Mary K. Caffrey

Arkansas was recently found to have an obesity rate of 35.9%, but the new plan does not call for any mandates, only incentives for schools and businesses.

The 15th annual survey finds the march of managed care continues in expansion and non-expansion states alike. Enrollment went up in states that did not expand under the Affordable Care Act, though less rapidly.

Significantly, GAO made no recommendations on an issue that is one of the more volatile ones in Congress. That doesn't mean there won't be efforts to rein in limits on sodium and other items that make up school lunches, since most of the complaints about a 2010 law have come from districts represented by Republicans.

Earlier this year, the legislature laid the groundwork for Medicaid expansion to occur in 2016.

Relying only on data may fail to account for the effects of smoking.

After 2 years, those drinking red wine had improved "good" cholesterol and other benefits.

Although nearly 15 million Americans have obtained health coverage under the ACA, another 15.7 million are eligible but do not have coverage.

A new report found that while geographic gaps narrowed, they will likely persist because state policies to not expand Medicaid will mean the poor will continue to turn 65 with health issues having gone unaddressed.

Prescription drug spending rose faster than overall spending by several percentage points from August 2014 to August 2015, well ahead of categories like spending on hospitals and doctors.

With Express Scripts' coverage starting Monday, here's some background on Praluent and Repatha.

Taking aim at payment models for patients on dialysis is the latest attempt to target high-cost areas of Medicare spending.

Intense lobbying and charges of bias surround the late efforts to influence what goes into the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A recommendation from an advisory committee to eat less red and processed meat has fueled most of the controversy.

The announcement covered a final rule on interoperability for creators of Health IT, and a proposal to simplify current rules for providers. Both look ahead to implementation of the new Medicare and CHIP reimbursement models.

The PBM declined to list what discounts it had negotiated, but said it expected to spend $750 million on this cholesterol-lowering class in 2016.

Despite safeguards, opponents of the California law say it will invite abuse of the poor who suffer chronic conditions and face steep medical costs.

The research raises questions whether Medicare Advantage plans are the solution to controlling spending on the patients who account for most healthcare costs.

An initiative by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to implement integrated, value-based care on a wide scale has run into criticism from legislators who say it will bring financial harm to some safety net hospitals. A Senate hearing today concluded with a call for an investigation from the Attorney General into how the alliance was created.

Most telling were the interviews with hospital leaders, who said the bonus payments did more to reinforce existing trends in quality care than alter them.

The technique deploys several strategies to reduce cancer risk. It is being evaluated in mouse models but researchers are already looking ahead to human studies.

An earlier plan from Governor Gary Herbert that was paid for with existing state funds was rejected by the legislature. The current plan would add 95,000 Utahns to Medicaid, with hospitals paying most of the state's share after 2017.

The findings come as CMS is poised to finalize a rule to pay doctors to counsel patients about end-of-life treatment options.

All 3 methods caused patients to lose weight, but 2 were more likely to produce remission in type 2 diabetes.

Kevin W. Wildes, SJ, PhD, said that Pope Francis' call for access to healthcare leaves the specifics up to US leaders, as the church does not say that one system is better than another.

Results presented at the American Diabetes Association in June showed no CV risk or benefit and no risk of pancreatic injury, an issue that has been of particular concern to FDA.

The recommendations for improving quality care in Medicaid track recent trends in psychiatric and diabetes care, which recognize the connection between physical and mental health.

The technology was approved by FDA in June and unveiled at the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Healthcare groups and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have weighed in with concerns about decreased competition and harm to consumers if the Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna transactions are approved.