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January 2, 2013 The California congressman lost his seat this fall. Stark has been part of almost every piece of health legislation enacted while he was in office. The 113th Congress will be the first one in 40 years to convene without him as a member.

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January 1, 2013 In October 2013, open enrollment begins, when people can start signing up for their 2014 coverage through the new state-run health exchanges. But most of the changes in 2013 are tax increases and cuts in tax deductions to pay for the 2014 changes.

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December 26, 2012 The obesity rate in preschoolers dropped a fraction of a point between 2010 and 2003, a federal study found. Although the change was small, it may signal that the obesity epidemic has peaked.

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December 21, 2012 Big insurance companies are opening their own doctors' offices and clinics — a strategy that has previously met with mixed results.

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December 21, 2012 KHNThe nation's biggest insurer is starting to dole out bonuses and penalties to nearly 3,000 hospitals as it ties almost $1 billion in payments to the quality of care provided to patients.

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December 20, 2012 KHNOne section of the health law says its wellness programs can't require participants to give information about guns in their homes. But public health scholars criticize the measure because they say it keeps doctors and nurses from doing their jobs.

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December 18, 2012 Starting in January, the French government will provide contraceptives for girls ages 15 to 18 — without charge and without parental notification. The measure, which passed parliament without debate, aims to reduce teen pregnancies by increasing access to birth control and education.

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December 14, 2012 KHNOnly 17 states and the District of Columbia have proposed running their own insurance markets. Experts had expected mostly small states to seek federal help, but some of the nation's largest have said they will not run an exchange on their own.

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December 14, 2012 Means testing Medicare is one of the few areas where Democrats have shown a willingness to even consider the subject of spending less on the program. But not everyone supports that idea.

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December 12, 2012 Democrats are worried that cuts to the program will go beyond the impact on the people it serves. It will also affect the Affordable Care Act, which calls for expanding Medicaid to as many as 16 million more people. The states are watching closely because the federal government has promised it will pay most of those additional costs.

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December 11, 2012 KHNHealth insurers sometimes pay too much to a doctor or hospital for services rendered. When insurers look to get their money back, patients may be surprised to get stuck with the bills.

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December 11, 2012 In the Supreme Court's Affordable Care Act ruling this summer, it decided that states' plans for expansion of the Medicaid program should be optional. That led governors to ask if they could expand the program in part but still receive federal funding. The administration has said no.

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