"Employers are saying they can no longer afford to subsidize bad behavior."

More and more families are tapping into hospice services, but Hispanic families typically have done so at lower rates than non-Hispanic families.

Medicaid to be medically needy, have been single when becoming eligible for Medicaid and get married after the waiver goes into effect.Jason Helgerson, the state's Medicaid director, said the state has reviewed the proposed language and called it a "noble cause." However, for the state to get a waiver from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to make such a change, it must prove that it wouldn't lead to higher costs."It's something we're continuing to...

Two local doctors are opening urgent-care clinics in Fort Worth and Arlington, targeting patients with minor injuries, infections and other ailments that often prompt visits to the hospital emergency room.

The Access Project reported last month that one out of four farm and ranch operators said health-care costs were contributing to financial problems for the families.

We examined the plans of the leading Democratic and Republican candidates.

Adding workplace demands to responsibilities at home, which often include taking care of in-laws, leaves women workers with multiple stresses, Bisht said. HCL Technologies Ltd. has built day-care centers for children and sponsors group outings for employees. A recent survey by the Dataquest research group and IDC consulting company showed that sleep disorders topped health complaints among workers in the outsourcing industry.

...have health insurance, said her hands still hurt, but she has no money for an operation. Instead she spends her time looking for another job, she said. Her husband is a carpenter, and the downturn in construction has meant that they are having difficulty making ends meet.Meanwhile, her search for a lawyer hasn't helped. ''You go from attorney to attorney, and they say they can't do anything for you,'' she said. ''It's very frustrating.''Newstex ID: KRTB-0164-21967702...

Americans who had broadband tended to use the Internet to help solve a variety of problems.

Sometimes the information has its limitations, said John Adams, an expert in quality measurement of hospitals.

"If ERISA is undone, companies like ours will have to deal with insurance codes for 50 different states."

Some obese people spend a longer time on kidney transplant waiting lists than people within normal weight ranges, a U.S. study shows.

Would-be quitters have more weapons to try than ever to win the chemical war being waged inside their brains against an enemy, nicotine, that literally messes with their heads.

President Bush on Saturday signed legislation that will protect access for people who need inpatient rehabilitation care and services.

A state health program for small businesses faces an uncertain future, losing millions of dollars a year and struggling with the needs of a sick population.

It places workers at health centers to beef up patient outreach and education.

...health care plan after his share of the premiums hit $136 per month and the deductible hit $400 per year, and now pays more for a private plan that has no deductible. And although he and his wife are covered under his plan, his daughter, 25, a store manager, has no health insurance.But he can't be sure universal health care plans promised by the Democratic candidates will ever take form as they are described."So when people talk about their health plans, I don't know if...

The familiar routine of a check-up at the pediatrician's office will have a new step beginning today for children on Medicaid.

Residents who are uninsured will face a $219 penalty when they file their taxes next year, and will accumulate monthly fines if they continue the year without coverage.

Fear of making a mistake by releasing information that should have been kept private is as much to blame as the complexity of the laws.

When ice storms and summer winds knocked out power across the area last year, nursing homes overwhelmed the emergency medical system.

Nursing home providers will be able to purchase - and then close - an existing Medicaid-funded nursing home and transfer the residents to another facility. In exchange, the buyer then will be able to get additional Medicaid payments for five years for rental value, property tax and property insurance. Currently, the state provides Medicaid money to the homes based on aspects such as square footage and administrative costs, without factoring in the number of unused beds, Castille said.

Despite opposition from the nation's leading lobby representing seniors, the move by the federal agency is a clarion call for the need for some kind of reform to address soaring health care costs that are crippling employers' bottom lines.

Two days too late for Christmas, but still in time to celebrate the new year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina announced Thursday that effective Jan. 1, it is waiving the co-payment for some generic drugs and lowering the cost of 40 brand-name drugs.

Insurer ING Group said Friday it will sell its reinsurance unit, NRG., to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway / for about $435.7 million.