Dec 15 Healthcare.gov prepares for traffic crunch as deadlines hit today By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press Wait times at the federal call center started creeping up around the middle of last week, mainly due to a surge of current customers with questions about their coverage for next year. Many will face higher premiums, although they could… Continue reading
Dec 14 Dec. 14, 1799: The excruciating final hours of President George Washington By Dr. Howard Markel It was a house call no physician would relish. On Dec. 14, 1799, three doctors were summoned to Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia to attend to a critically ill, 67-year-old man who happened to be known as “the father… Continue reading
Dec 12 Watch 7:47 Should a federal health program pay to house L.A.'s homeless? By Hari Sreenivasan, Jason Kane Continue watching
Dec 11 Watch 3:35 What you need to know about this year's elevated flu threat By PBS News Hour ‘Tis the season to be sick, and this year’s flu shot may not save you. Doctors are warning that the season could be more severe than they thought because a strain of the virus is not responding to the vaccine. Continue watching
Dec 10 Watch 5:39 News Wrap: Detroit emerges from bankruptcy By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Wednesday, a federal judge approved plans for the city of Detroit to shed $7 billion of its $18 billion in debt, clearing the way for an end to the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. Also, a… Continue watching
Dec 10 Watch 6:54 Using Medicaid dollars to expand long-term care choices in Michigan By PBS News Hour Most Medicaid funds for long-term care go to nursing homes, but waiver programs give low-income seniors and younger adults with disabilities alternative options to get care in more home-like settings. The NewsHour's Cat Wise reports on a program in Michigan… Continue watching
Dec 10 Ebola fighters are TIME's 'Person of the Year' By Justin Scuiletti Doctors in hazmat suits, nurses in scrubs, scientists in lab coats, aid workers in plain clothes -- the people responsible for waging war against the Ebola virus come in many different uniforms across the globe. In 2014, they are… Continue reading
Dec 10 Congress eases whole grain standards for school lunches By Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press WASHINGTON — Congress is taking some whole grains off the school lunch line. A massive year-end spending bill released Tuesday doesn't allow schools to opt out of healthier school meal standards championed by first lady Michelle Obama, as House Republicans… Continue reading
Dec 08 Federal defense contractors find a new profitable business: Obamacare By Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News In a way that is deeply changing Washington contracting, growth opportunities from the federal government have increasingly come not from war but from healing, an examination by Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post shows. Continue reading
Dec 03 Infographic: Hospitals vary widely on maternity care By Jason Kane New analysis from the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce found shocking variations in performance for four measures of maternity care. The California Healthcare Foundation turned their conclusions into an infographic. Continue reading