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After uproar about Obamacare remarks, AOL reverses 401(K) policy

News outlets reported that the company blamed the law and the health costs of two "distressed babies" for a significant change in how it matches 401(k) contributions.

9 Feb 2014

CBO report on Obamacare and jobs still hot-button issue

Republicans and Democrats jumped on the Congressional Budget Office report of the effects of the health law on employment.

9 Feb 2014

New cochlear implant requires no external hardware

Cochlear implants - medical devices that electrically stimulate the auditory nerve - have granted at least limited hearing to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who otherwise would be totally deaf.

9 Feb 2014

Family Health Network grows by nearly 15% in 2013

The Family Health Network, a nonprofit health plan serving Medicaid recipients, has seen its network of providers double over the last three years, from 2,078 primary-care physicians, specialists, hospitals and clinics in 2010 to 4,299 at the close of 2013.

9 Feb 2014

New bill would expand health law subsidies for those in high-cost areas

The bill would tie subsidy levels to cost of living around the nation instead of to the national federal poverty level. In the meantime, a lawmaker from Colorado introduces a bill to speed construction of VA hospitals.

9 Feb 2014

N.H. State Senators agree to bipartisan Medicaid expansion compromise

The plan will require three federal waivers, would sunset after three years without continued 100 percent federal contributions and would use private insurance to reach the additional low-income New Hampshire residents. It's similar to the Iowa and Arkansas approaches.

9 Feb 2014

Penn Medicine launches program to improve health of LGBT individuals

Penn Medicine is the first academic medical center in Philadelphia - one among just a handful of academic medical centers in the U.S.—to launch a program across multiple professional schools and affiliated hospitals at Penn to improve the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

9 Feb 2014

Despite jump in enrollment, Aetna says it faces losses from health law marketplaces

Aetna Inc. said it expects to lose money on its business in the health-law marketplaces this year, with the demographics of enrollees skewing slightly more than expected toward people likely to rack up higher costs. The insurer, which is participating in public consumer exchanges in 16 states and the District of Columbia, the most of any carrier, said it has signed up about 135,000 paid members through the end of January (Mathews, 2/6).

9 Feb 2014

Partners support can have significant bearing on overall cardiovascular health

Matters of the heart can influence actual heart health, according to new research. A study from researchers at the University of Utah shows that the ways in which your spouse is supportive - and how you support your spouse - can actually have significant bearing on your overall cardiovascular health.

9 Feb 2014

Henry Schein and ADA join forces to celebrate annual Give Kids A Smile Day

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners, together with 26 of the Company's valued supplier partners, join the American Dental Association (ADA) today to celebrate the ADA's annual Give Kids A Smile Day.

9 Feb 2014

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