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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

New federal exchange glitch: Sending unqualified people to Medicaid; meanwhile, Penn. plans Medicaid expansion

USA Today reports that the National Association of State Medicaid Directors may release more information this week about how the federal exchange may be mislabelling people as Medicaid-qualified.

10 Dec 2013

Implementation issues: Optimism, winners, losers and what about those paper applications?

News outlets examine a range of health law issues, including a look at some of the consumers who approach the overhaul with a sense of relief and optimism. Meanwhile, while insurance agents are feeling left out, public relations firms see the law as a boon.

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

Two governors go 'all in' with health law's trials and tribulations

In a pair of stories, Politico takes a look at how decisions made by governors in two very different states are playing.

10 Dec 2013

Lawmakers seeing same online insurance exchange successes, failures as all Americans

Members of Congress are a microcosm of what's happening for people trying to sign up for health coverage in the health law's online insurance exchanges across the nation -- some are getting through, some are seeing glitches still and some are avoiding it altogether.

10 Dec 2013

Deductibles, other health plan costs may surprise consumers

News outlets report that, as more details become available, some people may find that their health insurance in 2014 will cost more than they hoped.

10 Dec 2013

Former Obama Aide Phil Schiliro returns to help oversee Obamacare

Schiliro is the president's former congressional liaison.

10 Dec 2013

Athletes playing at higher altitudes suffer fewer concussions

A new study shows that high school athletes playing at higher altitudes suffer fewer concussions than those closer to sea-level, a phenomenon attributed to physiological changes in the brain causing it to fit more tightly in the skull.

9 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

California exchange shares consumers' names without their consent

Officials with Covered California said they gave insurance agents the contact information of thousands of people who went online but didn't enroll in coverage as part of a pilot program to help people sign up by Dec. 23.

9 Dec 2013

ART safe and effective for treating combat-related symptoms of PTSD among veterans

Accelerated Resolution Therapy, or ART, is a brief, safe, and effective treatment for combat-related symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans and U.S. service members, researchers at University of South Florida College of Nursing report in a new study. They found this newer treatment -- a combination of evidence-based psychotherapies and use of eye movements -- was shorter and more likely to be completed, than conventional therapies formally endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.

9 Dec 2013

Maryland's online insurance marketplace plagued by technical issues, discord

The director of the state exchange resigned Friday. Meanwhile, the web portal continues to be marked by operational difficulties that are undermining enrollment efforts.

9 Dec 2013

Lawmakers close in on 'cease-fire' budget deal

Lawmakers are close to finding accord on a budget that would undo only a few parts of the government cuts known as "sequester." In addition, the proposed budget wouldn't lower the debt or change the costs involved with health care programs in addition to leaving other programs intact.

9 Dec 2013

GOP uses weekly address to reignite Obamacare debate ahead of election season

In the GOP's weekly address, Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., said the health law amounts to the Obama administration telling Americans what's best for them and that it is also an example of the "war on women." Elsewhere, the health law is figuring prominently in early election politics.

9 Dec 2013

UC Davis experts call for updated prostate cancer treatment guidelines

With a deluge of promising new drug treatments for advanced prostate cancer on the market, a new model of care is needed that emphasizes collaboration between urologists and medical oncologists, according to UC Davis prostate cancer experts.

9 Dec 2013

Largest-ever immunization campaign under way in the Middle East

The largest-ever immunization response in the Middle East is under way this week, aiming to vaccinate more than 23 million children against polio in Syria and neighbouring countries over the coming weeks.

9 Dec 2013

Findings support health impact assessments of fine particles in Europe

Prolonged exposure to tiny particles of soot or dust found in traffic fumes and industrial emissions may be more deadly below current European Union air quality limits than previously thought, according to new research examining two decades of data from over 360 000 residents of large cities in 13 European countries.

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