Month: September 2013

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) – Korey Kormick, 29, has not had health insurance for at least a decade. His job, as a contract employee directing chess tournaments and coaching kids in the fundamentals of the game, doesn't offer it, and he hasn't been able to afford coverage on the individual market. Feeling medically "invincible" – as the conventional wisdom holds 19-to-34-year-olds do – never had much to do with it. …

When it comes to heart attacks, most people think a steady diet of greasy food and sedentary living is to blame. While it’s true that diet and lifestyle play a role (not to mention, family history), there are other, less common factors linked with heart trouble. Here are some weird things that you would never think could potentially harm your heart.        

More than 36 percent of Americans are now considered obese. An additional 34 percent are considered overweight. What may be surprising is how far the effects of obesity reach beyond clothing size and cardiovascular risks. It can impact every area of your life including family relationships and income.        

By Terje Solsvik and Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) – Erna Solberg, set to become Norway’s next prime minister, has transformed herself from a tough-minded “Iron Erna” into a softer Conservative more caring about voters’ jobs, health and schools. Solberg, 52, even wrote a book in 2011 entitled “People, not Billions” that widened her appeal as leader of a right-wing party often criticized as more focused on tax cuts for the rich and businesses than on the welfare of ordinary Norwegians. …

By Balazs Koranyi and Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) – Norway's opposition Conservatives, promising tax cuts and better healthcare, won elections in a landslide on Monday but faced tough coalition talks with a populist party that wants to spend more of the accumulated oil riches and curb immigration. Led by Erna Solberg, a former girl scout leader who has overcome dyslexia, the Conservatives promise to diversify the economy away from oil, privatize state firms, and reduce some of the world's highest taxes rates to give the private sector more breathing room. …

(Reuters) – Neurocrine Biosciences Inc said a lower dose of its experimental drug to treat a rare movement disorder did not meet the main goal of a mid-stage clinical study, sending its shares down 32 percent in after-market trade. A number of analysts, including those from Jefferies, Oppenheimer, Roth and Zacks, had been upbeat on the prospects of the drug, NBI-98854, being developed to treat tardive dyskinesia — a disorder that causes involuntary, repetitive body movements. Most of the enthusiasm was because there is no available treatment for the disorder yet. …

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Republican leadership plan to avoid a direct threat to shut down the government is being derided by some conservatives as a “hocus-pocus” measure that falls well short of their demands for an “Obamacare” showdown. Republican aides said the plan, which will be floated by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to party members on Tuesday, would allow for an extension of government funding for several weeks past the September 30 fiscal year-end. If accepted, the House could vote on the plan later this week. …