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The internet has democratized medical knowledge, allowing people to learn about their symptoms and conditions without leaving their couch. But have medical websites let people draw conclusions about their health without really understanding what they’re reading? Do they inform patients so they can have better expectations when they see a doctor, or do they do more harm than good? (8/29)

On Tuesday, Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak, who runs Tennessee’s Department of Commerce and Insurance, announced that her department was approving massive premium increases for insurers providing individual health insurance policies through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act exchange in the state. The percentage increases are stunning and prompted the commissioner to put them in context. Her context was more stunning than the increases themselves. “I would characterize the exchange market in Tennessee as very near collapse,” McPeak said. (Frank Daniels III, 8/27)

Nebraskans can heave a sigh of relief that Aetna will continue to sell individual health insurance policies in Nebraska through the government marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. Aetna is pulling out of 11 other states, leaving their health insurance marketplaces in tatters. In fact for the first time ever the people in one Arizona county won’t be able to purchase any insurance at all through the ACA government marketplace; no insurers are offering coverage there. (8/27)

When Gov. Matt Bevin sent federal officials his formal plan for changing Medicaid, he kept a chilling line from his draft: saying it "represents the terms under which the Commonwealth will continue Medicaid expansion," the move made by his Democratic predecessor, Steve Beshear. The line made people wonder if Bevin would really take health care away from more than 400,000 Kentuckians, a draconian option he favored during his campaign, until other Republicans persuaded him that might be unwise, at least politically. (Al Cross, 8/26)

As one of the lawyers in the vanguard of litigating against Obamacare in the courts back in 2010, I have long maintained that it sounded the death knell for private insurance in the health-care industry. That’s because insurance only works when coverage is bought before your car crashes, or your home floods, or you get really sick. If we can wait until disaster strikes and then purchase that coverage at the same price anyway, why would anyone in his or her right mind buy it in advance? (Blaine Winship, 8/27)

Eight years ago, at a campaign town hall meeting in Minnesota, a woman told Republican nominee John McCain that she was troubled by the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency. “I can’t trust Obama,” the woman said into a wireless microphone Sen. McCain had handed her. “I have read about him and he’s not, he’s not, uh — he’s an Arab.” It was a sentiment Republicans had expressed frequently at events that week in 2008. It was, for Sen. McCain, a moment that candidates regularly face — a decision about which thresholds they’ll allow their campaigns to cross. (8/28)

I need to set the record straight regarding Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to tax hospitals (Aug. 18 Eagle). The governor has stated that he wants to increase the current hospital provider tax to replace his 4 percent Medicaid provider reimbursement cut and to help struggling rural hospitals. The governor seems to be saying that in order to reverse the 4 percent rate cuts, he is going to increase a tax on the very entities those cuts are hurting. That is at best inconsistent. More likely, it would exacerbate the problems being faced by health care providers. (Tom Bell, 8/28)

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have their hands full these days. An epidemic of obesity has hit Americans hard, raising the risks for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. Childhood obesity is a particular prevalent problem...But behind the scenes, mounting evidence suggests that rather than cracking down on the soda industry, high-ranking officials within the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion are instead cozying up to beverage giant Coca-Cola and its industry allies, even in some cases aiding the industry as it argues that sodas are not to blame. (Carey Gillam, 8/27)

Earlier this year, I called attention to the dangers added sugars pose to cardiovascular health and other health outcomes.  In the months since, many people have told me how surprised they’ve been to learn about the sugar hidden in their healthy morning yogurt or afternoon energy bar.  Frankly, I was too.  And this lack of food literacy is a driving factor behind our nation’s growing health crisis and obesity epidemic. Some health-conscious organizations are trying to bridge that information gap.  This week, the American Heart Association (AHA) came out with its first ever scientific statement on added sugar for children.  A team of scientists conducted an extensive review of the available evidence published in peer-reviewed studies examining the cardiovascular health effects of added sugars on children, and came to a powerful conclusion. (Bill Frist, 8/27)

The alarming increase in deaths of rural, middle-aged white women reported in the Aug. 22 Washington Post article “White women are dying younger: an undertaker’s sad lesson,” should be an urgent call to action for regional leaders and non-profit organizations like ours to work together to reverse the tide of tragically young deaths like those of Lois A. Maxwell and Betty West. (Lori Sliwa and Sister Robbie Pentecost, 8/27)

Out of sight, out of mind, a phrase we have heard sporadically thrown about, in this instance rings true. When pain, isolation, depression and dementia are locked away behind hospital walls, we fail to see the problem. Our society, somewhere down the line, has shifted. It went from rendering respect to the wisdom of the elderly and compassion to the wounded, to creating concrete walls to house those who no longer hold the ability to physically produce. This, combined with other naturally caused conditions, has led to what we are now witnessing: a high prevalence of mental illness among our elders and disabled. (Jennifer Nava, 8/25)

According to a June 2016 analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of all high school students who have ever used cannabis fell from an estimated 43 percent in 1995 (one year prior to the passage of the nation’s first medical pot law) to 39 percent in 2015. The percentage of teens currently using pot (defined as at least once in the past 30 days) also declined during this same period, from 25 percent in 1995 to 22 percent in 2015. (Paul Armentano, 8/26)

Since arriving in Lexington for medical school 16 years ago, I have seen a lot of change at the University of Kentucky. Buildings have come and gone and so have faculty and staff. What I have seen has made me into an internist and pediatrician but also a member of a team of doctors, nurses and others who work hard for the patients we serve. (Dr. L. Curtis Cary, 8/28)