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Essential benefit requirements apply mainly to individual and small group plans. The federal requirements also affect benefits provided to people newly eligible for Medicaid coverage. Now, for instance, we know that insurers won't be allowed to can't charge consumers a copay for a screening colonoscopy, even if a polyp is removed.

Under the health care overhaul, many people who find their job-based health coverage too expensive can get help buying insurance through exchanges. But rules just finalized by the Internal Revenue Service will limit who is eligible for a subsidy and could leave some families shut out.

The federal law overhauling health care requires that contraceptives be made available to insured women without any out-of-pocket costs to them. Many family planning clinics aren't yet set up to accommodate women under those terms.

In some cases, "observation" may be no more than a billing designation that allows hospitals to move patients out of crowded emergency departments. Hospitals also may use them to avoid potential insurance reimbursement problems.

During match week, med students learn if, and where, they will go for a residency program. It's a nerve-wracking process, but it's supposed to give students an advantage – allowing them to have the same ability to rank their favorite programs as hospitals have to choose the best applicants.

Pressure on doctors and hospitals to reduce the rate of early elective deliveries appears to be working. A detailed look at hospitals across the country finds births before 39 weeks are on the decline.

Many long-term care policies sold 30 years ago didn't specifically cover assisted living facilities. Policyholders rely on clauses that say new kinds of care will be covered when it becomes available, but the ultimate decision rests with insurers.

Rates for female applicants could be up to 40 percent higher under the new pricing policy from Genworth Financial, the country's largest long-term care insurer. The company says women account for two out of every three dollars spent on claims.

Even as deaths in acute-care hospitals declined in recent years, the use of intensive care units in the last month of life increased. There has been greater use of hospice care, but much of it was for three days or less at the very end of life, a study finds.

Patients with the blood disorder can experience severe pain. But when they arrive at the emergency room seeking help, health care personnel often think their requests for narcotics are a sign of addiction. Nursing professor Paula Tanabe is helping to illuminate the problem and improve treatment.