Published on May 25, 2012 at 2:30 AM
Politico: Democrats Stiffen Spine On Sequester
In an interview with POLITICO, (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid said he was open to a compromise that would salvage about four-fifths of the Bush-era tax cuts. But absent some concession on revenues, the $110 billion in spending cuts ordered by the debt agreement last August would go into effect. "I am not going to back off the sequestration," Reid said. ... the recent House-passed reconciliation bill, which promises to forestall these very same cuts in January, was the last straw for Reid and helped fortify his position (Rogers, 5/24).
On a much different issue, the Boston Globe looks at an effort in the Senate on the health of nursing home residents.
Boston Globe: Senators Push For Informed Consent Before Nursing Homes Use Antipsychotic Drugs
Three U.S. senators are ratcheting up a campaign to slash the misuse of powerful sedatives, known as antipsychotics, in the nation's nursing homes. The three -- Senators Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. -- have filed a proposal that would require federal regulators to issue standardized rules for nursing homes to follow in seeking permission from patients, or their designated health care agents, such as a family member, before administering antipsychotics for so-called off-label use (Lazar, 5/23).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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