The AP (9/8, Murphy) reports on persistent “glaring differences in insurance coverage” for children with autism, amputees, “and others in need of certain expensive treatments even after the Affordable Care Act set new standards as part of its push to expand and improve coverage.” The article says these disparities “stem from random factors like what state someone lives in or who happens to provide their coverage – and often people can do nothing about it,” because the ACA allows states and employers to determine what should be covered. According to the AP, these differences can result in significant debt for patients, or they can push consumers to skip medical care.

Related Links:

— “WHY INSURANCE DENIES YOUR CLAIM, BUT PAYS YOUR NEIGHBOR’S,” TOM MURPHY, Associated Press, September 8, 2016.

Healio (9/8, Oldt) reports researchers found “insufficient evidence for accuracy of depression screening tools for major depressive disorder [MDD] in children and adolescents.” The findings of the 17-study review were published online May 27 in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study questions accuracy of depression screening tools for youth,” Healio, September 8, 2016.

Healio (9/8, Oldt) reports, “Cognitive impairment was common among individuals who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center,” researchers found after evaluating “818 responders who reported for annual monitoring visits.” The findings, which were published earlier this year in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, suggest an association between post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive impairment.

Related Links:

— “Analysis of World Trade Center responders shows link between trauma, cognitive impairment,” Healio, September 8, 2016.

HealthDay (9/7, Preidt) reports, “The more ads for a brand of alcohol that underage drinkers see, the more likely they are to consume that product,” researchers found after asking some 1,000 13- to 20-year-old participants “who said they’d had alcohol in the past month” a number of questions on drinking and television viewing habits. The findings were published online Sept. 7 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Related Links:

— “TV Booze Ads a Lubricant for Teen Drinking: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 7, 2016.

In a greater than 1,400-word article, The Atlantic (9/7, Todd) reports that “crisis living rooms,” which offer “talk therapy” and trained case managers’ help to mental health patients in crisis may help keep such patients out of emergency departments.

Related Links:

— “A New Place to Calm Mental Distress,” LEAH TODD, The Atlantic, September 7, 2016.

HealthDay (9/7, Preidt) reports, “Stroke survivors face an increased risk of developing depression,” researchers found after analyzing “national databases in Denmark to compare depression risk among stroke survivors and people with no history of stroke.” Investigators found that “in the first three months after having a stroke, survivors’ risk of depression was eight times higher than among people with no history of stroke.”

According to Healio (9/7, Oldt), the findings were published online Sept. 7 in JAMA Psychiatry. An accompanying editorial observed the “study indicates the need for a reappraisal of the importance of the stroke lesion in triggering depression in the context of background predisposing factors.”

Related Links:

— “Stroke Survivors Often Struggle With Depression,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 7, 2016.

The Wall Street Journal (9/7, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication) reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey found that the number of uninsured people in the US remained historically low in early 2016, with only 8.6% of respondents living without healthcare coverage.

The AP (9/7, Alonso-Zaldivar) reports the uninsured rate “has been cut by nearly half under Obama’s law.” The survey “estimated that 27.3 million people remained uninsured in the first three months of this year, about 21 million fewer than in 2010, when Obama signed the Affordable Care Act.”

Related Links:

— “Percentage of Uninsured Historically Low,” LOUISE RADNOFSKY, Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2016. [SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED]

The ABC News (9/6, Mehta) website reports, “Interactions with physicians have dramatically changed since the introduction of electronic health records (EHRs), with the switch from paper intended to increase physician interactions with patients.” Now researchers have found that physicians “may spend nearly half their time documenting and performing administrative tasks rather than having face-to-face time with patients.”

STAT (9/6, Bush) reports, “Electronic health records slow doctors down and distract them from meaningful face time caring for patients,” researchers found in a “time and motion study published” in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Doctors May Spend Nearly Half Their Time on ‘Paperwork,’ Study Says,” DR. SHAILJA MEHTA, ABC News, September 6, 2016.

MedPage Today (9/6, Swift) reports that research suggests “adults with arthritis” may have “significantly higher odds of suicide attempts.” Investigators found, “in an analysis that adjusted for sociodemographics, childhood adversities, lifetime mental health, and chronic pain, the odds ratio for suicide attempts among adults with arthritis was 1.46 (95% CI 1.15-1.85).” The data indicated that, “compared with people without arthritis, the prevalence of ever attempting suicide was higher for both male patients (3.9% versus 2%) and female patients (5.3% versus 3.2%).” The findings of the large study were published in the September issue of Rheumatology International.

Related Links:

— “Higher Odds of Suicide Attempts in Adults With Arthritis,” Diana Swift, MedPage Today, September 6, 2016.

MedPage Today (9/4, Boyles) reported that research indicated individuals “with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who remained physically active were less likely to experience depression and anxiety as their disease progressed.” In the large study, researchers found that “higher physical activity level at baseline was associated with an 11% reduced risk of developing anxiety over 5 years of follow-up, and a 15% reduced risk for depression.” Meanwhile, in a separate “study, a survey of hospital- and community-based exercise practitioners in Canada found that many programs were not following international guidelines for exercise therapy in a COPD patient population.” Both studies were presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.

Related Links:

— “ERS: Exercise Curtails COPD Depression, Anxiety,” Salynn Boyles, MedPage Today, September 4, 2016.