HEALTH

“Does sleeping more increase lifespan? You may be able to sleep your way to a longer life. According to recently published research involving 172,321 adults, men who get adequate sleep live about five years longer than men who don't. For women, it's two years.” Sleep and longevity: How quality sleep impacts your life span - Mayo Clinic Press.

Axios - Mounting public anger over health insurance is prompting more state legislatures to tighten oversight of the industry, starting with its use of AI to screen claims and issue denials. While congressional scrutiny of the industry picked up following the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month, states are the primary regulators of health insurance and are best positioned to address access to and adequacy of care.

Even before Thompson's killing revealed widespread anger over insurer decisions, states were targeting prior authorization and other tools health plans use to manage health care use, with more than 90 different bills proposed last year, according to Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms...

California last week began prohibiting the use of AI for coverage denials, and lawmakers in Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania are vowing to bring up the issue this year, Bloomberg Law reports. In New Jersey, state-regulated health insurance companies will have to decide more quickly whether they will cover a test or treatment recommended by a patient's doctor.  A slew of health insurance reforms took effect at the start of the year in Illinois, including a ban on "step therapy," where patients have to use cheaper drugs before being approved for more expensive ones. Read more

Most Overweight & Obese States in America

Nutritional supplements and vitamins are more popular than ever. Do they work? Very few dietary supplements on the market have been rigorously tested for efficacy or safety.