Thursday, February 28, 2013

Backers Of Cost-Free Coverage For Birth Control Fault Legal Challenges

More From Shots - Health News HealthStrategy To Prevent HIV In Newborns Sparks Enthusiasm And SkepticismHealthNintendo Wii Helped Budding Surgeons Move To Head Of The ClassHealthNew York Medical School Widens Nontraditional Path For AdmissionsHealthWhat Happened To The Aid Meant To Rebuild Haiti?

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Anesthesia Care And Web-Surfing May Not Mix, Nurses Say

More From Shots - Health News HealthYounger Women Have Rising Rate Of Advanced Breast Cancer, Study SaysHealthIn Many Families, Exercise Is By Appointment OnlyHealthShould You Fear The 'July Effect' Of First-Time Doctors At Hospitals?HealthAnesthesia Care And Web-Surfing May Not Mix, Nurses Say

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Medicaid Expansion: Who's In? Who's Out?

More From Shots - Health News HealthWomen To See Higher Prices For Long-Term Care InsuranceHealthU.S. Doctors Head Overseas To Train, Not Just TreatHealthMost People Can Skip Calcium Supplements, Prevention Panel SaysHealthGovernors' D.C. Summit Dominated By Medicaid And The Sequester

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Holding Insurance Companies Accountable for High Premium Increases

The Affordable Care Act prohibits some of the worst insurance industry practices that have kept affordable health coverage out of reach for millions of Americans.� It provides families and individuals with new protections against discriminatory rates due to pre-existing conditions, holds insurance companies accountable for how they spend your premium dollars, and prevents insurance companies from raising your insurance premium rates without accountability or transparency.

For more than a decade before the Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums had risen rapidly, straining the pocketbooks of American families and businesses. �Oftentimes, insurance companies were able to raise rates without explanation to consumers or public justification of their actions.

Rate Review in Action
The Affordable Care Act brought an unprecedented level of scrutiny and transparency to health insurance rate increases by requiring insurance companies in every state to publicly justify their actions if they want to raise rates by 10% or more. �Insurance companies are required to provide easy to understand information to their customers about their reasons for significant rate increases, and any unreasonable rate increases are posted online. �

And it�s working. �A new report released today shows that the health care law is helping to moderate premium hikes. �Since this rule was implemented, the number of requests for insurance premium increases of 10% or more has dropped dramatically, from 75% to 14%.� The average premium increase for all rates in 2012 was 30% below what it was in 2010. And available data suggest that this slowdown in rate increases has continued into 2013.�

Moreover, when an insurer does decide to increase rates, consumers are seeing lower rate increases than what the insurers initially requested.� In the review of rate requests for 10% or more, over 50% resulted in customers receiving either a lower rate increase than requested or no increase at all. ���

States have received $250 million in Health Insurance Rate Review Grants to help strengthen and improve their rate review processes thanks to the Affordable Care Act. �Of the 44 states that received rate review grants, 40 have reported enhancements to their rate review websites.� These website enhancements include searchable rate filings, new public comment options, live streaming of rate hearings, and plain language explanations of rate review and rate filings.

The Effective Rate Review program is one of many in the health care law aimed at protecting consumers.� The rate review program works in conjunction with the 80/20 rule, which requires insurance companies to generally spend 80% of premiums on health care or provide rebates to their customers. Insurance companies that did not meet the 80/20 rule have provided nearly 13 million Americans with more than $1.1 billion in rebates. Americans receiving the rebate will benefit from an average rebate of $151 per household.�

Additionally, today we issued a final rule that implements five key consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act, including protection against denial of health coverage because of a pre-existing condition.� This rule makes the health insurance market work better for individuals, families and small businesses, and it also increases the transparency brought to rate increases by directing insurance companies in every state to file all of their rate increase requests.

To learn more about the final rule issued today, visit: http://www.ofr.gov/inspection.aspx

To read today�s report on Rate Review, visit: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/rateIncreaseIndvMkt/rb.cfm

Olympic Hopeful Works To Improve Bone Marrow Registries

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Finding Out If Your Health Insurer Is Providing Value for Your Premiums

When hardworking Americans pay for health insurance for their families and themselves, most of what they are paying for should be medical care, not CEO bonuses, slick advertising or administrative costs. That is why one of the pillars of the Affordable Care Act is to help consumers get good value for their health insurance premium dollars.

The health care reform law holds health insurance companies accountable to consumers and ensures that consumers are reimbursed when insurers don�t meet a fair standard of spending premium dollars on care. Because of the new �80/20 rule� in the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies generally must spend at least 80 cents of every dollar you pay in premiums on your health care or activities that improve health care quality. If the insurer fails to meet this standard � the �medical loss ratio� � in any given year, it must pay its policyholders the difference. This could mean a rebate check or a reduction in future premiums for you and your family.

Under the health care law, nearly 13 million Americans are expected to benefit from $1.1 billion in rebates from insurance companies due by Aug. 1, 2012, because of the 80/20 rule. All insurance companies for the first time will send their policyholders a letter informing them of the rule and whether the insurer met the standard. Those that do not meet the 80/20 rule standard will inform consumers that they will receive a rebate.

Want to know whether your health insurance company is required to provide a rebate?� Today, on HealthCare.gov, we�re launching a new tool that will allow you to enter your state and health insurance company information and see the average rebate your insurer is required to pay. See the sample screenshots below:

But remember, that�s just an average, and you may see the �rebate� in a number of ways. These include:

A lump-sum reimbursement to the same account that was used to pay your premium if it was paid by credit card or debit card;A rebate check to you in the mail;A direct reduction in your future premiums; orYour employer using one of the above rebate methods, or applying the rebate in a manner that benefits employees.

Many Americans are working hard to provide for their families and they do not deserve to have their health insurance premium dollars wasted on excessive administrative costs and profits. The 80/20 rule is one of the many ways that the Affordable Care Act is making sure that millions of Americans get value for their premium dollars.

For a detailed breakdown of these rebates by state and by market, please visit
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/reports/mlr-rebates06212012a.html

To learn more about the 80/20 rule provision in the Affordable Care Act, please see http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/costs/value-for-premium/index.html

Friday, February 22, 2013

Morning-After Pills Don't Cause Abortion, Studies Say

More From Shots - Health News HealthContagion On The Couch: CDC App Poses Fun Disease PuzzlesHealthParents, Just Say No To Sharing Tales Of Drug Use With KidsHealthTreating HIV Patients Protects Whole CommunityHealthFeds Set New Rules For Controversial Bird Flu Research

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Feds And Health Insurers Partner To Fight Fraud

More From Shots - Health News HealthFlu Vaccine Has Been Feeble For Elderly This SeasonHealthMorning-After Pills Don't Cause Abortion, Studies SayHealthHospitals Clamp Down On Early Elective BirthsHealthMedical Waste: 90 More Don'ts For Your Doctor

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

States Prepare for the Health Insurance Marketplace

When key parts of the health care law take effect in 2014, there will be a new way for individuals, families, and small business owners to get health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as the Affordable Insurance Exchange. Whether you�re uninsured or just want to explore new options, the Marketplace will offer you apples-to-apples comparisons of costs and coverage between health insurance plans.� You can compare all your insurance options based on price, benefits, quality, and other features that may be important to you, in plain language that makes sense.

Starting in October 2013, customers in every state will be able to shop in their Marketplace for coverage that would begin in January 2014.� Each state has the opportunity to choose to create its own State-based Marketplace, work in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or have a Marketplace operated by HHS.� To date, 20 states and the District of Columbia (DC) have been conditionally approved to run either a State-based or Partnership Marketplace in 2014, and this number will grow by March 1.�

This past Friday, February 15, also marked a milestone for this progress � it was the deadline to submit an application to run a State-partnership Marketplace in 2014.�We received new applications from Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and West Virginia, bringing the total number of states that have applied to play a role in operating their Marketplace to 24 and DC.� In addition, several other states have suggested their own approaches to contributing toward plan management in their Marketplace in 2014.�

No matter where a qualified consumer lives, he or she will have access to coverage through a Marketplace.� And 2014 is the beginning, not the end.� States will have the option to apply to run their own Marketplace in future years.�

States will continue to be partners in implementing the health care law, and we are committed to providing them with the flexibility, resources, and time they need to deliver the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to the American people.� For example, 37 states plus the District of Columbia have received establishment grant awards�to help them modernize and develop the IT and business systems needed for their Marketplace. �For more information about Marketplace Establishment Grants visit:� http://cciio.cms.gov/Archive/Grants/exchanges-map.html

To see a complete list of states that have been conditionally approved to run either a State-based or Partnership Marketplace, visit: http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/factsheets/state-marketplaces.html

And to learn more about the Marketplace: http://www.HealthCare.gov/marketplace

Monday, February 18, 2013

Could The Health Law End Up Back In Court? Opponents Think So

More From Shots - Health News HealthCancer Rehab Begins To Bridge A Gap To Reach PatientsHealthTargeted Cancer Drugs Keep Myeloma Patients Up And RunningHealthWhat Nuclear Bombs Tell Us About Our TendonsHealthPopular Workout Booster Draws Safety Scrutiny

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Why Some Families Won't Qualify For Subsidized Health Insurance

More From Shots - Health News HealthWhat Nuclear Bombs Tell Us About Our TendonsHealthPopular Workout Booster Draws Safety ScrutinyHealthDon't Count On Extra Weight To Help You In Old AgeHealthDarkness Provides A Fix For Kittens With Bad Vision

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

AIDS In Black America: A Public Health Crisis

July 5, 2012

Listen to the Story 37 min 3 sec Playlist Download Transcript   Enlarge image i

Dr. David Ho, an HIV/AIDS specialist, draws blood from Magic Johnson, one of the people featured in Endgame: AIDS in Black America.

Renata Simone Productions/Frontline

Dr. David Ho, an HIV/AIDS specialist, draws blood from Magic Johnson, one of the people featured in Endgame: AIDS in Black America.

Renata Simone Productions/Frontline

Of the more than 1 million people in the U.S. infected with HIV, nearly half are black men, women and children � even though blacks make up about 13 percent of the population. AIDS is the primary killer of African-Americans ages 19 to 44, and the mortality rate is 10 times higher for black Americans than for whites.

More on HIV/AIDS Health Treating HIV: From Impossible To Halfway There Author Interviews 'Tinderbox': How The West Fueled The AIDS Epidemic Health HIV Spikes For Young Gay Black Men In U.S.

February 28, 2006

Saving The Heart Of The Crescent City Add to Playlist Download  

A new Frontline documentary, Endgame: AIDS in Black America, explores why the HIV epidemic is so much more prevalent in the African-American community than among whites. The film is produced, written and directed by Renata Simone, whose series The Age of AIDS appeared on Frontline in 2006.

On Thursday's Fresh Air, Simone is joined by Robert Fullilove, a professor of clinical sociomedical studies at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and chairman of the HIV/AIDS advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"When I started doing this work in 1986, roughly 20 percent of all of the people in the United States who were living with AIDS were African-American," Fullilove tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "The most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that 45 percent of all the new cases of HIV infection are amongst African-Americans. ... If we continue on the current trend, in the year 2015, especially in the South, it will probably be the case that 5 to 6 percent of all African-American adults who are sexually active will be infected with the virus."

Endgame explores how politics, social factors and cultural factors allowed the AIDS epidemic to spread rapidly in the African-American community over the past three decades. The film � shot in churches, harm-reduction clinics, prisons, nightclubs and high school classrooms � tells personal stories from children who were born with the virus, public health officials and educators who run HIV clinics, and clergy members around the country, many of whom have been divided on their response to the epidemic.

The film also explores how the war on drugs in the 1980s and 1990s affected the spread of HIV in communities where large percentages of African-American men were incarcerated.

Enlarge image i

Alabama is one of only 33 states that mandates HIV education in high schools. Among those states, students receive an average of 2.2 hours of education, and most focus on abstinence.

Frontline/Renata Simone Productions

Alabama is one of only 33 states that mandates HIV education in high schools. Among those states, students receive an average of 2.2 hours of education, and most focus on abstinence.

Frontline/Renata Simone Productions

"A large number of marriageable men were taken out of the community," Fullilove says. "When you have this kind of population imbalance, many of the rules that govern mating behavior in the community are simply going to go out the window. The competition for a man becomes so extreme ... all of the prevention measures [like condom usage] that we've been trying to create over the last 30 years go out the window."

Only 3 percent of the federal domestic dollars spent on HIV go toward prevention, according to Simone.

"We still have a long way to go in policy terms," she says. "What I tried to do in the film is help a general audience see that this is an epidemic not just of drug users and people who are sex workers. This is an epidemic that affects people who make you think, 'But for the grace of God, there go I.' There's a 64-year-old grandmother, there's a woman who works in a restaurant, there's Magic Johnson. ... Right now, today in 2012, this is an epidemic of people that we recognize and, if our lives were any different, we could be."

Web Resources Columbia University: Robert Fullilove Interview Highlights � Robert Fullilove

On how AIDS, once called Gay-Related Immune Deficiency (GRID), was presented in the media during the early days of the epidemic

"The name itself gave rise to the notion that this was something that was affecting Americans from a particular community, identified by their sexual preference, separate and apart from folk in black communities like Harlem or Watts were experiencing themselves. The presentation in the press was of a white epidemic."

On secrets in the African-American community

"We were so much afraid of what it meant to have what was happening in the slave quarters revealed to those who were empowered to direct every aspect of our lives. So we became secretive, because if there was dissension, if there was anger, the last thing you wanted to do was to make it public. To make it public was to be punished. So it created the notion that silence was indeed golden. And to the degree that carried over well after slavery had ended, that did us a fundamental disservice when the epidemic began."

On the decision to treat drugs and addiction as a criminal justice problem and not as a health problem

"Sharing needles for intravenous drugs was a primary means by which many people became infected. It is especially important, in the African-American community, to understand that in the late '80s and early '90s, roughly 40 percent of the cases of AIDS were basically identified among people whose major risk behavior was intravenous drug use. Between 1970 and 2010, we made a practice of making the war on drugs, which meant we were locking up the folks who were at greatest risk for being exposed to this virus."

On prisons

“ Recognizing that the problem exists but not making moves to prevent terrible things from happening, like the transmission of HIV, means that more than anything else, we had a situation where prevention could have worked. We didn't seize the opportunity, and in failing to seize the opportunity, we're now living with the consequences.- Dr. Robert Fullilove "The simple fact that we're not taking appropriate public health measures to prevent the transmission of this virus means that in the very beginning of the epidemic, prisons became places where the virus had to have become transmitted freely. The danger, of course, in this kind of discourse is to demonize and stigmatize prisoners. I think it's probably more important to think about putting the onus for taking public health measures to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening on the folk who are responsible for running the prisons. Recognizing that the problem exists but not making moves to prevent terrible things from happening, like the transmission of HIV, means that more than anything else, we had a situation where prevention could have worked. We didn't seize the opportunity, and in failing to seize the opportunity, we're now living with the consequences." On the attitude in some black churches "In 1964, I was part of something called Mississippi Freedom Summer. I was a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. I worked in a number of counties in Northern Mississippi, and really got a sense of the importance of the church and its capacity to galvanize community support around, for example, getting people to register to vote. When I started doing research and community work in HIV in the 1980s, I, like many folk working in the black community, went first to the church and said, 'Hey, we have another problem that really requires the galvanization of all elements of the community. You're the only institution left standing that really has the capacity to bring us all together. Let's get all this work done.' And what we were met with was an enormous amount of resistance. There were many, many folk who were clear about the importance of what we were doing, but they were in the minority. The vast majority were either unaware or uninterested or worse, were extremely homophobic � saw this as a gay problem that had nothing to do with them and were much more likely to engage in the kind of preaching [that was harmful] than just about anything else." On the Affordable Care Act "It's thought that maybe 20 percent of all African-Americans who are living with HIV/AIDS don't know that they're infected. And they don't know that they're infected because they haven't been tested. If the act is successful in increasing the rate at which people get regular checkups, become aware of their status and enter treatment, then I think we're going to see an important change in the direction of the epidemic. It's sad to say that prevention, right now in the U.S., is neatly characterized by the phrase: 'Treatment is prevention.' If you're in treatment and your viral load has been lowered, you're very unlikely to pass the virus onto someone else. It means we've taken a step back � we've acknowledged that there are some folk that are already infected, and the best we can do is make sure they don't infect someone else. That's a real tragedy compared to where we were in the 1980s, when we thought keeping folk from being infected in the first place was going to be our primary goal and objective." Share 628Facebook 75Twitter Email Comment More From AIDS: A Turning Point HealthA Walk Through The AIDS Conference's Global VillageHealthCost Of Treatment Still A Challenge For HIV Patients In U.S.HealthThe Value Of HIV Treatment In CouplesEuropeGreece's Latest Crisis: Rising HIV Cases

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Big Pharma Buys Off The Senate

An eleventh-hour loophole in the “fiscal cliff” deal confirms our worst suspicions about how Congress operates.

The inauguration of a president is one of those spectacles of democracy that can make us remember we�re part of something big and enduring. So for a few hours this past Monday, the pomp and circumstance inspired us to think that government of, by, and for the people really is just that, despite the predatory threats that stalk it.

But the mood didn�t last. Every now and then, as the cameras panned upward, the Capitol dome towering over the ceremony was a reminder of something the good feeling of the moment couldn�t erase. It�s the journalist�s curse to have a good time spoiled by the reality beyond the pageantry. Just a couple of days before the inaugural festivities, The New York Times published some superb investigative reporting by the team of Eric Lipton and Kevin Sack, and their revelations were hard to forget, even at a time of celebration.

The story told us of a pharmaceutical giant called Amgen and three senators so close to it they might be entries on its balance sheet: Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Senator Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and that powerful committee�s ranking Republican, Orrin Hatch. A trio of perpetrators who treat the United States treasury as if it were a cash-and-carry annex of corporate America.

The Times story described how Amgen got a huge hidden gift from unnamed members of Congress and their staffers. They slipped an eleventh-hour loophole into the New Year�s Eve deal that kept the government from going over the fiscal cliff. When the sun rose in the morning, there it was, a richly embroidered loophole for Amgen that will cost taxpayers a cool half a billion dollars.

Amgen is the world�s largest biotechnology firm, a drug maker that sells a variety of medications. The little clause they secretly sneaked into the fiscal cliff bill gives the company two more years of relief from Medicare cost controls for certain drugs used by patients who are on kidney dialysis, including a pill called Sensipar, manufactured by Amgen.

The provision didn�t mention Amgen by name, but according to reporters Lipton and Sack, the news that it had been tucked into the fiscal cliff deal �was so welcome that the company�s chief executive quickly relayed it to investment analysts.� Tipping them off, it would seem, to a jackpot in the making.

Amgen has 74 lobbyists on its team in Washington and lobbied hard for that loophole, currying favor with friends at the White House and on Capitol Hill. The Times reporters traced its �deep financial and political ties� to Baucus, McConnell and Hatch, �who hold heavy sway over Medicare payment policy.�

All three have received hefty campaign donations from the company whose bottom line mysteriously just got padded at taxpayer expense. Since 2007, Amgen employees and its political action committee have contributed nearly $68,000 to Senator Baucus, $73,000 to Senator McConnell�s campaigns, and $59,000 to Senator Hatch.

And lo and behold, among those 74 Amgen lobbyists are the former chief of staff to Senator Baucus and the former chief of staff to Senator McConnell. You get the picture: Two guys nurtured at public expense, paid as public servants, disappear through the gold-plated revolving door of Congress and presto, return as money changers in the temple of crony capitalism.

Inside to welcome them is a current top aide to Senator Hatch, one who helped weave this lucrative loophole. He used to work as a health policy analyst for � you guessed it � Amgen.

So the trail winds deeper into the sordid swamp beneath that great Capitol dome, a sinkhole where shame has all but disappeared. As reporters Lipton and Sack remind us, just weeks before this backroom betrayal of the public interest by elected officials and the mercenaries they have mentored, Amgen pleaded guilty to fraud. Look it up: fraud means trickery, cheating and duplicity. Amgen agreed to pay $762 million in criminal and civil penalties; the company had been caught illegally marketing another one of its drugs.

The fact that their puppet master had been the subject of fines and a massive federal investigation mattered not to its servile pawns in the Senate, where pomp and circumstance are but masks for the brute power of money.

Peter Welch, Vermont�s Democratic congressman, has just introduced bipartisan legislation to repeal the half billion�dollar giveaway to Amgen. Its co-sponsors include Republican Richard Hanna of New York and Democrats Jim Cooper of Tennessee and Bruce Braley of Iowa.

The Amgen deal �confirms the American public�s worst suspicions of how Congress operates,� Representative Welch told us this week. �As the nation�s economy teetered on the edge of a Congressional-created fiscal cliff, lobbyists for a private, for-profit company seized an opportunity to feed at the public trough. It�s no wonder cockroaches and root canals are more popular than Congress.�

In his inaugural address, Barack Obama said the commitments we make to each other through Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security don�t make us a nation of takers. But the actions of Amgen and its cronies under the dome on Capitol Hill show who the real takers are � not those who look to government for support in old age and hard times but the ones at the top whose avarice and lust for profit compel them to take as much as they can from that government at the expense of everyone else.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Help for People with Multiple Chronic Conditions

Today, more than two out of three people with Medicare have two or more chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease. And a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than one in five Americans aged 45-64 had multiple chronic conditions. And the same report found that these Americans are less likely to get the medical care they need.

The health care law is tackling this problem head on. �Millions of Americans are now eligible for preventive care such as flu shots, blood pressure and cholesterol tests, mammograms, and colonoscopies free of charge. This matters because people with multiple chronic conditions are at higher risk for hospitalizations, readmissions, adverse drug events, and even death.

In addition, millions of individuals with multiple chronic conditions will receive better care resulting in better health through CMS�s efforts to promote better care coordination throughout Medicare and Medicaid. CMS�s initiatives include the creation of new care models like Accountable Care Organizations that are responsible for the coordination of their patients� care and promotion of electronic health records so that patients with multiple doctors can be confident that their doctors have the information they need. CMS has also launched initiatives through the Innovation Center such as the Health Care Innovations Awards program.� The majority of the projects funded by this program focus on improving care for individuals with multiple chronic conditions through enhanced care coordination by a multidisciplinary workforce.

Third, in the past, many people with multiple chronic conditions have been locked out of the insurance market. But the new health care law created the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, which has already provided health coverage to more than 75,000 people who were previously denied coverage because of their pre-existing conditions; many of them have multiple chronic conditions. In 2014, discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition will be illegal.� 2014 will also mark the opening of the new Health Insurance Exchanges, where millions of Americans will be able to shop for health insurance and get tax credits to make insurance more affordable.

In total, implementation of the Affordable Care Act provides new and innovative ways to tackle the chronic disease epidemic, leading to improved health and quality of life.�

Epidemics Prefer Changing Planes In JFK Over ATL

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Estimated Costs Drive Debate As Florida Weighs Medicaid Expansion

More From It's All Politics PoliticsViral Story About Free Wi-Fi Spotlights Mostly Hidden Policy WarPoliticsEven When They Qualify For Citizenship, Few Mexican Immigrants Seek ItPoliticsIn Florida, An Email Trail On Redistricting Raises QuestionsPoliticsLonely And Frustrated: These May Be The Worst Jobs In Politics

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Nursing Schools Brace For Faculty Shortage

More From Shots - Health News HealthWhy Prostate Cancer Screening Is So TrickyHealthWill Your Long-Term Care Coverage Keep Up With Changing Times?HealthAging Poorly: Another Act Of Baby Boomer RebellionHealthWhat Makes You Feel Fear?

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Monday, February 4, 2013

Hanging A Price Tag On Radiology Tests Didn't Change Doctors' Habits

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Help From the Affordable Care Act to Quit Smoking and Live Longer

Quitting smoking by age 35 may add 10 years to your life, according to a new article in the New England Journal of Medicine. And quitting even in middle age can increase your life expectancy by as many as six years. In fact, non-smokers are twice as likely to live to age 80 compared to smokers.

That�s why the Administration is focused on helping people, especially youth, from taking up smoking in the first place and helping adult smokers quit.� It�s not easy to stop smoking. The good news is that now, because of the Affordable Care Act, Americans have greater access than ever to resources to help them quit.

For many Americans with private health insurance plans, tobacco use screenings for all adults, cessation interventions for tobacco users, and expanded counseling for pregnant women who smoke will be covered at no out-of-pocket cost. And seniors and people with disabilities with Medicare who smoke or use tobacco products are now covered for counseling to help them stop.

But that�s not all we are doing. We are making an unprecedented investment in programs like the Million Hearts initiative, because cigarette smokers are 2-4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than nonsmokers. And a national ad campaign by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention helped tens of thousands of smokers to quit. Through investments in programs like these, we can prevent and detect heart disease early� and we can get people the information they need to stop smoking and make good health decisions.

Quitting smoking may be the single most effective thing you can do to improve your life expectancy, according to the article�s findings. And now the Affordable Care Act can help you find the way to quit and add years to your life.

Visit BeTobaccoFree.gov for additional resources on quitting and preventive tips for youth.

For more information about the CDC�s Tips From Former Smokers ad campaign, see www.cdc.gov/tips.

Listen to the Podcast: Be Tobacco Free.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Free Breast Pumps And The Cost Of Health Care

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These Are The Tweets That Will Get A Doctor In Trouble

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Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use, and will be moderated prior to posting. NPR reserves the right to use the comments we receive, in whole or in part, and to use the commenter's name and location, in any medium. See also the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Community FAQ.

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