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Even as Florida leads the Supreme Court challenge against the federal health law, a private and a public hospital both prepare for an influx of new patients if the law's Medicaid expansion survives.

President Biden has arranged a meeting with four congressional leaders to discuss raising the debt ceiling. Plus, another sizeable gift for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas comes to light.

New federal guidelines say every child should be screened for high cholesterol once between the ages of 9 and 11 and again between 17 and 21. The testing aims to find kids with extremely high cholesterol caused by a genetic condition. But the testing will find others whose cholesterol may not need treatment.

A voluntary approach to flu vaccination of health care workers has fallen short. To protect patients, vaccination should be mandatory, consumer and business groups said in Washington. They back a requirement for annual vaccination of all health workers with only limited exemptions.

Midwives specifically trained in delivery outside hospitals can practice legally in 27 states. In the remaining states, mothers-to-be planning for a home birth will probably be attended by a certified nurse-midwife.

More than 800,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments. In hard times, states often cut Medicaid's dental benefits, pushing low-income patients from the dentist's office to the emergency room.

As details of Noor Jehan's neglect came to light, the revelations sparked a national conversation about the neglect and abuse of animals in Pakistan — and of vulnerable humans as well.

The long battle for federal approval of Plan B emergency contraception appears to be over. But broader access to the medicine may not reduce the number of unintended pregnancies by much.

Young adults insured under their parents' plans were shielded from the potentially catastrophic cost of a medical emergency, a review of hospital records found. Researchers say $147 million in hospital bills were charged to insurers rather than the patients in 2011.

Proponents of the health law liken the sign-up software to Expedia or Travelocity, where travelers can book flights and hotels. It may be more like TurboTax, escorting you through requirements and choices much more complex than whether you want a flight in the afternoon or the morning.

The medical screening tests offered by churches and other nonprofits may sound like a great idea. But some of the tests, which are performed by for-profit companies, are not recommended by national organizations because they can lead to invasive testing and unnecessary treatment.

Plans offering coverage that lasts 364 days can cost half as much as those that are in force for a year. But the savings may be illusory for people who need care for injuries or illnesses because the coverage can be skimpier.

Insurance enrollment will be a key yardstick for assessing whether the Affordable Care Act is working. Almost as important as the total number of people who get coverage is whether a significant percentage of them are healthy.

Among those who stand to benefit the most from the expansion of Medicaid are homeless adults. Many of these men and women are mentally ill or addicted to drugs and alcohol. Enrolling them can be difficult, but the benefits should be substantial.

Over the next few months people across the U.S. will have to make decisions about health coverage. The questions about how that it will all work keep coming in, with people seeking details about available plans and the size of the penalties if they don't comply.

The Affordable Care Act included a sales tax on medical devices that is supposed to help pay for the expansion of health insurance coverage. But the tax is being levied on some devices, such as ultrasound scanners, that are used to diagnose and treat animals instead of humans.

Among other things, the law prohibits treatment limits and copayments or deductibles that are more restrictive than a health insurance plan's medical coverage. Now regulations make the specifics clearer.

The technological trials for the online health insurance exchanges have turned an enrollment period that was supposed to be a leisurely three-month stroll into a last-minute sprint for millions of Americans. People who want coverage that starts at the beginning of 2014 need to sign up no later than Dec. 23.

Medicare has tied incentive payments and penalties to two-dozen quality measurements, including surveys of patient satisfaction and death rates. More than 1,200 hospitals are receiving bonuses. But more hospitals are being paid less for each Medicare patient they treat for the year that began Oct. 1.

No one knows for sure right now how many of the estimated 14 million people who buy their own coverage are getting cancellation notices, but the numbers appear to be big. Some insurers report discontinuing 20 percent of their individual business, while other insurers have notified up to 80 percent of policyholders that they will have to change plans.

President Obama says he's pretty frustrated with the messed-up computer system for insurance enrollment under the Affordable Care Act. If he gets it fixed by mid-November all will be well, analysts say. But further delay could mean real trouble.

The president offered a fix for people whose insurance coverage has been canceled because it didn't meet the minimum standards of the federal health law. But will insurers follow through? And even if they want to, will state regulators let them?

Running a hospital that scores well on keeping more patients alive or providing extensive charity care doesn't translate into a compensation bump for top executives. Nonprofit hospitals have been under scrutiny for paying high salaries to chief executives while skimping on benefits for their communities.

For the system to work, however, age won't be as important as how healthy or unhealthy all the new enrollees are. And insurers won't really know that until next year, when claims start rolling in. Sick people are more motivated to sign up early, researchers say.

Despite the federal overhaul of health care, people in the pools are left out because of a wrinkle in legal language. The high-risk pools aren't licensed as insurers in most states, so they're not subject to the federal law.