preventative medicine news stories on Newser

Health Report: Same Test Can Cost $786—or $1,819

Matt Cantor — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 08:23:13 CDT

Yet another factor that could put a crimp in your wallet when it comes to health care: The cost of procedures such as colonoscopies, mammograms, and Pap smears vary wildly across the nation, according to a new report picked up by USA Today . Researchers found that colonoscopies, for instance, could...

Health Reform Side Effect: Free Birth Control?

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:21:37 CDT

Here's the next big dogfight over health care reform: Whether the federal government is obligated to provide free birth control to American women. A panel will next month decide what falls under preventative care, and if contraception is determined to fit the bill, under Obamacare the feds must foot the...

Welcome to the Conspiracy to Ration Mammograms

Kevin Spak — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:28:57 CST

Republicans are right: the new government guidelines urging women not to have mammograms in their 40s are definitely a nefarious conspiracy to start rationing care. “Whatever happens, we do not want the government conducting any studies on whether current health practices actually do any good,” writes Gail Collins in the...

New Mammogram Advice Not US Policy: Sebelius

Nick McMaster — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:22:12 CST

The recommendation from the US Preventative Services Task Force that women in their 40s should not get mammograms is not government policy, said the secretary of Health and Human Services. Kathleen Sebelius tried to tamp down some of the controversy that has followed the panel’s decision, asserting that government insurance...

Get a Checkup or Lose Your Insurance

Nick McMaster — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:23:42 CDT

How far can a firm go to improve the health of its employees? AmeriGas Propane's insurance costs were rising, its work force was aging, and its employees weren't getting preventative care. The company began voluntary programs to encourage healthy behavior that didn't work. So AmeriGas gave its workers a simple...

Study May Help Mastectomy Dilemma

Peter Fearon — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:22:35 CST

Researchers alarmed by a spike in potentially unnecessary double mastectomies have identified three risk factors that might help breast cancer patients make better decisions about whether to have a healthy breast removed, the Houston Chronicle reports. The research was motivated by an earlier study that revealed 80% of women who...

You Say 'Tomato,' FDA Says 'Not a Cancer Cure-All'

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:25:56 CDT

Tomatoes and lycopene, the pigment that gives them their color, do not prevent cancer, the FDA says, contradicting preliminary research. Researchers analyzed 145 studies of lycopene, tomatoes, and cancer risk and found "no credible evidence" that the vegetable wards off lung, colorectal, breast, cervical or uterine cancers, according to a...

Insurer Ties Employee Pay to Patient Health

Ben Worthen — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:32:49 CDT

The country's largest health insurer says it will pay up for good health--offering bonuses to employees who boost patients' use of preventive medical services. WellPoint Inc.'s plan is intended to encourage participation in programs like diabetes management, which helps patients handle their medical needs before they end up in...