a drop in membership. At the same time, it says its health law enrollees are younger than expected.

7 Feb 2014