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Just because medical marijuana is legal where you live doesn't mean your health insurer will deem it worthy of coverage. The feds still classify it as a controlled substance with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, so insurers and employers are wary of paying for it.

Health premiums are going up for 2013, though not quite as much as in 2012. Even so, the tab will likely be bigger for most people who get health coverage at work. Employers are asking workers to shoulder a bigger portion of the costs.

In a switch, Medicare began covering smoking cessation counseling for smokers without symptoms of disease back in 2010. Beneficiaries are eligible for up to two four-session smoking cessation counseling attempts a year.

Medicare is withholding 1 percent of its regular hospital payments to fund bonuses for hospitals that score well on quality tests. Separately, Medicare will penalize hospitals that have higher than expected readmission rates.

Since the health law was enacted, 22 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or regulations that encouraged insurers to begin selling child-only policies again, a study found. But in many states there are no restrictions on how much insurers can charge for them.

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.

Nearly three-quarters of states get poor grades when it comes to laws about the making available prices for health care. Most consumers are unaware of the tremendous variation in price for health care services.

Patients feel little personal responsibility for keeping health costs lower, a study found. They were also unlikely to accept a less expensive treatment option, even if it was nearly as effective as a more expensive choice.

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.

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.