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The more oral sex someone has had, the greater their risk of getting oral cancers that grow in the middle part of the throat. Transmission of the human papillomavirus is the reason, a leading researcher says.

Few options are available for the 42,000 Pennsylvanians losing coverage by the end of the month. Their state-subsidized health plan is out of money, and new Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is terminating the program.

Patients often welcome palliative care once it is explained that it can be more than hospice care. Many doctors, on the other hand, are still slow to embrace the approach.

When the severity of patient sickness and special local expenses are taken into account, some areas marked by big Medicare outlays flip from profligate to average or even frugal, according to the calculations from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Half a dozen states are considering changes in laws that would allow psychologists to prescribe medicines to treat mental illness. Shortages of psychiatrists in some areas and psychologists' success in New Mexico have given the approach traction, despite the objections of medical doctors.

A Maryland program to prevent hospital complications goes further than most, including those already under way in Medicare and new ones slated to begin next year under the health care overhaul law.

To boost the odds you'll stick with your medicines, try taking your pills when you do something else on a regular schedule, such as brushing your teeth. Signing up for automatic refills may also help.

To reduce the odds a patient will have to return to the hospital, some health systems are trying to do a better job coordinating care. Starting in 2012, the federal health law will penalize hospitals for excess readmissions for some conditions.

The federal health overhaul law imposed a variety of restrictions on flexible spending accounts as a way to boost government revenue. Now a backlash is brewing in Congress and bills to roll back some of the changes are getting traction.

Amid last year's debate over the federal health overhaul, the American Medical Association was the biggest spender for lobbying operations among health care groups. Overall, though, the top 10 health care players spent 9 percent less than they did the year before.