Obese people are less likely to survive cancer, and one reason may be a surprising inequality: The overweight are undertreated. Doctors often short them on chemotherapy by not basing the dose on a person's size, as they should. They use ideal weight or cap the dose out of fear about how much treatment an obese patient can bear. Yet research shows that bigger people handle chemo better than smaller people do. Even a little less chemo can mean worse odds of survival, and studies suggest that as many as 40 percent of obese cancer patients have been getting less than 85 percent of the right dose for their size.
As the new St. Joseph's Hospital in Highland, Ill., prepared to open in August, its chief executive exulted, "You feel like you could be at the Marriott." In the $63 million community hospital, patients all enjoy private rooms, with couches, flat-screen TVs and views of nature. Its lobby features stone fireplaces and a waterfall. Some hospitals in the United States, like Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, have long been associated with deluxe accommodations, and others have always had suites for V.I.P.'s. But today even many smaller hospitals often offer general amenities, like room service and nail salons, more often associated with hotels than health care.
FORTUNE -- As health insurance is reshaped, some major corporations are switching the way they offer coverage to current employees and retirees, in a move that is likely to pave the way for major change to the American health care system. IBM -- which has about 110,000 retirees -- is planning to shift its traditional company-administered plan to private Medicare health insurance exchanges for people who are 65 and older. Retirees can use company subsidies to buy Medicare Advantage plans or other coverage to supplement the services they receive under the federal program.
In about 10 days, the face of health care in America will change as the biggest part of the health care overhaul signed into law in 2010 takes effect with the opening of the federal Health Insurance Marketplace. The marketplace will offer those currently with and without health insurance a chance to see what new options for coverage are available under the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. Some people will be able to remain on their current insurance if it meets the standards of the act. Some will be able to afford insurance for the first time.
There is a boom in urgent care centers and stand-alone emergency rooms in El Paso, as competition for market share heats up ahead of next month's enactment of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. El Paso has long suffered from one of the worst doctor shortages in the nation, which means doctors are often overworked, waiting rooms are crowded and scheduling medical appointments can be difficult. It also means the demand for low-cost, walk-in urgent care centers is growing, and the El Paso market has caught the eye of out-of-town health care companies and local hospital chains, as well as enterprising doctors.
WASHINGTON — Federal officials often say that health insurance will cost consumers less than expected under President Obama's health care law. But they rarely mention one big reason: many insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and hospitals available to consumers. From California to Illinois to New Hampshire, and in many states in between, insurers are driving down premiums by restricting the number of providers who will treat patients in their new health plans. When insurance marketplaces open on Oct. 1, most of those shopping for coverage will be low- and moderate-income people for whom price is paramount.