Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.

Input: Consider Input: Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital plans to open a second proton therapy center in 2020, and Mercy Hospital St. Louis expects to open its own proton center two years later, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported . Proton therapy zap cancerous cells with precise beams of radiation while sparing surrounding tissue. Unlike traditional X-rays, the proton beams stop at the tumor instead of traveling through the body. The new $32 million proton system planned at Barnes-Jewish Hospital will provide “pencil-beam” precision to target tumors, said Dr. Jeffrey Bradley, director of Siteman’s S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center. It will be built next to a $20 million machine, which opened in late 2013, that uses magnets to scatter proton beams across a tumor. Siteman has treated about 800 patients with the proton therapy, close to its projections of 200 patients a year. The first proton centers built in the 1990s were known for their football-field size and up to $200 million price tag. To offset the costs, the centers marketed heavily to men with prostate cancer, despite a lack of evidence that patients have better outcomes or fewer side effects compared to cheaper treatment alternatives. In 2013, Washington University was the first to open a smaller, less-expensive proton system with one treatment room. “That’s very different from other centers that went all in, borrowed money, and put in four-room centers,” Bradley said. “The one room at a time idea is a very viable idea.” Bradley and other radiation oncologists say a major hurdle is insurance companies’ reluctance to cover proton therapy. That can cost 50 percent to 75 percent more than traditional radiation, according to industry groups. “Where the insurers like to say that proton therapy is not beneficial is often because they do not perform an adequate review of the evidence,” said Scott Warwick, executive director of the National Association for Proton Therapy. “We have notified the payers that they have often either misinterpreted data, reviewed older evidence or omitted key evidence in development of their coverage policies.” ___ Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

Output: St. Louis medical organizations plan more proton therapy.


Input: Consider Input: Tuesday is the final day of Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month, and the state CDC says it’s recommending prevention, screening and treatment. The agency says Maine has seen “dramatic increases” in gonorrhea and syphilis in the last five years. Gonorrhea cases increased nearly 200 percent, to 686, from 2014 to 2018. Syphilis cases have risen by almost 600 percent, to 104, in that same timeframe. Acting Maine CDC Director Nancy Beardsley says the health consequences of sexually transmitted infections are serious enough that residents “know the facts about STDs and get tested if they believe they are at risk.”

Output: Maine stresses test as sexually transmitted infections surge.


Input: Consider Input: Kentucky’s Medicaid enrollment is down “probably around 41,000” over the last five months, Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Adam Meier told state lawmakers Tuesday. The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy says the decline is steeper than that, with enrollment falling by more than 96,000 from January to September. A decline is also happening in other assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. “We’re seeing the No. 1 reason people are not enrolling is they are making too much income,” Meier said. The decline comes as the Trump administration has approved new rules — tentatively set to begin April 1 — for some of Kentucky’s Medicaid population that would require them to get a job, go to school or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to keep their coverage. Critics say the new rules will prevent people from getting health care, noting official estimates show it will decrease Kentucky’s Medicaid enrollment by 95,000 people over the next five years. Similar rules have been applied to Kentucky food stamp recipients this year, with about 10,000 people losing benefits because they did not comply. “The 95,000 prospective citizens that are going to lose health care coverage is problematic. I think we have to be concerned with what happens with them,” Democratic state Rep. George Brown said. But Meier said Tuesday it is a “misconception” that people will be losing coverage. He said many of those 95,000 people will likely lose eligibility because they make too much money or get a job with a company that provides health insurance. He noted the state has exemptions for people with drug and alcohol addictions, primary care responsibilities for children or the elderly and for victims of domestic violence. “If we can move more people to private market insurance coverage, that’s a good thing. And that’s what this (program) is designed to do,” Meier said. Traditionally, Medicaid has covered poor adults with children or a disability. But Kentucky, under former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, was one of 37 states that expanded its eligibility requirements under former President Barack Obama’s health care law to include childless adults who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is just over $12,000 a year for single people. Kentucky’s Medicaid population exploded, adding more than 400,000 people. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin said the expansion was too expensive and does not do enough to make Kentucky’s citizens healthier. He sought permission to impose new eligibility rules on the state’s expanded Medicaid population. In January, Kentucky was the first state in the country to get approval for the new rules. But a federal judge in June blocked the rules from taking effect. The Trump administration re-approved those rules last week. But advocacy groups, including the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, say they will continue to challenge the rules in court. Meanwhile, Arkansas was the first state to implement the new rules for Medicaid. In the first three months, Arkansas officials reported 12,000 people lost coverage. Meier said he did not know how many people would initially lose access to Medicaid in Kentucky because of the new rules. But he said state officials have worked hard to “mitigate any unnecessary interference with people’s ability to have access to care.” “The same people who have access today will have access post implementation,” Meier said.


Output: Kentucky’s Medicaid enrollment dips ahead of new rules.