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Waivers to End: After Sept. 22, employers won’t be able to apply for a waiver of the health-care overhaul law’s $750,000 minimum annual-benefit payout requirement, the WSJ reports. Health-benefit providers can be exempted from the requirement if it would mean a significant premium boost or benefits reduction; those receiving waivers so far have mostly been employers offering so-called mini-med, or limited-benefit, plans, the paper says.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the advocacy arm of the ACS, says it knows the best three-pronged strategy for getting more people to quit smoking: increasing tobacco taxes, passing laws that ban smoking at bars, restaurants and in the workplace and funding state tobacco cessation and prevention programs.

Two new reports from the group try to put some numbers on the potential impact of those first two prongs.

The FDA’s much-anticipated new sunscreen rules are out, nearly four years after the agency originally proposed changes.

Though we’re all used to picking a sunscreen on the basis of its sun protection factor (SPF), that number refers only to UVB rays, which cause burning and skin cancer. The longer-wavelength UVA rays can wreak their own damage, though, including playing a role in premature aging and contributing to skin cancer. (Here’s how the Skin Cancer Foundation explains the types of radiation.)

The food pyramid is dead. Long live the plate!

The USDA today announced the latest attempt to conceptualize the government’s dietary advice in a way consumers can understand. (The pyramid was widely regarded as confusing, if not incomprehensible.)

At the start of this year, Merck indicated it might be sell off the consumer health products business it acquired as part of its takeover of Schering-Plough.

“We have to look at it to see what role it could play longer term in a portfolio. Can it be a significant contributor to a company of our size?” Merck CEO Ken Frazier told investors attending the Goldman Sachs Healthcare CEO’s conference.

Consumers should be getting mental health benefits on par with those for medical and surgical care, thanks to the 2008 federal mental health parity law.

But whether they are actually getting equal coverage remains a question. Some employers have dropped mental-health coverage altogether to avoid having to beef up their offerings. And many patients don’t know enough about their benefits or parity to ask questions about changes.

If started within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, consuming zinc is associated with a shorter and less severe cold.

Read more here: Zinc May Help With Your Cold, But Ideal Dose Isn’t Clear

Out of the ten companies that now make up Dossia, six have deployed a digitized health record, Critelli tells us.

Go here to see the original:  Dossia’s New CEO Michael Critelli Talks Lessons Learned

Chinese health-care companies are outlining their business strategies to standing room-only audiences.

Read the original:  JP Morgan Healthcare: Chinese Companies Are This Year’s Hot Ticket

Depending on the disease and accuracy of the test, people said they’d pay up to $622 to know if they would get the disease.

View original post here:  Would You Pay $479 to Learn if You’re Going to Get Alzheimer’s?