WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld President Obama’s health care overhaul law, saying its requirement that most Americans obtain insurance or pay a penalty was authorized by Congress’s power to levy taxes. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s

The Private Hospital Association has demanded the reimbursement rate for emergency patients under three different state-run health schemes be increased.The association has sent the request to the National Health Security Office and Public Health Ministry, NHSO secretary-general Dr Winai Sawadiworn s

Premature birth may increase the risk for serious mental illness in adolescence and young adulthood, a recent study reports.Researchers reviewed birth and hospital admissions records of more than 1.3 million Swedes born from 1973 to 1985. They found that compared with those born at term, young adult

After decades of controversy, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new H.I.V. test on Tuesday that for the first time makes it possible for Americans to learn in the privacy of their homes whether they are infected.The availability of an H.I.V. test as easy to use as a home-pregnancy kit is y

Time-lapse photography has shown that embryos of smoking women develop more slowly.French academics in an IVF clinic took regular pictures of an egg from the moment it was fertilised until it was ready to be implanted into the mother.At all stages of development, embryos from smokers were consistent

More rationing of care and charging for services in the NHS need to be considered as it faces at least a decade of austerity, experts say.The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the coming years will be the toughest since the early 1950s when dental and prescription fees were introduced.Other measures

Taking an eighth of a developing embryo during IVF treatment to test for genetic diseases is “completely safe”, according to the largest study of babies born following the technique.Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can help doctors spot diseases like cystic fibrosis before deciding whether to

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed healthcare systems around the world. One of important issues that COVID-19 clearly emphasizes is the critical importance of information on health technology and policy. Handling the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult at the beginning because humanity all faced the

Why do we need to make health technology assessment (HTA) more realistic? Is HTA not realistic nowadays? The answers can be both YES and NO.HTA is a form of research for synthesising data to evaluate properties, effects, and impacts of health interventions and technology in diffe

By Chayapat Rachatan and Kanchanok SirisonOn June 28, 2022, the Health Technology and Assessment Program (HITAP), Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, hosted a workshop on “Health incentive mechanisms present and future: UK’s experience of Pay for Performance and Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF)”. I