HCR Update from Mark Sanna: New research from the University of California Los Angeles suggests that if a girl is called "fat" by a parent, sibling, friend, classmate or teacher at age 10, they are more likely to be obese in their late teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of Americans are obese. This latest study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, suggests that labeling a person as "too fat" from a young age may lead to behaviors that encourage obesity later in life.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Obama administration has begun a wide-ranging search for companies to run the online federal health insurance exchange, seeking new talent to prevent a repeat of problems that immobilized the website last fall. Officials said Monday that they intended to hold a new competition before awarding a contract and that they were particularly interested in responses from small businesses owned by women, disabled veterans and “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals,” including blacks and Hispanic Americans.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: A new study shows that walking boosts creative thinking. In a series of experiments, researchers from Stanford University in California compared levels of creativity in people while they walked with while they sat and found creative output went up by an average of 60% while walking. The researchers found that the act of walking itself does the trick - it does not matter whether the walk is indoors or outdoors, it has the same effect in boosting creative inspiration.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Food and Drug Administration will propose sweeping new rules on Thursday that for the first time would extend its regulatory authority from cigarettes to electronic cigarettes, popular nicotine delivery devices that have grown into a multibillion-dollar business with virtually no federal oversight or protections for American consumers. The new regulations would ban the sale of e-cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco to Americans under 18, and would require that people buying them show photo identification to prove their age.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Patients and physicians say they feel the time crunch as never before as doctors rush through appointments as if on roller skates to see more patients and perform more procedures to make up for flat or declining reimbursements. It's not unusual for primary care doctors' appointments to be scheduled at 15-minute intervals. Some physicians who work for hospitals say they've been asked to see patients every 11 minutes. And the problem may worsen as millions of consumers who gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act begin to seek care.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: President Obama announced Thursday that eight million people have signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, including what the White House said were a sufficient number of young, healthy adults, a critical milestone that might counter election-year attacks by Republicans on the law’s success and viability. 35% of those who signed up through the federal health-insurance exchange were in the coveted under-35 demographic, Mr. Obama said. The participation of younger, relatively healthy people is needed to balance out the cost of medical claims from older and sicker ones. 

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Inside an otherwise ordinary office building in lower Manhattan, government-funded scientists have begun collecting and connecting together terabytes of patient medical records in what may be one of the most radical projects in health care ever attempted. The data -- from every patient treated at one of New York’s major hospital centers over the past few years -- include some of the most intimate details of a life. Vital signs. Diagnoses and conditions. Results of blood tests, X-rays, MRI scans. Surgeries. Insurance claims. And in some cases, links to genetic samples.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The revelations that hits to the head may lead to long-term brain damage have rocked the football world at all levels, alarming coaches, players and their parents and forcing the NFL and the NCAA to tighten safety standards. Given the consequences of the injuries, lawyers, too, have taken note, including those representing the 5,000 retired players who sued the NFL over claims that the league hid the dangers of concussions. The notoriety of that case also prompted George Washington University’s law school to start what it said was the first course devoted to the legal implications of traumatic brain injuries.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius’s resignation this week, and on Friday morning, he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Two Florida doctors who received the nation’s highest Medicare reimbursements in 2012 are both major contributors to Democratic Party causes, and they have turned to the political system in recent years to defend themselves against suspicions that they may have submitted fraudulent or excessive charges to the federal government. Topping the list is Dr. Salomon E. Melgen, an ophthalmologist from N. Palm Beach, FL, who received $21 million in Medicare reimbursements in 2012 alone. The doctor billed a bulk of his reimbursements for Lucentis, a medication used to treat macular degeneration made by a company that pays generous rebates to its doctors.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Ending decades of secrecy, Medicare is showing what the giant healthcare program for seniors pays individual doctors, and the figures reveal that more than a dozen physicians received in excess of $10 million each in 2012. The Obama administration is releasing a detailed account Wednesday of $77 billion in government payouts to more than 880,000 healthcare providers nationwide that year. The release of payment records involving doctors has been legally blocked since 1979, but recent court rulings removed those obstacles.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The government has raised its payment estimate for Medicare Advantage plans months ahead of a busy election season during which cuts to the program promise to be a key focus for politicians and voters. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday that 2015 payments to the plans should increase less than 1% vs. a predicted 2% cut.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: After an unprecedented, last-minute surge, the Affordable Care Act open-enrollment period closed last week, topping out at more than 7 million enrollees. But even as a triumphant White House celebrated surpassing its enrollment goal, Republican strategists were downplaying its significance. Though Obamacare undoubtedly hit a major milestone March 31, the path ahead could still be a rocky one.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Here’s more fallout from the health care law: Until now, customers could walk into an insurance office or go online to buy standard health care coverage any time of year. Not anymore. Many people who didn't sign up during the government’s open enrollment period that ended Monday will soon find it difficult or impossible to get insured this year, even if they go directly to a private company and money is no object. For some it’s already too late.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: President Obama declared victory Tuesday in the government’s aggressive push to enroll seven million people in private health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, even as his senior aides braced for an escalated political battle over the law ahead of the fall’s crucial midterm elections.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Yesterday Congress passed, and the President is expected to sign, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (H.R. 4302) which avoids for 12 months the 24% cut to Medicare that would have taken effect April 1. This short-term fix, while not addressing the longer-term issues, maintains the current Medicare reimbursement rate through 3/31/15.  The legislation also pushes the implementation of ICD-10 for at least one year from 10/1/14 to 10/1/15.