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With clean drinking water scarce for millions of people in flood-ravaged parts of Pakistan, the risk of a cholera outbreak is increasing.

The latest health debate in Washington centers on which expenses insurers can count as spending on medical care. How the rules are decided will determine which companies comply with the new health law, and which ones will have to pay rebates.

Dr. Donald Berwick, federal chief of Medicare and Medicaid, asked insurers for their help in making health overhaul a success and to achieve common goals. Cheaper, better health care is in everyone's interest, he said.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is probing credit cards being pushed by health care providers, including vets. After a teaser rate expires, the interest charges balloon and leave consumers with unexpectedly big bills.

Of nearly 11,000 malpractice claims paid on behalf of doctors in 2009, some 43 percent were for errors in outpatient settings. Diagnostic errors were the most common problem leading to malpractice payments for outpatients.

The new health law will compel insurers to pay for all sorts of preventive and screening services that are supported by strong evidence.

Physicians who pack on the pounds discuss weight loss less frequently with obese patients than doctors who have normal weights, a study finds. Overweight and obese physicians expressed greater confidence in prescribing weight-loss drugs than other doctors.

Insurers often don't cover condoms, contraceptive sponges and spermicides unless people get a prescription for them. And that requires thinking ahead.

While overall rates have dropped, there is still a major gap separating white, Hispanic and black teenagers. Non-Hispanic white teen pregnancy rates fell by 50 percent from their peak; Hispanic teen pregnancy rates, 37 percent; black teen pregnancy rates, 48 percent.

You're in luck, if you live in the District of Columbia or one of the 21 states that have put in place specialists to handle questions and complaints private health insurance. Otherwise the maze could prove daunting.