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Pawlenty aims verbal barb at Romney

On Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty called rival Mitt Romney a "co-conspirator" in the federal health overhaul. He also repeated his call for repealing the measure, and maintained that, when he was governor, he handled health reform "the right way."

17 Jun 2011

Politics, personalities swirl around health overhaul

Whether it's more skirmishes over the individual mandate, pushes to repeal and replace the sweeping overhaul or state-level pressure to join lawsuits challenging the measure, the health law continues to be a part of high-stakes political discourse.

17 Jun 2011

Roundup: Few states raise taxes to ease budgets; Ala. Gov. signs abortion law; Texas House advances bill to turn Medicaid, Medicare into block grants

As 2011 began, the budget situation in state capitals looked more dire than just about anybody could remember. ... With Medicaid, the states had their hands tied. The new federal health care law prohibits states from cutting eligibility or making it harder for people to apply for coverage. So states had to find other ways to control costs. Idaho reduced the amount paid to hospitals and doctors to treat Medicaid patients, an idea that some 30 governors proposed this year.

17 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 16, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the prospect for Medicaid cutbacks in an emerging bipartisan budget deal, as well as how a report from a Medicare advisory panel may bolster Medicare options currently on the table.

16 Jun 2011

Proposed NHS reforms face criticism

The former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn has said that the changes to NHS announced this week in the wake of demands from the Liberal Democrats and opposition from the health establishment represent a “disaster.” He warned that it means any chance of reforming the NHS meaningfully has been lost for a generation. George Osborne, the Chancellor, will now have to bail out the NHS with “a very large cheque” as the £20 billion of savings required will be impossible to find, he says.

16 Jun 2011

Infosys introduces Health Benefit Exchange

Infosys today announced the availability of Infosys Health Benefit Exchange, a cost effective solution designed to help states set up the insurance exchanges mandated in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

15 Jun 2011

Essential benefits rule, McKinsey study continue to draw headlines

Also, Neal Katyal, the acting solicitor general who has argued four of the cases challenging the health law before appeals courts, has announced that he will leave the Department of Justice at the conclusion of the current Supreme Court term.

15 Jun 2011

Obama administration regulatory review won't include health law rules

An official from the Department of Health and Human Services told a House oversight subcommittee that the health law's regulations are too new for a second look. However, some Republican members of the panel disagreed, saying that the waivers that have been granted are reason enough for such examination.

15 Jun 2011

GOP presidential candidates touch on the health overhaul, Medicare plans in first major meeting of 2012 contest

The spotlight was trained squarely on Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, who has come under withering attack for the health care plan he signed into law that resembles the plan Mr. Obama pushed through Congress. But his rivals treaded lightly, and he relentlessly turned the conversation back to Mr. Obama, emerging unscathed from his return to the debate stage four years after losing his first bid for the party's nomination.

15 Jun 2011

Roundup: Conn.'s 'moderate' Medicaid cuts; Calif. adult day care threatened; disabled face 'unclear futures'

The national Center for Reproductive Rights filed a federal lawsuit Monday to halt implementation of the requirements that women wanting an abortion must have a sonogram and hear a detailed description of the fetus. The group called the mandates patronizing and an intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship.

15 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Romney and 'Obamneycare'; 'fundamental constitutional flaws'; leading vs. following in Md.

Hence the young campaign's most unfortunate new coinage, courtesy of Tim Pawlenty: "Obamneycare." That's the word Pawlenty used Sunday to describe President Obama's health-care law, which borrowed ideas from the reform package Romney devised and implemented when he was governor of Massachusetts. Obamacare plus Romneycare equals . . . Okay, we get it, we get it.

15 Jun 2011

Republican candidates bash health reform law in first debate

Republican White House hopefuls assailed President Barack Obama's handling of the economy from the opening moments of their first major debate of the campaign season Monday night and pledged emphatically to repeal the administration's year-old health care law.

14 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Private vs. public Medicare; N.J. Medicaid tough choices; IPAB's cost controls

Every once in a while a politician comes up with an idea that's so bad, so wrongheaded, that you're almost grateful. For really bad ideas can help illustrate the extent to which policy discourse has gone off the rails. And so it was with Senator Joseph Lieberman's proposal, released last week, to raise the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67.

14 Jun 2011

Mayo Clinic will not participate in ACO program

The Mayo Clinic says it will not be part of a critical piece of national health care reform under the government's proposed rules. The prestigious Rochester clinic is raising questions about accountable care organizations, or ACOs, which are supposed to be updated — and better — versions of health maintenance organizations.

13 Jun 2011

HHS: Enrollment in high-risk pools tops 20,000

Figures released Friday reflect the number of participants in the health overhaul's high-risk pools as of April. Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare reports that Kansas has widened it's high-risk pool to allow child-only plans.

13 Jun 2011

Large medical groups urge OMB to be careful with ACO budget expectations

The American Group Management Association asked the Obama administration to scale back the anticipated savings that are expected from the creation of accountable care organizations. Setting the savings bar too high, the organizations said, could cause the ACO program to be unsuccessful.

10 Jun 2011

States make progress setting up exchanges

Even governors who are opposed to the federal health law appear to be taking steps to comply with the health overhaul's exchanges provision. Meanwhile, in Oregon, the governor is expected to sign the exchange legislation passed by the legislature earlier this week.

10 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 10, 2011

Today's health policy headlines include reports about health law funding and policy particulars, as well as Dems' push to protect Medicaid.

10 Jun 2011

Roundup: Maryland program treats prisoners' medical problems

A sweeping deal to cut pensions and health-care benefits for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey public workers was teetering Wednesday, as rank-and-file Assembly Democrats refused to go along with an agreement struck between top legislative Democrats and Gov. Chris Christie.

10 Jun 2011