Daily Rounds: 'Sick In Mass' Poll; Obamacare Changes Remain; Brain Freezer Fails

WBUR poll: Mass. health costs ' a serious problem' for many (WBUR) - "Our poll, 'Sick In Massachusetts,' finds that 78 percent of patient respondents say the cost of care is a very serious or somewhat serious problem. And 63 percent say the problem has gotten worse over the last five years. The poll was conducted in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and WBUR."

United Health to keep reform provisions, regardless of ruling (Reuters) - "UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer by market value, said it would maintain the health coverage protections included in President Barack Obama's healthcare law regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the legislation. The provisions UnitedHealth will maintain include continuing to provide coverage for dependents up to age 26 under their parents' plan. The company will also continue to offer certain preventive healthcare services without requiring a co-payment, which include annual check-ups, screening for high-blood pressure and diabetes, and immunizations. UnitedHealth will also continue to forgo lifetime dollar coverage limits on policies."

Hospitals aren't waiting for verdict on health care law (The New York Times) - "Win, lose or draw in court, administrators said, the policies driving the federal health care law are already embedded in big cuts and new payment formulas that hospitals ignore at their peril. And even if the law is repealed after the next election, the economic pressure to care differently for more people at lower cost is irreversible."

 Freezer failure at brain bank hampers autism research (The Boston Globe) - "A freezer malfunction at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital has severely damaged one-third of the world’s largest collection of autism brain samples, potentially setting back research on the disorder by years, scientists say. An official at the renowned brain bank in Belmont discovered that the freezer had shut down in late May, without triggering two alarms. Inside, they found 150 thawed brains that had turned dark from decay; about a third of them were part of a collection of autism brains."