Health and Human Services (HHS)

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services has approved Colorado's plan to consolidate several rating areas to reduce health insurance premiums in rural…

As of Nov. 30, more than 137,000 people had obtained health insurance through the federal website. Another 227,000 got coverage through the state exchanges. Users have until Dec. 23 to sign up if they want the health insurance coverage to start Jan. 1.

President Obama repeatedly said that anyone who likes their current health insurance policy would be able to keep it. But insurers have sent hundreds of thousands of cancellation notices to people who buy their own coverage — and some of them face significantly higher costs to get new policies under the Affordable Care Act.

Very few insurers around the country are offering top-of-the-line platinum insurance plans. Policymakers predicted less expensive but more restrictive bronze and silver plans would prove more popular than high-end options, and it looks like insurance companies think so, too.

When is an inpatient in the hospital not an inpatient in the hospital? When that patient is on observation status. Patients who are termed on observation can have trouble getting Medicare to pay if they need to go to a nursing home. The practice has sparked lawsuits and legislation.

A RAND Corp. analysis says the health overhaul won't lead to big price increases for insurance. In some states individual policies may cost a bit more, while in others the premiums will decline or remain about the same.

The study randomly assigns preemies to one group that will get blood transfusions when their anemia is relatively mild or another that won't get them until the anemia is severe. Researchers want to see which approach is better at reducing deaths and brain damage. Critics say the doctors haven't leveled with parents about the risks.

Gov. Rick Scott has built a political career fighting the president's health overhaul — and he's not through yet. He's joining other Republicans in opposition to people called navigators, who are being hired to help enroll the public in health plans.

The proposed studies would essentially create a recipe for a more contagious bird flu. Some scientists worry these viruses could escape the lab and possibly kill millions. But others think the information gleaned from the experiments is critical for keeping H7N9 from becoming a global threat.

Although they may not have realized it, students enrolled at some of the country's top colleges lucked out last week when federal guidelines cleared up a situation that would have made them ineligible for subsidized health coverage.