California's Budget Woes Slow Health Reform Rollout

Health Reform: California's $25 billion budget deficit is slowing down the state's efforts to implement national health reform, Sarah Kliff reports for Politico. Still, it's in the national forefront of states preparing for the 2014 individual mandate to obtain health insurance. In the meantime, a federal government (no-brainer) study finds that most uninsured people can't pay their hospital bills, leaving the nation's hospitals with a $49 billion yearly tab.

Health Costs: One reason why our health care costs keep going up: a new study finds that Medicare patients are getting more colonoscopies than recommended, Steven Reinberg reports for HealthDay.

Children's Health: Florida lawmakers have passed a controversial bill making it illegal for pediatricians to ask kids or their parents whether they have guns in the home, Emily P. Walker reports for MedPage Today.

Plague: An unusual case of bubonic plague has been reported in New Mexico, Amie Ninh reports for Time's Healthland blog.

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Photo credit: Jason Meredith via Flickr