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Highlights: Ga. governor gets health insurance 'navigators' regulation bill; Combating shootings with mental illness prevention; Ohio's tobacco tax proposal

A selection of health policy news from Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and California.

16 Mar 2013

Federal judge in Michigan blocks birth control coverage mandate for pizza chain

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff granted this preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the health law's contraception coverage requirement.

16 Mar 2013

Monitoring, treating kidney disease patients with blood pressure fluctuations may improve health: Study

Large fluctuations in blood pressure from day to day are a warning sign for African Americans with kidney disease, indicating that they may face an increased risk of dying prematurely.

16 Mar 2013

Employers, small businesses bristle over health law cost increases, requirements

The Wall Street Journal reports on the fee that many employers will pay for each person that they insure next year while KHN details a possible "loophole" for small businesses.

16 Mar 2013

New medical records software provides more personalized health care for older adult patients

Innovative medical records software developed by geriatricians and informaticians from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research will provide more personalized health care for older adult patients, a population at significant risk for mental health decline and disorders.

16 Mar 2013

Deadline pressures could put more health exchanges in the federal government's hands

Reuters reports that if states that are pursuing their own insurance marketplaces can't keep up with the timeline, it could fall to Washington to run. Meanwhile, the Minnesota House approves legislation to set up its health exchange while advocates in Colorado press to make coverage of children's dental care mandatory in plans sold on that state's exchange.

16 Mar 2013

Analyzing the budgets: How the House GOP and Senate Dems treated Medicare

The Senate Democratic budget contained more than double the cuts to Medicare and, like the Republican blueprint, it also assumed the repeal of Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula.

16 Mar 2013

AMGA Distinguished Corporate Partner Award to be presented to Exact Sciences

The American Medical Group Association announced today that it will present the AMGA Distinguished Corporate Partner Award on March 15 to Exact Sciences at its 2012 Annual Conference, March 14-16 at the Hilton Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando.

16 Mar 2013

FAO to test new food security measurement tool

"The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is about to start testing a new way of measuring food security, which it hopes will provide a more timely and precise picture of hunger around the world," AlertNet reports.

15 Mar 2013

Stakeholder associations offer limited support for 'Enroll America' efforts

CQ HealthBeat reports that insurers, hospitals and trade groups are offering only "limited interest" in the campaign to educate Americans about the health law's coverage expansion. Meanwhile, other supporters are backing the grassroots effort to keep the Obama administration's agenda -- including the Medicaid expansion -- on track.

15 Mar 2013

Expert offers eight tips to help avert winter slips and falls

We all followed the "spring forward" adage as daylight savings time began but due to icy, wintery conditions, many have continued to "spring forward" due to tumbles on the ice.

15 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 15, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about President Barack Obama's third day of Capitol Hill visits in pursuit of progress on the budget.

15 Mar 2013

Weekend reading: Humanizing hospitals, splurge of health data and huge sodas

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

15 Mar 2013

South Sudan hospital sees influx of kala azar, malaria patients

VOA News examines an influx of patients suffering from kala azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, and malaria in a South Sudan hospital, writing, "The pediatric ward at the main hospital in Bentiu is overcrowded and under-staffed as an unusually high number of children suffering from kala azar and malaria have been brought in for treatment."

15 Mar 2013

UnitedHealth faces mental health parity legal challenge

Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group has been sued in a class action for alleged violations of federal and state parity laws that mandate coverage for mental health claims on a level comparable to medical and surgical benefits.

15 Mar 2013

American Journal of Public Health publishes special issue on mental health stigma

In a historic first, the American Journal of Public Health has devoted an issue to covering stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses, a topic that traditionally is under-researched and under-reported.

15 Mar 2013

Cultural preferences for sons dampens contraception usage

While poverty and under-education continue to dampen contraception use in Nepal, exacerbating the country's efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, researchers say another, more surprising factor may be more intractable: Deeply held cultural preferences for sons over daughters.

15 Mar 2013

U.S. must advocate for international agreement to address gender violence

"Having passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in Congress, despite attempts to block it by extreme conservatives, the United States has demonstrated its commitment to ending gender-based violence at home and can now support the world's efforts to do the same," contributor Chloë Cooney writes in the RH Reality Check blog.

15 Mar 2013

Senate Dems block effort to undo health law

The tea-party-led effort, which was defeated 52-45, attempted to add language to a government spending bill that would repeal the law's funding.

15 Mar 2013

University of Toronto study shows parental divorce linked to smoking initiation in children

Both daughters and sons from divorced families are significantly more likely to initiate smoking in comparison to their peers from intact families, shows a new analysis of 19,000 Americans.

15 Mar 2013