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Report: Health law will make insurance more affordable to most

Meanwhile, CQ HealthBeat reports that the Department of Health and Human Services is bracing for a significant number of public comments regarding the health law's essential benefits provision.

28 Apr 2011

GOP Medicare plan may put 'elderly vote in play'

Political push back surrounding the Paul Ryan budget plan continues to feed the Democrats' view that they may have a 2012 opportunity with older voters. For instance, at home in their districts this week some Republicans are facing voter anger. And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says he is "not wedded" to the Ryan approach to reduce Medicare spending by transforming the program.

28 Apr 2011

Medicaid managed care under the microscope

News outlets explore the challenges states face as they increasingly try to move recipients into managed care plans in order to control costs and brace for upcoming expansions.

28 Apr 2011

State roundup: Conn. Gov. says no 'public option' this year

Gov. Bobby Jindal's chief budget adviser defended the administration's plan to sell a state-run health insurance plan to a private company, rebutting a chorus of critics Tuesday who said the move would result in higher premiums and lower benefits for state workers and retirees.

28 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare options and politics; high costs of care; health disparities

The Democratic Party is urging Americans to choose Medicare as we've always known it rather than a new plan by Rep. Paul Ryan that would enroll seniors in private health insurance beginning in 2022.

28 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 27, 2011

In today's headlines, political push-back continues regarding the Paul Ryan budget plan and the Supreme Court seems skeptical that prescription drug data laws don't violate free speech.

27 Apr 2011

CMAJ: Canada needs national pharmacare program

Canada needs a national pharmacare program and federal leaders must commit adequate funding, states an editorial in CMAJ.

27 Apr 2011

U.S. Labor Department campaign to educate workers on heat-related illnesses

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today will announce, from Anaheim, Calif., a national outreach initiative by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to educate workers and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in the heat and steps needed to prevent heat-related illnesses.

27 Apr 2011

Rwanda launches Africa's first nationwide cervical cancer vaccination, detection program

Rwandan First Lady Jeannette Kagame on Tuesday, in collaboration with two companies, launched a national cervical cancer vaccination and screening program, the first of its kind in Africa, the New Times reports.

27 Apr 2011

MSF letter criticizes Johnson & Johnson for not joining Medicines Patent Pool

Medecins Sans Frontieres recently sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson criticizing the pharmaceutical company for "refusing to make patents on three HIV drugs available to a program that would reduce the cost of the medicines in developing countries," the Star-Ledger reports.

27 Apr 2011

High Court hears arguments regarding access to docs' prescribing data

In this case, the state of Vermont is battling drug companies and data-mining firms. Vermont's law bans the sale of prescribing information unless physicians "opt in" and make their records available.

27 Apr 2011

Santorum says health law fuels interest in possible presidential bid

Des Moines Register: Santorum Says Health Law Has Fueled Possible Campaign.

27 Apr 2011

Court's rejection of fast-track request raises questions, issues

The court's online order did not offer any legal reasoning, nor were dissenting opinions noted. However, Justice Elena Kagan did participate in the decision. Meanwhile, Politico Pro explores some of the key questions that will be at stake surrounding the law's "individual mandate" as the challenges now wind through through the federal appeals courts this summer.

27 Apr 2011

Report: 90% of American families can gain premium access under Affordable Care Act

Ninety percent of American families living above the federal poverty level will be able to afford health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report by Jonathan Gruber and Ian Perry of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

27 Apr 2011

Reform policy news: High-risk pools, exchanges, IPAB

News outlets are reporting on various aspects of the health law, including the low level of interest seen so far in high-risk pools, the varying reactions states are having as they make decisions about health insurance exchanges and the ongoing efforts to repeal the measure's Independent Payment Advisory Board.

27 Apr 2011

KHCC, Global Bridges to start tobacco treatment training for EMRO health care providers

Global Bridges, a healthcare alliance for tobacco dependence treatment based at Mayo Clinic, and its regional partner, King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman, Jordan, announced today that they will start training health care providers in the Eastern Mediterranean Region on how to successfully treat tobacco users.

27 Apr 2011

Nationwide researchers to launch Oncotype DX test phase III trial in breast cancer

Cancer researchers at hundreds of sites nationwide are about to launch a SWOG-led clinical trial that could keep thousands of breast cancer patients from getting chemotherapy that is unlikely to do them any good.

27 Apr 2011

Dems eye Ryan Medicare plan as political opportunity

With Obama administration officials part of the campaign against the Ryan plan, other opponents also are stepping forward and launching a new wave of television ads in Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's very own congressional district. Meanwhile, The Washington Post analyzes some of the poll numbers behind where voters may stand on Medicare cuts.

27 Apr 2011

World could meet U.N. goal of almost ending malaria deaths by 2015, U.N. special envoy for malaria says

International efforts to fight malaria are "on track" to almost end malaria-related deaths by 2015, Ray Chambers, the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy for malaria, said on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

27 Apr 2011

Synthes, JNJ sign merger agreement for orthopaedics business

Johnson & Johnson, the world's most comprehensive and broadly-based manufacturer of health care products, and Synthes, Inc., a premier global manufacturer of orthopaedic devices, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Johnson & Johnson will acquire Synthes for CHF159 per share, or $21.3 billion.

27 Apr 2011