health care

Our Real Problem: One-Fifth of Men Are Sitting Idle

David Brooks

May 10, 2011 1:07 PM CDT

Our Real Problem: One-Fifth of Men Are Sitting Idle

David Brooks thinks we need to spend on jobs, not health care

(Newser) - America has a big problem: Its men aren’t working. “There are probably more idle men now than at any time since the Great Depression,” writes David Brooks of the New York Times , and the problem is structural. While there are a decent number of jobs for college...

Best Place to Be a Mom Is...

May 3, 2011 5:05 AM CDT

Best Place to Be a Mom Is...

...Norway, says index that considers maternity leave, mortality rates

(Newser) - Moms who want the good life should consider heading north. That's because Norway is the best place in the world to be a mother, according to new survey. Why? Norway has great health benefits, an average year-long maternity leave from work, and low child mortality rates, along with a...

Stop Calling Sick
People 'Consumers'

Paul Krugman

Apr 22, 2011 1:28 PM CDT

Stop Calling Sick People 'Consumers'

Market-based health care is sickening, Paul Krugman argues

(Newser) - Congressional Republicans took aim at the advisory board designed to reduce Medicare costs this week, arguing that what we really need is to make government health care “more responsive to consumer choice.” Which left Paul Krugman with one question: “How did it become normal, or for that...

Weiner's the
Only Dem in
Health Brawl

Dana Milbank

Mar 24, 2011 1:57 PM CDT

Weiner's the Only Dem in Health Brawl

Dana Milbank: Only he is standing up to Republican attacks on law

(Newser) - Republicans keep attacking health care reform, and with one loud exception, Democrats have been "passive to the point of wimpy" in defending it, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post . That exception? "Brooklyn-born streetfighter" Anthony Weiner. "I don't represent the hide-under-the-desk wing of the Democratic Party,"...

Boston Hospital Performs
US' 1st Full Face Transplant

Mar 21, 2011 4:30 PM CDT

Boston Hospital Performs US' 1st Full Face Transplant

25-year-old construction worker gets new face

(Newser) - A Boston hospital has performed the nation's first full face transplant, the AP reports. Dallas Weins, a Texas construction worker badly disfigured and blinded in a 2008 power line accident, underwent a 15-hour operation in which parts of a deceased donor's face were transplanted onto his skull. Weins will not...

What We Can
Learn from
Mauritius

OPINION

Mar 8, 2011 1:31 PM CST

What We Can Learn from Mauritius

How a tiny African nation provides education, health care for all

(Newser) - Imagine a nation that provided free health care and a college education for all its citizens while maintaining a nicely balanced budget. Sound impossible? Well, they’ve managed it in Mauritius, a small island nation off the east coast of Africa with no "exploitable" natural resources to speak of....

Judge: States Can't Ignore Health Care Law—Yet

Mar 3, 2011 1:37 PM CST

Judge: States Can't Ignore Health Care Law—Yet

They must continue implementing it while it winds through courts

(Newser) - A federal judge who declared President Obama's health care overhaul unconstitutional ruled today that states must continue implementing it while the case makes its way through the courts. US District Judge Roger Vinson was responding to a request from Obama administration attorneys who sought to ensure Florida and 25 other...

States Want OK to Cut Medicaid—Without Penalty

Feb 28, 2011 9:46 AM CST

States Want OK to Cut Medicaid—Without Penalty

Governors battle Washington over measure in health reform law

(Newser) - America's 29 states led by Republican governors are asking Washington to give them the green light to cut thousands from Medicaid—without being penalized. The health care reform law says that states that reduce eligibility for the program will lose federal funding, and these cash-strapped states (along with, quietly, some...

Feds Nail
Biggest-Ever
Medicare Scam

Feb 18, 2011 6:20 AM CST

Feds Nail Biggest-Ever Medicare Scam

More than 100 arrested in fraud sting

(Newser) - Federal agents swooped on health care facilities in nine states yesterday, arresting doctors, nurses, therapists, and health care executives accused of carrying out the biggest Medicare fraud ever seen. More than 100 people were involved in the scam, which bilked taxpayers out of up to $200 million by billing for...

More Hospitals Banning Videos in Delivery Room

Feb 3, 2011 2:37 PM CST

South Dakota Bill: Every Adult Must Own a Gun

Republicans try to make a point with mandatory gun law

(Newser) - South Dakota lawmakers have introduced a bill that would force all of the state’s citizens to buy a gun “to provide for the self defense of themselves and others.” (Wait, is it still self-defense if you’re defending others? Isn’t that just defense?) The law would...

Fla. Judge:
Obamacare Is
Unconstitutional

Jan 31, 2011 2:59 PM CST

Fla. Judge: Obamacare Is Unconstitutional

Federal court sides with 26 states

(Newser) - A federal judge in Florida says the Obama administration's health overhaul is unconstitutional, siding with 26 states that had sued to block it. US District Judge Roger Vinson today accepted without trial the states' argument that the new law violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by...

129M Americans Have
Pre-Existing Conditions

Jan 18, 2011 7:55 AM CST

129M Americans Have Pre-Existing Conditions

Republican aide calls new report nothing but 'PR'

(Newser) - As the House prepares to consider a repeal of health care reform, the Obama administration has released a startling statistic: Up to 129 million non-elderly Americans have pre-existing health conditions. That means anywhere from one-fifth to one-half of people under age 65 in the US are at risk of being...

Brits Running Out of
Killer Flu Vaccine

Jan 6, 2011 3:57 AM CST

Brits Running Out of Killer Flu Vaccine

They've just got enough for pregnant women, doc warns

(Newser) - Nervous UK health care providers are running out of the vaccine for a scary swine flu strain that has claimed 39 lives. Manufacturers have warned they have no supplies left in the wake of a surge of new cases, reports the Telegraph . "There's enough vaccine for pregnant women who...

Major Health Care
Reforms Kick in

Jan 1, 2011 10:34 AM CST

Major Health Care Reforms Kick in

Insurers now required to spend 80% of premiums on customers

(Newser) - A rule requiring health insurers to spend at least 80% of premiums on customers and a $2.5 billion tax on drug makers are among the health care reform provisions taking effect today. The new rules also plug the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug benefits and provide free preventive...

Is There a Snitch at
Fox News?

Dec 17, 2010 3:23 AM CST

Is There a Snitch at Fox News?

Does Media Matters have mole in enemy camp?

(Newser) - Fox News had better watch its back now that a snitch is apparently feeding memos to the media exposing it as more of a conservative propaganda machine than a news operation. Two memos leaked to Media Matters revealed orders from the top directing staff to put a right-wing spin on...

Va. Ruling Won't Stall
ObamaCare: White House

Dec 14, 2010 8:00 AM CST

Va. Ruling Won't Stall ObamaCare: White House

Implementation of it will proceed, says administration

(Newser) - Implementation of the new health care law will continue to move forward in spite of yesterday's federal court ruling that a key provision of ObamaCare is unconstitutional , the White House says. Regulations will continue to be written, plans to expand Medicaid will be considered, and this week, 150 officials from...

Federal Judge Declares Health Care Reform Unconstitutional

Breaking News

Dec 13, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Federal Judge Declares Health Care Reform Unconstitutional

Rules in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

(Newser) - A federal judge declared the Obama administration's health care law unconstitutional today, siding with Virginia's attorney general in a dispute that both sides agree will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. US District Judge Henry E. Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down the law, which has...

'iPad Arms Race' Hits
Medical Supply Field

Dec 8, 2010 4:57 PM CST

'iPad Arms Race' Hits Medical Supply Field

Apple finds a lucrative niche with sales reps

(Newser) - The iPad is quickly becoming the darling of an unexpected field: medical supply sales. Firms such as Medtronic and Abbott Labs are handing out thousands to their sales teams in what the Wall Street Journal describes as an "iPad arms race in the $200 billion medical-devices sector." The...

Second Judge Shuts Down Challenge to Obamacare

Dec 1, 2010 6:33 AM CST