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Over the next few months people across the U.S. will have to make decisions about health coverage. The questions about how that it will all work keep coming in, with people seeking details about available plans and the size of the penalties if they don't comply.

President Obama says he's pretty frustrated with the messed-up computer system for insurance enrollment under the Affordable Care Act. If he gets it fixed by mid-November all will be well, analysts say. But further delay could mean real trouble.

The Affordable Care Act included a sales tax on medical devices that is supposed to help pay for the expansion of health insurance coverage. But the tax is being levied on some devices, such as ultrasound scanners, that are used to diagnose and treat animals instead of humans.

Students aren't employees, and student health plans are generally individual policies that the students buy on their own, even if they're offered through the college. So mandatory coverage of birth control for students shouldn't be delayed past August, but it could take longer for the faculty, advocates say.

Despite the federal overhaul of health care, people in the pools are left out because of a wrinkle in legal language. The high-risk pools aren't licensed as insurers in most states, so they're not subject to the federal law.

As biotech investments and medical device development falters, hospitals are turning to other avenues to help cut costs: streamlining billing systems and investing in simpler medical products.

Before a colonoscopy, ask the doctor about his or her detection rate for polyps. And find out how long, on average, the doctor takes to withdraw the scope from the patient. About 10 minutes is the optimal duration, a recent analysis says.

Enrollment in health savings accounts grew 18 percent last year as employers continued to steer workers into high-deductible medical plans.

Babies are born too soon at a higher rate in the United States than in 125 other countries. The first worldwide rankings of preterm births show the problem isn't limited to the developing world.

Under some state laws, a patient's positive test for alcohol can mean that insurers won't pay hospitals and doctors for care after an accident. To sidestep the potential problem, hospitals often don't screen patients for alcohol use.