Month: October 2013

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives will try to advance a new fiscal compromise bill that would extend the federal debt limit until February 7 with a “hard cut-off,” and provide government funding through December 15, Representative Devin Nunes, said on Tuesday. Nunes, a Republican from California, told reporters that the latest House plan would not include previous efforts to delay a tax on medical devices, but would include new changes to the “Obamacare” health reforms for Congress and high-ranking Obama administration officials. …

By Tony Jimenez LONDON (Reuters) – Former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher wants more defibrillators available on British golf courses after suffering a heart attack while on an engagement in his native Scotland in August. The 64-year-old is now on the road to recovery and making plans to lead a campaign for defibrillators to be widely available at courses. …

By Tony Jimenez LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher wants more defibrillators available on British golf courses after suffering a heart attack while on an engagement in his native Scotland in August. The 64-year-old is now on the road to recovery and making plans to lead a campaign for defibrillators to be widely available at courses. …

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has "full confidence" in Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius despite the troubled launch of the U.S. government website for signing up for his signature healthcare insurance program, the White House said on Tuesday. Americans trying to shop for health insurance at healthcare.gov under Obama's healthcare law have been frustrated by error messages, long waits and system failures, with many failing to make it through the system despite repeated tries. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate negotiations to lift the U.S. debt limit and reopen the federal government were suspended on Tuesday until House Speaker John Boehner can work out a fiscal plan that can proceed in the House of Representatives, Senator Richard Durbin said. Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said that Boehner hobbled bipartisan Senate negotiations on Tuesday by floating a plan that was immediately shot down by White House and Democrats. …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Babies were more likely to have all of their recommended well-child visits when parents accessed their health records online, in a new study. At one of two healthcare locations offering the online access, researchers also found a link between parents logging on and kids being up to date on their vaccines. The records included post-visit instructions from doctors, immunization records and tools to manage future appointments. …

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli nonprofit group has awarded a $1 million prize to a U.S.-based research team that is developing technology that allows paralyzed people to move things with their thoughts.

Six weeks on the bench or a lifetime of confusion? That’s the question pitting some current NFLers against past players battling the latent but lingering effects of repeated concussions.        

(Reuters) – The woman who was chased down and shot dead by Washington police after trying to ram her car through a White House barrier was buried in New York City on Tuesday. The funeral service for Miriam Carey, 34, a resident of Stamford, CT, took place in Brooklyn nearly two weeks after she was killed in a high-speed chase that injured two police officers and led to a Capitol lockdown. "Well over a hundred people attended," a Grace Funeral Chapels official said. "It was quiet and calm. …

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Even doctors in training have trouble sifting through insurance options to pick the cheapest available plan, a new study shows. “I think it confirms some of the issues that folks may have with choosing complicated insurance plans,” said Jonathan Gruber. An economist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Gruber was not involved in the new report. The study focused on Medicare Part D plans. …