Doctor asks, Why did you come to the ERtoday? This question emphasizingtoday is common practice in emergency departments helps us figure out how urgent a patients illness might be. But its a loaded question. Rephrased, it could easily mean, Do youreally believe you are seriously ill, or is it just that you couldnt wait to see a regular doctor? Read the full report from Time.
Category: News - Part 32
Two of the central promises of President Barack Obamas health care overhaul law are unlikely to be fulfilled, Medicares independent economic expert told Congress on Wednesday.The landmark legislation probably wont hold costs down, and it wont let everybody keep their current health insurance if they like it, Chief Actuary Richard Foster told the House Budget Committee. Read the Associated Press story.
Governors have deep differences over national health-care reform, but when it comes to insurance exchangesa centerpiece of the sprawling new federal law intended to make it easier for individuals and small businesses to shop for comparable coveragenearly every state is moving ahead with implementation. They are working under crushing deadlines, often with staffs thinned by layoffs. Read the report from Stateline.
The emotional health of college freshmen who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago. Read the New York Times report.
The Houston hospital where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is being treated is one of the few hospitals in the country using cognitive rehabilitation therapy. The Pentagons health program, Tricare, hasrefused to cover cognitive rehabilitation therapy for the tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain injuries in the line of duty. Read the report from ProPublica.
By Katie McCrimmon Colorado lawmakers are targeting $50 million from the hospital provider fee to fund Medicaid spikes as the state faces a billion-dollar budget shortfall this year. The themes of this years legislative session will likely be creative budget dances like the dip into the provider fee, and cuts, cuts and more cuts. Lawmakers must balance the budget and are considering slashing everything from the popular school breakfast program for poor children to pet programs for veterans, the unemployed and other interest groups. During a Joint Budget Committee briefing with both the Senate and House health committees last week,…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Major national health insurance carriers that have dropped child-only health plans in Colorado and throughout the country may be forced back into the childrens market if they wish to continue selling lucrative individual health insurance policies in Colorado. Childrens advocates, industry representatives and state officials have been meeting with lawmakers to draft a new law that likely will move forward in the coming weeks in the Colorado legislature. The measure has not been introduced yet. Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, will be sponsoring the measure in the Senate while Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver and Rep. Ken Summers,…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Broomfield At age 3, Maria Serranos family learned that she had a dangerous growth of blood vessels in her brain. She then endured 23 procedures to shrink the growth a surgery every six weeks. Now 16, Maria is doing well and made the National Honor Society at her high school this year. She has some trouble with reading and writing, but the rare arteriovenous malformation that she was born with has not caused serious subsequent health challenges. Even though she doesnt have problems, we worry any time she gets the sniffles, said Marias father, Toby Serrano….
Federal health officials announced Wednesday that they were investigating a possible association between saline and silicone gel-filled breast implants and very rare form of cancer known as anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Read the Washington Post report.
A key congressional oversight committee announced today that it was opening an investigation into the basis of a decision by the Pentagons health plan to deny a type of medical treatment to troops with brain injuries. Read Report on ProPublica.