Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Republicans continue to pound Obamacare, threaten budget vote

News outlets covered the ongoing "defunding" controversy. Sen. Ted Cruz [R-Texas] said on Sunday he doesn't have the votes yet to pass a budget resolution to defund Obamacare. "We do not have the votes right now," the Texas Republican said on CNN's "State of the Union,"

26 Aug 2013

80 House GOP members urge Boehner to defund Obamacare

House Speaker John Boehner floated the idea of a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown in October. But conservatives in his caucus expressed opposition, insisting that funds be stripped from the health care law even if that forces a government shutdown.

26 Aug 2013

Model including dozens of mutations helps clarify genetic factors involved in Crohn's disease

A statistical model accounting for dozens of different genes in combination-and the interactions between them-is an important step forward in understanding the genetic factors affecting the risk of Crohn's disease (CD), reports a study in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

26 Aug 2013

Ability to draw spontaneously may be preserved in brains of artists even after vascular dementia

The ability to draw spontaneously as well as from memory may be preserved in the brains of artists long after the deleterious effects of vascular dementia have diminished their capacity to complete simple, everyday tasks, according to a new study by physicians at St. Michael's Hospital.

26 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 23, 2013

Today's headlines include reports on what's becoming of the potential for a deficit deal, as well as the political posturing related to the House GOP efforts to block health law funding even if it means shutting down the government.

23 Aug 2013

Mentors International, Co-Diagnostics HBDC to lower real-time PCR test prices in developing world

Mentors International and Co-Diagnostics HBDC signed an agreement to lower real-time PCR test prices in the developing world, starting with tuberculosis. Under the agreement, Co-Diagnostics HBDC will provide low-cost testing reagents and Mentors International will leverage its international connections to set up low-cost testing facilities.

23 Aug 2013

Tufts Health Plan provides positive coverage decision and in-network provider status to bioTheranostics

bioTheranostics, a leading provider of molecular diagnostic solutions for cancer, has received a positive coverage decision and in-network provider status from Tufts Health Plan for its CancerTYPE ID molecular cancer classifier.

23 Aug 2013

Experts test new tool for providing tailor-made health care to elderly

Providing health care modulated on the specific needs of elderly for re-orienting national health systems toward a change of approach with patients. This should become the reference health strategy for the European Union, if it wants to achieve effective and efficient therapeutic goals, lowering costs while ensuring all appropriate health services, in particular when addressing the paramount issue of population progressive aging.

23 Aug 2013

New studies indicate the law's first year will be marked by slightly higher costs, more wellness incentives

As American workers prepare for the first open enrollment season of the Obamacare era, hints are surfacing about what awaits them - higher deductibles, more incentives for staying well and premium hikes that continue to out-strip wages, albeit by more moderate amounts than in the past. For coverage in 2014, the first year in which key parts of the Affordable Care Act's healthcare reforms take effect, premium increases will be about 5 percent, according to two studies (Pinsker, 8/21).

23 Aug 2013

Report shows nonmedical use of pain relievers may increase risk of using heroin later

A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that people aged 12 to 49 who had used prescription pain relievers nonmedically were 19 times more likely to have initiated heroin use recently (within the past 12 months of being interviewed) than others in that age group (0.39 percent versus 0.02 percent).

23 Aug 2013

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins-published journals win 13 APEX Awards

Wolters Kluwer Health, a world leader in healthcare information solutions, is pleased to announce that nine of its Lippincott Williams & Wilkins-published journals won 13 highly regarded awards in the 25th annual APEX Awards for Publication Excellence Competition.

23 Aug 2013

Age, sex and race may predict risk factor reduction in patients with coronary heart disease

Risk factor modification efforts could help reduce the chance of another heart attack and death among the more than 15 million Americans with coronary heart disease. Yet some patients-especially women and minorities-leave the hospital with poorly managed risk factors.

23 Aug 2013

Understanding genetic factors that affect Crohn's disease risk

A statistical model accounting for dozens of different genes in combination—and the interactions between them—is an important step forward in understanding the genetic factors affecting the risk of Crohn's disease, reports a study in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America.

23 Aug 2013

University of Virginia, UPS to stop health benefits for some workers' spouses

The university cited costs. Meanwhile, other news organizations followed Kaiser Health News' UPS story.

23 Aug 2013

Political hijinx surround government shutdown threat, push to defund health law

News outlets report on the possible mid-term election impact of the GOP push to shut down the government if the health law receives funding.

23 Aug 2013

Enrollment in exchanges key to health law success

Politico notes that enrollment in online marketplaces in California, Florida and Texas will have an outsized impact on whether the Obama administration achieves its nationwide goals for expanding coverage. Other outlets report how states will market the new insurance plans and how some Americans are confused by health insurance generally and Obamacare in particular.

23 Aug 2013

Four simple steps increase chances of preoperative smoking cessation

A simple four-part program-including referral to a quit-smoking hotline and a free supply of nicotine patches-can increase the percentage of patients who quit smoking before undergoing surgery, reports a study in the September issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

23 Aug 2013

MC1R mutation responsible for red hair phenotype also promotes cancer-causing pathway

A person's skin pigment, which determines hair color and skin tone, is influenced by the melanocortin-1 (MC1R) gene receptor. For the population's one to two percent of redheads, a mutation in MC1R accounts for their red hair color and typical light skin.

23 Aug 2013

Aromatherapy, IV dextrose may relieve nausea and vomiting after surgery

Two simple, non-drug treatments-aromatherapy and intravenous administration of a simple sugar solution-may offer effective new approaches to relieving nausea and vomiting after surgery, report a pair of studies in the September issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

22 Aug 2013