Carla K. Johnson, AP Medical Writer

• Heart failure hospital stays fall, saving billions

  By Carla K. Johnson, AP Medical Writer  |  October 18, 2011

  Hospital stays for heart failure fell a remarkable 30 percent in Medicare patients over a decade, the first such decline in the United States and forceful evidence that the nation is making headway in reducing the billion-dollar burden of a common condition.

• Illinois takes slow approach on health exchange

  By Carla K. Johnson, AP Medical Writer  |  June 8, 2011

  Lawmakers in Illinois have opted for the slow approach to establishing an insurance marketplace that's key to the President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.