Health and wellness

Oklahoma opposed a request by the U.S. that a judge dismiss the state’s lawsuit challenging President Obama’s 2010 health-care reform legislation.

The recommendations released today are the first to help govern the burgeoning field of brain imaging and may increase the use of the practice to improve care for the 5 million Americans affected with Alzheimer’s.

State exchanges top Americans’ wish list for what they would like the government to set as 2013 health care priorities.

Howard County, Md., will become the first municipality to establish a nonprofit, member-run health co-op to sell individual and small group plans through the insurance exchanges — a move some say could undercut competitors by 30%.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. and other U.S. health insurers will soon have company in Maryland: a nonprofit started by a county government that plans to sell coverage at rates as much as 30% lower than competitors.

With the 113th Congress up and running and the president’s policy schedule filling up by the day, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health polled Americans last week on what they would like the government to set as top health care priorities for the year.

Primary care physicians should screen all females between the ages of 14 and 46 for evidence of domestic abuse, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Workers underestimate what employers spend on their health care, but overestimate their own health status.

As the health insurance exchange marketplace continues to expand, industry trailblazers and benefits experts are weighing in on what it takes for employers to succeed within this relatively new health care model.

In a government-sponsored study this week, America ranks below its high-income, industrialized peers in both longevity and disease prevention, despite spending more per capita on health care than any other nation.

Consulting firm announced Thursday the launch of a private benefits exchange developed by Benefitfocus, available to employers with at least 100 employees.

Mercer announced Thursday that it has launched a private benefits exchange developed by Benefitfocus and available to employers with at least 100 employees.

Spending on hospital visits, medications and other care grew 3.9% to $2.7 trillion in 2011, matching the slowest growth in 52 years of recordkeeping, according to federal data released this week. Before the 2007 recession, growth was close to 8%.

Most employees believe that their employer offers them the best health plan they could, and that they might be at a loss to ensure the same on their own, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Recent Yale study concludes that fructose, as opposed to glucose, has a minimal effect on telling the brain that it’s full, and may contribute the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Conditional approval from federal government allows Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah to move forward in creating state-run health insurance exchanges to comply with health care reform.

Medical insurance markets crafted by four U.S. Republican governors won conditional approval by the Obama administration as the federal government nudges states toward full implementation of the landmark health-care overhaul.

Globally, those who are slightly overweight and obese have the lowest risks, according to a new U.S. government report, but critics say the study doesn’t take enough other factors, such as disease or nutrition.

Experts from Mercer offer up a priority list for benefits providers in 2013. The first one: Prepping for 2014.

Insurance Reform