Christina Mattina

Time is running out for Congress to reauthorize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) before it expires on September 30, leaving states and families to prepare for possible coverage reductions and higher premiums.

When Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016, repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) suddenly became an attainable goal for Republicans in Congress, though it ultimately did not come to fruition as they had hoped. Here, we look back at the legislative twists and turns of ACA repeal efforts in 2017.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, announced that the Senate would not vote on the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in light of a shortage of votes.

Among women treated at health centers receiving federal funding under Title X, the proportion receiving cervical cancer screening tests declined significantly from 2005 to 2015, according to new research.

A new analysis finds that the mortality rate from chronic respiratory diseases has risen by almost 30% between 1980 and 2014 in the United States, and that data reflect significant differences in death rates across counties and regions.

While the FDA’s approval of the immunotherapy tisagenlecleucel represents a landmark in the oncology field, the treatment is far from being a cure and should be viewed in context of its $475,000 price tag, a group of oncologists wrote in a commentary published in JAMA.

A new study finds that participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is associated with significantly lower healthcare expenditures, pointing to the role of social determinants like food insecurity as contributors to health spending.

When immune-related adverse events arise from nivolumab, it may indicate that the therapy is having greater efficacy against non—small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as a new study demonstrates a link between these events and improved survival outcomes.

Patients using secure online messaging to communicate with their healthcare providers about their type 2 diabetes (T2D) demonstrated improved clinical outcomes, according to a new study.

The legislation known as Graham-Cassidy represents the last chance to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Here are 5 components that make it different from other proposed repeal bills.

Childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is known to cause painful gastrointestinal symptoms, but a new study of Swedish patients finds that it is also associated with an increased risk of cancer.

A new review article published in the New England Journal of Medicine explores the recent developments in radiotherapy that have improved survival and quality of life for patients with cancer.

Federally qualified health centers face significant financial and competitive pressures, but executives reported in a recent survey that they have identified areas for improvement and are planning a path to success.

As more deadly pathogens develop resistance to antibiotics, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report warns that the current clinical pipeline of antibiotics in development is insufficient to combat the threat.

A new commentary suggests that interventions to promote physical activity in survivors of cancer should be delivered at home and guided by oncologists.

Consumers spend $2 billion worldwide on body moisturizers each year, but a new study found that many skin-quenching products marketed as hypoallergenic or fragrance free actually contain some of the allergens known to pose a risk of contact dermatitis.

In light of rising rates of preventive mastectomies among women with breast cancer, a new study looks at whether patient and surgeon factors, including attitudes toward breast conservation, affect the odds of receiving this surgery.

Patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma now have a new treatment option: copanlisib, a kinase inhibitor that was recently approved through the FDA’s accelerated approval process.

After CMS and Novartis devised an outcomes-based payment approach for the new chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T treatment tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), a group of representatives are requesting more information on the specifics of the agreement.

Since primary care physicians spend more than half their workday on electronic health record (EHR) tasks, employing scribes to chart data could alleviate the burden on physicians and improve efficiency.

Just hours apart, 2 groups of senators unveiled health reform proposals that each take a drastically different approach to redefining the government’s role in healthcare.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced the agency’s progress in streamlining the orphan drug review process and outlined plans to close a loophole currently hindering pediatric drug research.

How much does it cost for a drug maker to develop a new drug? Prior estimates have put this figure as high as $2.7 billion, but a new study indicates that the median cost of development for 10 cancer drugs was actually $648 million-a substantial discrepancy.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has published a set of guidelines and best practices that can help clinicians improve how they communicate with patients receiving cancer therapy and their families.

A survey of physicians revealed their thoughts on the prevalence and drivers of overtreatment.

In recent years, testing for the BRCA1/2 gene mutations has increased among women in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, helping to drastically reduce the gap in testing rates between the groups.

Hospitals with more nurses on staff and better nurse-patient communication tend to receive higher scores on patients’ satisfaction with pain management, according to new research.

The rate of stroke deaths, after declining for decades, is now on an alarming uptick, according to the CDC. In 3 out of 4 states, decreases in stroke deaths have slowed or reversed over time.

“Is the pen mightier than the scalpel?” A new study aims to answer that question by presenting research on a handheld pen-sized device that can rapidly determine cancer tissue borders during surgery.

Trial results published in a recent article indicate that patients using tiotropium in the early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had better lung function and a slower decline in function.