PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

The Lancet: Universal health coverage for US militar veterans within reach, but many still lack coverage

2014-11-24
(Press-News.org) Over a million US military veterans lacked healthcare coverage in 2012, according to new estimates published in The Lancet. While many people believe that all veterans are covered by the Veterans Affairs health care system, less than half (8.9 million) of the 22 million veterans in the US are covered by VA health benefits, and most veterans are covered by private health insurance. Uninsured veterans are more likely to be young, single, African American, and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, the authors of this viewpoint estimate that universal health coverage for veterans is within reach, thanks to the Affordable Care Act and its Medicaid expansion and subsidies for private health care. According to the authors, 87% of currently uninsured veterans could be eligible for health coverage through the Medicaid expansion, via the subsidized private health insurance market, or by enrolling in VA health benefits. Uninsured veterans are more likely to be clustered in states that have rejected the ACA's Medicaid expansion. Of the top five states with the highest number of uninsured veterans, four [1] are states that have rejected the expansion (the fifth, California, has accepted the expansion, but is also the most populous state in the union).

"Largely on account of the Affordable Care Act, the goal of universal health coverage for veterans is closer than ever,"* explains author Dave A Chokshi. "There remain political hurdles to achieving this goal, both in the false impression that the VA already provides universal coverage, and the decision by several states to reject the ACA's Medicaid expansion. While eligibility for insurance is not tantamount to access to care, universal coverage is an important first step towards high-quality healthcare."*

INFORMATION:

NOTES TO EDITORS: *Quotes direct from author and cannot be found in text of Article [1] There are an estimated 126000 uninsured veterans in Texas, 95000 in Florida, 54000 in North Carolina, and 53000 in Georgia



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Clipping proteins that package genes may limit abnormal cell growth in tumors

2014-11-21
Changes to the structure of the protein histone H3.3 may play a key role in silencing genes that regulate cancer cell growth, according to a study led by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online this month in the journal Nature Communications. According to the authors, this is the first study to identify this protein as a key regulator in cellular senescence, a process in which cells stop multiplying. Cellular senescence has garnered significant scientific interest of late because it may be one key to prevent the initiation ...

Study: Doubling saturated fat in the diet does not increase saturated fat in blood

Study: Doubling saturated fat in the diet does not increase saturated fat in blood
2014-11-21
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Doubling or even nearly tripling saturated fat in the diet does not drive up total levels of saturated fat in the blood, according to a controlled diet study. However, increasing levels of carbohydrates in the diet during the study promoted a steady increase in the blood of a fatty acid linked to an elevated risk for diabetes and heart disease. The finding "challenges the conventional wisdom that has demonized saturated fat and extends our knowledge of why dietary saturated fat doesn't correlate with disease," said senior author Jeff Volek, a professor ...

Women with serious mental illness less likely to receive cancer screenings

2014-11-21
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Women with symptoms of serious mental illness are significantly less likely to receive three routine cancer screenings - Pap tests, mammograms and clinical breast exams - than women in the general population, despite being at elevated risk for medical comorbidities and early death, a new study indicates. Women who reported symptoms of serious psychological distress - such as feelings of hopelessness and depression - during the past 30 days were 41 percent less likely to have received Pap tests during the preceding two-year period, University of Illinois ...

Investigational drug reduces high potassium levels in chronic kidney disease patients

2014-11-21
Research published today found that the investigational drug patiromer decreased high potassium levels and maintained normal potassium levels in patients with chronic kidney disease. The results of a multicenter trial appear in the New England Journal of Medicine. Elevated potassium, a condition called hyperkalemia, increases the risk of death in high-risk patients and limits the use of several types of drugs, called RAAS (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) inhibitors, commonly used to control hypertension and cardiovascular disease and prevent kidney disorders. "Patients ...

Rare new species of plant: Stachys caroliniana

Rare new species of plant: Stachys caroliniana
2014-11-21
The exclusive club of explorers who have discovered a rare new species of life isn't restricted to globetrotters traveling to remote locations like the Amazon rainforests, Madagascar or the woodlands of the Congo River basin. Just ask professor John Nelson and alumnus Douglas Rayner -- they're having their membership cards stamped with a long-hidden plant found nowhere but South Carolina. The new species, dubbed Stachys caroliniana, makes its debut on the international botanical stage next week with a peer-reviewed publication describing its unique characteristics. It ...

Research shows anti-HIV medicines can cause damage to fetal hearts

2014-11-21
A study by a Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit Medical Center research team is shedding new light on the troubling question of whether the drugs often given to HIV-positive pregnant women can cause significant long-term heart problems for the non-HIV-infected babies they carry. The study recently published in the journal AIDS shows that while the HIV medications have been successful in helping to prevent the transmission of the virus from mother to infant, they are associated with persistently impaired development of heart muscle and ...

Self-regulation intervention boosts school readiness of at-risk children, study shows

Self-regulation intervention boosts school readiness of at-risk children, study shows
2014-11-21
An intervention that uses music and games to help preschoolers learn self-regulation skills is helping prepare at-risk children for kindergarten, a new study from Oregon State University shows. Self-regulation skills - the skills that help children pay attention, follow directions, stay on task and persist through difficulty - are critical to a child's success in kindergarten and beyond, said OSU's Megan McClelland, a nationally recognized expert in child development and a co-author of the new study. "Most children do just fine in the transition to kindergarten, but ...

New terahertz device could strengthen security

2014-11-21
We are all familiar with the hassles that accompany air travel. We shuffle through long lines, remove our shoes, and carry liquids in regulation-sized tubes. And even after all the effort, we still wonder if these procedures are making us any safer. Now a new type of security detection that uses terahertz radiation is looking to prove its promise. Able to detect explosives, chemical agents, and dangerous biological substances from safe distances, devices using terahertz waves could make public spaces more secure than ever. But current terahertz sources are large, multi-component ...

Study finds that rejecting unsuitable suitors is easier said than done

2014-11-21
You're at a slumber party with your friends. One friend asks "if a guy at school asked you out, but you weren't really attracted to him, would you go?" You laugh and shake your head no: "Why would I, if he's not my type?" Or imagine you're at school, sitting in the cafeteria. A guy who you think is attractive but who has some unsuitable personality traits comes up and asks you out. You say yes, even though what you really meant to say was no. "Why did I do that?" you wonder. According to new research from the University of Toronto and Yale University, rejecting unsuitable ...

Theater arts research offers insight for designers, builders of robots

Theater arts research offers insight for designers, builders of robots
2014-11-21
As an actress, producer, director and theatre arts lecturer at The University of Texas at Arlington, Julienne Greer knows the techniques that help draw people's deepest emotions to the surface. Now, she's building on her experience and research to help scientists and robotics engineers better understand the human experience so that they can build more responsive robots. Greer, who holds a master's degree in media arts and a doctorate in humanities, recently authored the paper, "Building emotional authenticity between humans and robots." In it, she referenced a robot named ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Athlete mental health support from coaches “under explored” in research amidst deselection concerns

UCLA study reveals complex muscle control behind blinking and eyelid function

Destructive cosmic airbursts likely more common than previously believed

Does a parent’s exposure to workplace chemicals affect autism in their children?

Yale study: Mobile phone app reduced suicidal behavior among high-risk patients

‘A tipping point’: An update from the frontiers of Alzheimer’s disease research 

Copper antimicrobials can drive antibiotic resistance in bacteria, but there’s a fix, scientists say

New class of protein misfolding simulated in high definition

Muscle’s master regulator moonlights as gene silencer

How steep does that hill look? Your height plays a role

Debris slide risk doesn’t always rise after a wildfire, study finds

Early challenges to the immune system disrupt oral health

Wildfire collaborative responds to community concerns about air quality

Dual-function organic molecule may advance display technologies and medical imaging

North Atlantic faces more hurricane clusters as climate warms

How immune cells switch into attack mode

Changes in cardiovascular risk factors and health care expenditures among patients prescribed semaglutide

Prescription drug utilization and spending by race, ethnicity, payer, health condition, and US state

Mobile phone app reduced suicidal behavior among high-risk patients

SNU researchers develop wearable blood pressure monitor that attaches like a bandage for real-time continuous measurement

How a rare cycad's wax crystals conjure blue without pigment

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute unveils groundbreaking blood test for multiple myeloma

Public data reveal extent of air quality impacts during 2025 Los Angeles wildfires

Towards better earthquake risk assessment with machine learning

Reducing the global burden of liver cancer: Recommendations from The Lancet commission

Researchers succeed in building a low temperature hydrogen fuel cell, thanks to a scandium superhighway

New UC Irvine survey reveals shifting work landscape

Quantum ‘Starry Night’: Physicists capture elusive instability and exotic vortices

Excessive ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) and poor nutrition tied to poor health

'One child called the robot "my little brother"': Can assistance tech become part of the family?

[Press-News.org] The Lancet: Universal health coverage for US militar veterans within reach, but many still lack coverage