Feb 09 Why Hispanic Americans still aren't signing up for Obamacare By Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News Nearly a third of the ACA’s media budget this year is focused on Hispanic media, tripling the 10 percent spent on reaching Latinos last year, according to HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. Continue reading
Feb 08 Lack of encryption standards raises health data privacy questions By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press Insurers aren't required to encrypt consumers' data under a 1990s federal law that remains the foundation for health care privacy in the Internet age -- an omission that seems striking in light of the major cyberattack against Anthem. Continue reading
Feb 08 Rand Paul's vaccine claims under microscope By Thomas Beaumont, Laurie Kellman, Associated Press As a medical doctor, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has a rare set of credentials at the intersection of science and politics. But the glare of the 2016 presidential race is searing, and under it, Paul had a rough week. Continue reading
Feb 07 Watch 3:25 Google Maps for bacteria? How NYC subway swab could change public health By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Feb 07 What a 1925 novel by Sinclair Lewis can teach us about health care today By Dr. Howard Markel Feb. 7 marks the 130th birthday of Sinclair Lewis, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930. At first glance, one might ask what does an American novelist have to do with a column devoted to medical discoveries and… Continue reading
Feb 06 Vaccine skeptics find unexpected allies in conservative GOP By Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press DENVER — As vaccine skeptics fight laws that would force more parents to inoculate their kids, they are finding unexpected allies in conservative Republicans. Continue reading
Feb 05 Watch 5:49 Progress in curbing childhood obesity, but major racial gaps persist By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Feb 05 What can $1 billion do to prevent childhood obesity? By Sarah McHaney The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is committing $500 million to spend over the next ten years on programs stopping childhood obesity. Continue reading
Feb 03 Watch 5:40 Store-bought herbal supplements may not be what they advertise By PBS News Hour An investigation into store-bought herbal supplements found at many major retailers’ determined that four out of five products tested had no trace of the ingredients listed on the label. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joins Gwen Ifill to discuss… Continue watching
Feb 03 What's in your supplement? By Simone Pathe For the first time, law enforcement is going after major retailers and drugstore chains selling herbal remedies that aren't all they're advertised to be. Continue reading