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A new study has shown that older female beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, who undergo mammography screenings, have a greater likelihood of following up with other preventive tests. “It’s encouraging to see that women undergoing mammography may have increased awareness to other preventive screening measures,” said study author Stella Kang, MD, MSc, NYU School of Medicine.

As Puerto Rico begins to update mortality statistics from 2017 that strengthen prior reports that the death toll from Hurricane Maria was much higher than first reported, a recent article by the Commonwealth Fund says there are 3 factors that worsened the death toll in Puerto Rico after last year's hurricane: an inadequate response, a poorer health baseline, and inadequate funding.

Major medical groups as well as patient advocacy groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs Thursday in Texas v. Azar, the lawsuit that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA), warning about the damage that would occur to American healthcare if the ACA is reversed by the courts. In addition, legal experts who have previously disagreed with each other about legal and policy questions about the ACA united in another filing, saying the arguments of both "the plaintiff States and the United States on the severability of the insurance mandate from the other provisions of the ACA are inconsistent with settled law."

While the pilot study successfully explored the efficacy of timolol eyedrops, further research is necessary to identify patients who would benefit the most from this treatment and an appropriate dosage.

A recent study aimed to determine the clinical and laboratory parameters associated with increased fracture risk in patients on holidays from taking bisphosphonates (BP) for osteoporosis.

The Trump administration and advocacy groups meet in federal court Friday over whether the HHS secretary has the authority to allow Kentucky to set a work requirement and other conditions on people receiving Medicaid; the New England Journal of Medicine retracted a notable paper about the benefits of following a Mediterranean diet and replaced it with one with softer language; California’s nonprofit hospitals are providing significantly less free and reduced-cost medical care, a union report says.

Writing in a blog post for Health Affairs, a former Obama administration official for CMS urges the Trump administration to drop a budget proposal to allow states to end payment for the Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation benefit.

CMS said it will not update its overall hospital quality star ratings on Hospital Compare as it planned to in July, and will instead seek feedback on planned changes from an expert panel and other stakeholders. Two industry groups, the American Hospital Association and America’s Essential Hospitals, both welcomed the move.

Yesterday, the FDA announced that it has expanded the indications of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to include recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy whose tumors express PD-L1.

Long-term treatment of patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) with siponimod may reduce the risk of disability progression, according to findings of the phase 3 EXPAND study.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can result in pulmonary and extrapulmonary infections and are primarily acquired from environmental sources, including soil and water exposed surfaces. Recent studies investigated the risk factors of NTM infections and their prevalence among patients in the United States.

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that most Medicaid enrollees who are able to work are already employed, and that work requirements are unlikely to help enrollees rise from poverty but could negatively impact those who are already working or are unable to work because of medical conditions.

On National HIV Testing Day on June 27, Walgreens and Greater Than AIDS will partner with over 200 health and community organizations to provide free HIV testing and information at Walgreens stores in over 180 cities.

The Department of Justice (DOJ)’s legal brief in the Texas case against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could have far-reaching ramifications besides ending protections for people with pre-existing conditions; 1 in 5 Medicare patients sent from the hospital to a nursing home boomerang back within 30 days, often for potentially preventable conditions; Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, and UnitedHealth Group are among insurers scrutinizing the cost of emergency department (ED) visits.

A recent study investigated the effectiveness of the augmented binary method for investigating rare diseases in a small sample size.

The 70 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers underscored the importance of increased HPV vaccination and evidence-based screening, with the goal of eliminating cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

The ban on letting people in Medicare connect their continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to a smartphone drew ire from patients, advocates, and even the Government Accountability Office.

It is already known that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) face a greater risk of dying of lung cancer. According to new research, a concurrent asthma diagnosis and the use of inhaled corticosteroids may be associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer in patients with COPD, while the use of acetylsalicylic acid may be linked to an increased risk.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) outlined its research goals for improving treatment for opioid use and abuse, as well as creating better, safer therapies for chronic pain.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar appeared before a Senate committee to talk about the president's plan to lower drug prices, with legislators peppering him with questions about when prices would start to fall for US patients, which possible actions do or don’t need Congressional authority, transparency issues, and other points. Some senators also asked about the Department of Justice decision last week to not defend the Affordable Care Act in a Texas lawsuit.

A stem cell mutation that leads to bacterial translocation may help identify patients at risk of developing leukemia.

Between 2008 and 2016, primary care providers increasingly relied on nurse practitioners amidst a shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas.

Nearly two-thirds of those participating in the study reported feelings of stigma from having to manage type 1 diabetes.

Physician migration from physician-led practices to hospital employment has shifted. While physicians working for a hospital or in a practice with some ownership increased by 32.6% in 2016, independent and physician led group practices reached 72% in 2017, according to a new Black Book report.

Farmers, gardeners, and mountain guides—all at a greater risk for nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) due to increased solar ultraviolet radiation exposure—participate in varying risk and protective behaviors, and have different risks for NMSC.

Republican and Democratic members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee questioned whether the FDA's criminal investigators are effective at blocking illegal drugs, including unapproved opioids, at US ports of entry; public health officials worry proposed HHS changes to move family planning funding toward groups that may not provide reproductive health and sexual health services will cripple other federal efforts to curb a rise in sexually transmitted diseases; leaders of a now-shelved, controversial study examining whether moderate drinking is beneficial for human health may have violated federal law.

Biotechnology firm Pfenex recently reported results from its phase 3 PF708-301 study, which showed comparable overall profiles between its biosimiliar drug candidate PF708 and Eli Lilly’s teriparatide (Forteo) for osteoporosis.

Using data from 8 states, the Kaiser Family Foundation is tracking preliminary 2019 insurance premiums in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces as rate information is filed with state regulators. The 8 states are Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

CMS released guidance to states Monday about how to use Medicaid to manage infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome, as well as using health information technology (IT) such as telemedicine to combat opioid use disorder.

David O. Barbe, MD, MHA, president of the American Medical Association (AMA), made his remarks as private funders are stepping up support for research on gun violence.