The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court's decision to toss out a healthcare reform challenge from a New Jersey doctor and one of his patients.

The lawsuit, filed the day after the law was enacted last year, argues that Dr. Mario Criscito and an anonymous "Patient Roe" would be harmed by the law because the patient pays directly without relying on insurance. The law's individual mandate requiring that most people have insurance or pay a penalty, the complaint alleges, "will have a direct, substantial impact upon Dr. Criscito's medical practice, the manner in which he may, or may not, seek payment for his professional services and the manner in which he may render treatment to his patients."

The appeals court, however, ruled that the doctor and patient failed to show they would suffer "an actual or imminent 'concrete and particularized' injury."

The debt-ceiling deal doesn't actually reduce federal spending on healthcare, The New York Times points out.

Kaiser Health News explains the rationale behind what has to be the health law's worst acronym, PCORI (the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute).

A reinsurance program created by the Oregon Legislature after insurers stopped offering new child-only policies because of the federal health law kicks off, the Portland Oregonian reports.

Australia seals a deal with states to overhaul public hospital funding, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports.

The Health and Human Services Department will split up the workload of overseeing insurance exchanges after its top exchanges official leaves the department this month.

The head of HHS' exchanges office, Joel Ario, is leaving his post next month. Steve Larsen, who runs the health reform office that includes exchanges planning and many other functions, said in an e-mail to agency employees that he and another HHS official will take over planning for the exchanges — a cornerstone of the new health law.

Larsen will share the task with Tim Hill, a deputy director of the health reform office who has also held several other positions within HHS.

"Tim’s talent and experience here at CMS will ensure a smooth transition and will compliment my background working in state government for over a decade,  particularly my time as a state insurance commissioner," Larsen said in the e-mail.

The department released its first round of exchanges regulations earlier this summer, and states and stakeholders are clamoring for more information abut the new insurance marketplaces.

Larsen's e-mail says he and Hill will hire a state liaison. HHS wants each state to run its own exchange, rather than rely on a federally administered fallback.

Conflicting estimates provide ammunition to both parties as they debate how much the law will end up costing.

Senate Republicans say the Health and Human Services Department should set standardized rules in an effort to coax insurance companies back to selling plans specifically for children.

Insurers in many states left the child-only market because the healthcare reform law requires them to cover children with pre-existing conditions. Although insurers can't deny sick children access to the policies they sell, they're not legally required to sell child-only plans.

According to a report released Tuesday by Republicans on the Senate Health committee, child-only plans are entirely unavailable in 17 states.

The report calls for a uniform open enrollment period, established by HHS, to revive children's plans. Parents would have to purchase coverage within a certain window or pay a penalty.

"This would provide greater stability in the marketplace for carriers and consumers by preventing individuals from waiting until a child is sick before purchasing insurance," the report states.

As insurers began leaving the child-only market last year, HHS clarified that states are free to establish their own open enrollment periods. A uniform period would standardize the enrollment period across all 50 states.

Anti-cancer advocates say the healthcare reform law offers the potential to reduce cancer care disparities, but only if it's implemented correctly.

Racial and ethnic minorities fare worse than others when afflicted with cancer, research shows, even after controlling for income. And poor people are particularly at risk; for example, cancer patients on Medicaid often fare no better than those without insurance because of the program's low reimbursement rates.

New recommendations from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) published in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology cover such topics as insurance reform, quality of care, prevention, research and diversity in the healthcare workforce.

Fewer than 4 percent of U.S. hospitals provide the full range of support mothers need to be able to breastfeed, according to a new government report that calls the shortcomings a missed chance to combat childhood obesity.

“Hospitals play a vital role in supporting a mother to be able to breastfeed,” Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement accompanying the report. “Those first few hours and days that a mom and her baby spend learning to breastfeed are critical. Hospitals need to better support breastfeeding, as this is one of the most important things a mother can do for her newborn. Breastfeeding helps babies grow up healthy and reduces health care costs.”

The CDC report is based on data from the national survey of “Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care.” The survey measures the percent of U.S. hospitals with practices that are in line with the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding” developed by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Only 2 percent of employers are "very likely" to stop offering coverage in 2014, according to a new survey.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday began to seek public input on the user fees it will soon begin imposing on the food industry in order to meet its enhanced role in keeping the nation's food safe.

The Food Safety Modernization Act that became law in January provides the FDA with authority to assess and collect user fees to help regulators carry out their new roles. These include domestic and foreign facility reinspections, verifying compliance with recall orders  and importer reinspections.

"The Agency is seeking public comment on what burdens these fees impose on small business, and whether and how the Agency should alleviate such burdens," the agency said in a request for comments and information. "In particular, the Agency is seeking public comments on whether a reduction of fees or other consideration for small business is appropriate, and if so, what factors the Agency should consider for each. In addition, the Agency is seeking public comment on how small business should be defined or recognized."