The Health News USA April 27 2018

• A federal judge has blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from terminating grant funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs run by affiliates of Planned Parenthood, saying the decision was arbitrary. U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice in Spokane, Washington, ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had failed to satisfactorily explain why it decided in July to terminate the 5-year grants 2 years early.
• Anthem reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as it kept a tight leash on patient payouts, prompting the health insurer to raise its full-year profit forecast. The company said it was prioritizing investments throughout 2018 on infrastructure that can quickly respond to the evolving needs of its customers – a sign it may continue to steer clear of major acquisitions. The healthcare sector has been rapidly consolidating over the past year with companies looking for new ways to bolster profits as the industry faces greater scrutiny for rising costs.
• According to a new study presented at the Experimental Biology annual meeting in San Diego, California this week, skipping breakfast is a predictor of future weight gain and increases your chances of becoming obese. Eating in the morning jump starts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day. A well-balanced breakfast gives the body nutrients that tend to get neglected during the day.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 27th of April 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-teens-pregnancy/u-s-cannot-cut-teen-pregnancy-prevention-grants-federal-judge-idUSKBN1HW2AR

A federal judge has blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from terminating grant funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs run by affiliates of Planned Parenthood, saying the decision was arbitrary. U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice in Spokane, Washington, ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had failed to satisfactorily explain why it decided in July to terminate the five-year grants two years early.

He rejected the administration’s contention that a ruling favoring Planned Parenthood would “handcuff” policymakers and force the government to continue funding multi-year grant projects even when they are not in its best interest.
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The ruling was hailed by the plaintiffs in the case, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. It followed a similar decision last week by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. who ruled in favor of four other grant recipients in finding the administration’s cuts were unlawful.
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The case was among four announced in February by Planned Parenthood, a non-profit that provides contraception, health screenings and abortions, and other services including those centered on the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. Congress created the program in two thousand ten during Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration. Congress has continued to appropriate about one hundred ten million dollars annually for the program since then. HHS currently funds eighty four grants, and Planned Parenthood says the program serves one point two million young people nationally. In July, however, HHS told recipients of eighty one of the five-year grants that it would be terminating their agreements two years early. The remaining three were terminated in September.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/25/health-insurer-anthem-tops-profit-estimates-raises-forecast.html

Anthem reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as it kept a tight leash on patient payouts, prompting the health insurer to raise its full-year profit forecast. The company said it was prioritizing investments throughout two thousand eighteen on infrastructure that can quickly respond to the evolving needs of its customers – a sign it may continue to steer clear of major acquisitions. The healthcare sector has been rapidly consolidating over the past year with companies looking for new ways to bolster profits as the industry faces greater scrutiny for rising costs.

Rival Aetna is expected to be bought for sixty nine billion dollars by pharmacy chain CVS Health and Cigna has proposed acquiring Express Scripts, the largest U.S. independent pharmacy benefit manager, for fifty four billion dollars. Last year, Anthem announced a plan to launch an in-house pharmacy benefit management business in two thousand twenty. On Wednesday, the company said its benefit expense ratio improved to eighty one point five percent from eighty point seven percent in the same period a year ago.

Anthem’s net income rose thirty percent to one point thirty one billion dollars, or four dollars and ninety nine cents per share, in the first quarter ended March thirty one. Medical enrollment totaled about thirty nine point six million members at March thirty one, a fall of two point five percent, driven predominantly by a reduced footprint in Obamacare market. Total revenue was largely flat at twenty two point fifty four billion dollars.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/eat-breakfast-prevent-future-weight-gain-decrease-chances/story?id=54706393

According to a new study presented at the Experimental Biology annual meeting in San Diego, California this week, skipping breakfast is a predictor of future weight gain and increases your chances of becoming obese. Researchers looked at three hundred forty seven healthy men and women over a period of twelve years. All of these people had a normal body mass index — a weight-to-height ratio used as an admittedly imperfect measure of body fat — when they started the study and were consistent in their eating habits for at least two years. They were asked how many times a week they ate breakfast from the following selection of answers: never, one to four times or five to seven times.

At the end of twelve years, they found that people who skipped breakfast more than three times a week had a larger waist circumference — meaning they gained that dangerous belly fat. This was most common in older men. The most overall weight gain at about ten pounds was found in those that never ate breakfast.
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Eating in the morning jump starts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day. A well-balanced breakfast gives the body nutrients that tend to get neglected during the day. Furthermore, non-breakfast eaters were found to have a high post-lunch insulin spike and increased amounts of inflammatory markers circulating in their system. Chronic inflammation has been known to lead to many other diseases, especially obesity. Fluctuating insulin levels lead to diabetes and weight gain as well.  The American Dietary Association recommends whole grains, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and fruits and/or vegetables as part of a balanced diet. Protein shakes and bars can be good but beware of those that are laden with simple sugars and carbohydrates. Breakfast eaters, in general, tend to make better food choices than non-breakfast eaters and are more active. So it’s possible that eating breakfast is a “marker” for other more healthy behaviors.