Today's updates on the continuing implementation of the health law include Medicare chief Don Berwick's behind the scenes push for 'accountable care organizations,' tax anxiety in the medical device industry, and the promise of new help for pregnant women.
The Boston Globe: "Newly installed Medicare chief Donald Berwick, keeping a low public profile after encountering controversy over his appointment, is moving quickly behind the scenes to seed the US health care system with 100 to 300 sites to test new models of caring for patients." These are the "accountable care organizations" -- which will include doctors and hospitals -- created in the health law. They are expected to be in place by the end of 2011, and lobbyists are already working to influence which groups are included (Rowland, 9/6).