Health Care Reform - The Salt Lake Tribune

Confusion lingers in Utah over teen access to ‘morning after pill’

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:40:21 MDT

Confusion lingers in Utah over teen access to ‘morning after pill’

by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 06:40PM MDT

Every week it seems new, conflicting information surfaces about Plan B, who can buy the emergency contraceptive and where. In April, a Reagan-appointed federal judge issued an order to make the so-called “morning after” pill available over the counter to everyone regardless of their age. The Obama administration is appealing the ruling. To muddy matters further, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month declared pharmacies can sell Plan B over the counter to teens age 15 and over, p...

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High-risk Utahns’ health insurance will shift to federal management

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:23:59 MDT

High-risk Utahns’ health insurance will shift to federal management

by Jennifer Dobner The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 12:23PM MDT

Uninsurable Utahns will see their subsidized health insurance coverage plan shifted to federal oversight in July after funding ran short and state officials refused to take on the risk. The federally-funded HIP-Utah program covers individuals who have been rejected by insurers because they are too sick. The program was initially funded with $5 billion, but stopped adding new enrollees in February when the money began to run out. In late April, federal officials gave states just two options for...

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Hilman headed to new health insurance cooperative

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:44:03 MDT

Hilman headed to new health insurance cooperative

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 17, 2013 03:44PM MDT

Longtime health care policy advocate Judi Hilman will leave her post as director of the Utah Health Policy Project in July to join a new nonprofit health insurance cooperative. Hilman helped found UHPP nearly eight years ago. Her departure was announced Friday. She is planning to move to Arches Health Plan to serve as vice president of consumer engagement and strategic partnerships. Arches is Utah’s first health insurance cooperative formed under the federal Affordable Care Act. Hilman will ...

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There they go again: House voting on ‘Obamacare’

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:57:02 MDT

There they go again: House voting on ‘Obamacare’

by Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar The Associated Press

Published May 16, 2013 11:57AM MDT

WASHINGTON • There they go again: The House is debating another GOP bill to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law. Republicans are making their 37th attempt in a little over two years to eliminate, defund or scale back the Affordable Care Act. The government is months away from the rollout of coverage for uninsured Americans., Democrats say it’s a big waste of time, since the Democratic-led Senate and the president will simply ignore the House vote, as they have most of the others. But...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Live chat: Angelina Jolie, BRCA genes & preventative mastectomies

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:44:27 MDT

Live chat: Angelina Jolie, BRCA genes & preventative mastectomies

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 11:44AM MDT

Like Angelina Jolie, journalist Lizzie Stark chose to have a preventative double mastectomy due to the presence of the BRCA gene. The author of the forthcoming book, "Pandora's DNA: How the Breast Cancer Gene Changed Everything," will be talking about gene testing, her experience and will be answering your questions. Join us Thursday, May 16, at noon. Join in the conversation! Don't be afraid to ask Lizzie questions (no registration required) or make a comment. You can submit questions and comme...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Health reform gap for Native Americans may affect few Utahns

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:43:14 MDT

Health reform gap for Native Americans may affect few Utahns

by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 15, 2013 02:43PM MDT

In Fort Duchesne, a federally funded health clinic offers free medical care — prenatal care, well-baby checks, dentistry and eyeglasses — to patients with Ute Indian ancestry. But under the Affordable Care Act, some of the clinic’s patients may have to either buy health insurance they don’t need or pay a tax penalty. American Indians are exempted from the act’s upcoming mandate to buy insurance, but its definition is limited to those who are members of approximately 560 tribes recognized by th...

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Angelina Jolie says she had a preventive double mastectomy

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:43:04 MDT

Angelina Jolie says she had a preventive double mastectomy

the Associated Press

Published May 15, 2013 01:43PM MDT

LOS ANGELES • Angelina Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in the form of an op-ed she authored for Tuesday’s New York Times under the headline, “My Medical Choice.” She writes that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts. Jolie, 37, writes...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More women choosing proactive surgery like Angelina Jolie

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:22:21 MDT

More women choosing proactive surgery like Angelina Jolie

by Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 14, 2013 06:22PM MDT

Brenda Carlisle was a freshman in college when she watched her mother die of breast cancer. “She was pretty sick. It metastasized to her liver, and she had chemo, but at that point there was very little they could do for her,” Carlisle said. Her mother was 56 years old. “It was like the rock of the world was taken away.” Now 50 herself, the intake coordinator at New Vision drug treatment center at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful said she’s increasingly wondering whether her mother carried a ge...

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Utah Indian tribe breaks into the health care business

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:53:02 MDT

Utah Indian tribe breaks into the health care business

by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 13, 2013 09:53AM MDT

A group of doctors is working with the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute to open a family health clinic in downtown Salt Lake City. Sacred Circle Health Care will be the first tribe-owned clinic located outside a reservation in Utah, say its founders. But that’s not all that sets it apart. The clinic is designed to be a moneymaker for the tribe — with the profits used to improve tribal members’ access to health care no matter where they reside. “Any money made by the Goshutes has to go to healt...

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Utah’s Herbert thanks feds for health exchange split

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:56:27 MDT

Utah’s Herbert thanks feds for health exchange split

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 10, 2013 01:56PM MDT

Washington • Utah Gov. Gary Herbert expressed his gratitude Friday to federal officials who agreed to split the responsibilities for offering insurance through health care exchanges, and he suggested other states may want to follow this new Utah model. The deal, which the Department of Health and Human Services agreed to Friday, allows the state to operate its small-business exchange, known as Avenue H, while avoiding some of the more politically contentious portions of the Affordable Care Act....

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Deal with feds reached: Utah slated for two online health exchanges

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:26:50 MDT

Deal with feds reached: Utah slated for two online health exchanges

by Jennifer Dobner The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 10, 2013 09:26AM MDT

Utah will have two online marketplaces for health insurance — one run by the federal government for individuals and the state’s existing Avenue H for the employees of small businesses, a new agreement says. The details of the deal are outlined in a letter sent Thursday from Gov. Gary Herbert to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who is expected to approve the agreement for Utah’s insurance exchanges on Friday, the governor’s office said. A two-page overview shows Herbe...

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Soccer referee’s death: When a single punch to the head kills

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:06:12 MDT

Soccer referee’s death: When a single punch to the head kills

by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 8, 2013 08:06AM MDT

The fatal punching of a Utah soccer referee has stunned and saddened the community but was no freak occurrence, say medical experts who warn a single jolt to the head can kill. “Assaults happen every day in our country, and an assault to the head or neck can cause serious injury, including death,” said University of Utah neuropsychologist Angela Eastvold. “The number of deaths is small. But it’s always a possibility, especially if the victim has any vulnerability in the brain, and there’s no wa...

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Utah faith leaders bless the hands that heal

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:48:05 MDT

Utah faith leaders bless the hands that heal

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 7, 2013 04:48PM MDT

Healing hands got a helping hand Monday as faith figures from across Utah’s religious landscape blessed those who draw the blood, insert the IVs and otherwise care for patients at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. A Catholic priest, Mormon chaplain, Buddhist monk, Jewish rabbi, Protestant minister and New Thought minister did the honors, blessing nurses, volunteers and other caregivers at the east-bench Salt Lake City hospital. The “Blessing of the Hands” ceremony also included a Native American s...

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New study confirms: Don’t shop while hungry

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:20:03 MDT

New study confirms: Don’t shop while hungry

by Genevra Pittman Reuters

Published May 7, 2013 01:20PM MDT

A new study offers evidence to support what many people have learned for themselves: never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. Researchers found that people who hadn’t eaten all afternoon chose more high-calorie foods in a simulated supermarket than those who were given a snack just before online food shopping. And in a real grocery store, shoppers bought a higher ratio of high-calorie foods to low-calorie ones in the hours leading up to dinnertime compared to earlier in the day, the study t...

Feds move to cap health coverage option for uninsurable Utahns

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:40:03 MDT

Feds move to cap health coverage option for uninsurable Utahns

by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 7, 2013 09:40AM MDT

The federal government is negotiating to cap spending on state-run high-risk pools, which provide subsidized health coverage for people rejected by private insurers because they’re too sick. Administrators of Utah’s program, federal HIP- Utah, met Monday with the governor’s office and the state’s insurance commissioner to consider how to respond to the federal proposal, which they say would shift risk for cost overruns to the state. “The [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] gave us a ...

Sucking child’s pacifier clean may help ward off allergies

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:23:02 MDT

Sucking child’s pacifier clean may help ward off allergies

by Anahad O’connor New York Times News Service

Published May 6, 2013 02:23PM MDT

For years, health officials have told parents not to share utensils with their babies or clean their pacifiers by putting them in their mouths, arguing that the practice spreads harmful germs between parent and child. But new research may turn that thinking on its head. In a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, scientists report that infants whose parents sucked on their pacifiers to clean them developed fewer allergies than children whose parents typically rinsed or boiled them. Th...

Utah tops at getting clot-busting drugs to stroke patients

Fri, 03 May 2013 22:00:41 MDT

Utah tops at getting clot-busting drugs to stroke patients

by Kirsten Stewart | The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 3, 2013 10:00PM MDT

Utah has the nation’s highest percentage of stroke patients who receive clot-busting drugs in the “golden hour,” within 60 minutes of arriving at a hospital emergency room, shows an analysis by the American Stroke Association. The study, highlighted Thursday at a Utah Hospital Association press event, measured “door-to-needle” time, or the amount of time it takes to give eligible stroke patients an intravenous dose of a drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). It can reduce the effects of...

Could your lipstick be bad for your health?

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:07:02 MDT

Could your lipstick be bad for your health?

by Sandy Kleffman Contra Costa Times

Published May 3, 2013 02:07PM MDT

Lipsticks and lip glosses purchased in Northern California stores contained lead, chromium and other metals that could raise health concerns, a new study reveals. Researchers at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health tested 32 products commonly found in drugstores and department stores. In addition to lead and chromium, they detected cadmium, aluminum and five other metals. The study highlights a need to have more oversight from the Food and Drug Administration, especially since the United States...

Decades-old question: Is anti-bacterial soap safe?

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:48:02 MDT

Decades-old question: Is anti-bacterial soap safe?

by Matthew Perrone The Associated Press

Published May 2, 2013 10:48AM MDT

WASHINGTON • It’s a chemical that’s been in U.S. households for more than 40 years, from the body wash in your bathroom shower to the knives on your kitchen counter to the bedding in your baby’s basinet. But federal health regulators are just now deciding whether triclosan — the germ-killing ingredient found in an estimated 75 percent of anti-bacterial liquid soaps and body washes sold in the U.S. — is ineffective, or worse, harmful. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to deliver a...

Utah hospitals outperform peers on infection control

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:00:49 MDT

Utah hospitals outperform peers on infection control

by Kirsten Stewart | The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 2, 2013 09:00AM MDT

Utah hospitals are doing a better job than their peers nationally at controlling one of the most deadly and costly hospital-borne infections, a new state Department of Health report shows. In 2011, state hospitals reported 96 central line infections in intensive care patients. That’s 37 percent lower than the national standard, or what would be predicted for hospitals of similar size and sophistication, health officials said. Central lines are tubes placed in a large vein in the neck, chest, gr...