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Appeals Court set to hear arguments Tuesday in health law challenge

Arguments in the two cases, which are the first two challenges to the Obama administration's health overhaul to advance from the federal to appellate level, mark the beginning in what some say is a race to the Supreme Court.

9 May 2011

First Edition: May 9, 2011

"It sounds like a new Apple product, but IPAB is actually a controversial board at the heart of a highly charged battle over Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and disabled".

9 May 2011

Lovelace signs definitive agreement to acquire Heart Hospital of New Mexico

Lovelace Health System, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the assets and operations of the Heart Hospital of New Mexico from MedCath Corporation for $119 million.

9 May 2011

Centene's AHCCCS receives Bridgeway contract to deliver Arizona Long Term Care System services

Centene Corporation was notified that the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System has awarded Bridgeway Health Solutions, Centene's Arizona subsidiary, contracts to deliver Arizona Long Term Care System services.

9 May 2011

Epigenomics presents Septin9 blood test study data in colorectal cancer at DDW 2011

Epigenomics AG, the cancer molecular diagnostics company, reports that Dr. Uri Ladabaum, Associate Professor in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the School of Medicine of Stanford University, has presented the results of a health economic analysis of potential future colorectal cancer screening with Septin9 blood tests at the ongoing Digestive Disease Week 2011.

9 May 2011

Inovio reports VGX-3100 Phase I study data in cervical dysplasia and cancer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, has reported data demonstrating long-term durability of immune responses induced by VGX-3100, its investigational DNA vaccine for treating cervical dysplasia and cancer caused by human papillomavirus.

9 May 2011

Retirees face big challenges on health costs

A survey by Sun Life Financial, released this week, found that 92 percent of workers said they don't know how much their health care will cost in retirement or vastly underestimated the amount. Only 8 percent were in the correct range, estimating costs of $200,000 or more. In fact, a 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need $230,000, on average, to cover medical expenses in retirement, according to a separate Fidelity Investments study released in March.

9 May 2011

GOP Medicare proposal keeps roiling Washington politics

Six months after Republicans swept the midterm election by promising bold solutions to fiscal woes, they continue to struggle to find a unified voice on key issues and to overcome persistent divisions within the party.

9 May 2011

Pawlenty's health-care claims during debate get mixed ratings

During the first Republican presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty reminded viewers that President Barack Obama was against a requirement that everyone buy health insurance before he was for it. Just a few years ago, Obama "promised the nation he would do health care reform focused on cost containment, he opposed the individual mandate," Pawlenty said on May 5, 2011.

9 May 2011

Florida, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine make sweeping health care changes

As some state legislative sessions begin drawing to a close, news outlets report on major changes in health care. Florida is overhauling its Medicaid program, Vermont passed a modified "single payer" bill, Hawaii is trying a "medical home" model and the Maine legislature has a new approach to insurance sales in the state.

9 May 2011

Administration's top lawyer to argue for health law at appeals court hearing

The government's top lawyer will handle the first appeals court arguments on the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law - a sign of how seriously the administration takes lower court proceedings in a case with huge ramifications not only for the healthcare system, but for the 2012 election.

9 May 2011

IPAB claims a friend within the GOP

During a break in a Thursday House subcommittee hearing on elements of the health law, Mark McClellan offered positive views of IPAB. Also during the hearing, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius commented on how the reform law assists entitlement reform and gave her views on the measure's pre-existing condition program.

7 May 2011

Medical societies still 'welcome' drug company support

Concerns about the influence of industry money have prompted universities such as Stanford and the University of Colorado-Denver to ban drug sales representatives from the halls of their hospitals and bar doctors from paid promotional speaking.

7 May 2011

News outlets offer different takes on nurse supply and demand

Every few years Georgia — and the rest of the country, for that matter — experiences a severe shortage of nurses. Only this time it's different, experts say. This time there are no easy solutions — no way to import nurses from other countries to practice in the state; no way to open up more slots at nursing schools and technical colleges to crank out more registered nurses to help ease the shortage.

7 May 2011

Vermont legislature passes bill to establish single payer health plan

The Vermont House has given final approval to an ambitious plan to move Vermont toward a universal, publicly funded health care system. The next stop for the legislation is the desk of Gov. Peter Shumlin, a strong supporter. The bill would set up a new Green Mountain Care health insurance program under which every Vermont resident would be eligible for coverage.

7 May 2011

Researchers report unexpected finding in Staph aureus study in child care facilities

A new strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria associated with exposure to livestock was recently discovered in one Iowa child care worker who reported no contact with livestock, according to University of Iowa researchers.

7 May 2011

Appellate hearing for two health law challenges scheduled for Tuesday

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will consider two cases testing the sweeping law that requires people to buy health insurance by 2014 or face a tax penalty.

7 May 2011

U.N. officials recognize International Day of the Midwife

U.N. officials, recognizing the International Day of the Midwife on Thursday, lauded the efforts of midwives worldwide and "called for greater investment to ensure their life-saving services are available to all who need them around the world," the U.N. News Centre reports.

7 May 2011

U.S. still needs to treat health care delivery as a science, says AHRQ director

Carolyn Clancy, MD, director of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, says that although the U.S. "leads the way" in science to develop medical methods, the country still needs to treat health care delivery as a science.

7 May 2011

Report: 76% of U.S. hospitals meet performance measures program

More than 76 percent of hospitals participating in the National Hospital Preparedness Program met 90 percent or more of all program measures for all-hazards preparedness in 2009, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

7 May 2011