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Viewpoints: GOP can no longer wait for Obamacare 'to implode;' Ryan's version of 'trickle-down economics'

Now that Obamacare has finished with an amazing surge in signups, apparently passing the 7 million mark for the exchanges, there have been two main responses. Republicans are in full-on denial - the books are cooked! Nobody has paid! It's only because people have been forced to do it! Benghazi! Vince Foster! Meanwhile, progressives are full of caution.

3 Apr 2014

Ryan plan would repeal health law, offer private option Medicare

The budget proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan, House Budget chairman and a possible Republican contender for the White House in 2016, would repeal the health law but maintain its savings and taxes. Beginning with those who turn 65 in 2024, it would offer seniors a fixed amount to purchase a private plan or traditional fee for service Medicare.

3 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 2, 2014

Today's headlines include news and analysis about the 7 million insurance enrollment tally. Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in partnership with NPR, Eric Whitney writes: "The names of the big health insurance companies are familiar – Blue Cross, Aetna, United Healthcare. But what about CoOportunity Health, or Health Republic Insurance of New York? These are among 23 new health insurance companies that started under the Affordable Care Act.

2 Apr 2014

Viewpoints: 'Thrice-buried' Obamacare 'looks very much alive;' Ted Cruz 'gets an earful'

Back when rate shock, website problems and lagging enrollment were threatening to unravel the new health care law before it fully took effect, I concluded a column on Obamacare's repeated near-death experiences with the following warning to conservatives: ... What isn't killed outright grows stronger the longer it's embedded in the federal apparatus, gaining constituents and interest-group support just by virtue of its existence even if it doesn't work out the way it was designed. ... the serious right-of-center alternatives to Obamacare have always included policies to expand coverage, and with a coverage expansion accomplished, Republicans may find themselves effectively forced in a more serious direction. ... wherever they go and whatever they do, they will have to deal with the reality that Obamacare, thrice-buried, looks very much alive (Ross Douthat, 3/31).

2 Apr 2014

Concord Coalition expresses doubts on policy details of Ryan’s budget proposal

The Concord Coalition today welcomed the budget proposal from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan but expressed concern that it does not represent a realistic blueprint for making progress on a fiscal sustainability plan.

2 Apr 2014

Expensive hepatitis drug draws huge sales

The demand for Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi, which costs $1,000 a pill, indicates how hard it is for insurers to curb the use of life-saving medicines. Meanwhile Humana names a former Goldman Sachs executive as finance chief.

2 Apr 2014

Michigan Rep. Dave Camp won't seek re-election

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich, announced on Monday that he will retire in 2014, ending a 12-term congressional career. Camp was a powerful voice in federal health, welfare , trade policy and tax reform.

2 Apr 2014

Catasys' fourth quarter 2013 revenues up 161%

Catasys, Inc., provider of proprietary health management services to health insurers and employers, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013.

1 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 1, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including an array of stories as the health law's enrollment period comes to a close

1 Apr 2014

Providing health insurance coverage to uninsured people does not result in reduced readmission rates

Boston-In a first of its kind retrospective study, Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers have found that providing health insurance coverage to previously uninsured people does not result in reducing 30-day readmission rates.

1 Apr 2014

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Teva Pharmaceutical's appeal related to COPAXONE patent

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) today announced that the U.S. Supreme Court has granted the Company's COPAXONE® certiorari petition and will hear its appeal of a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that invalidated the claim of U.S. Patent 5,800,808 (the "'808 patent").

1 Apr 2014

Utah's Medicaid efforts may pave route for other red states

Gov. Gary Herbert and aides have been meeting with federal officials to find a different option. Meanwhile, news outlets look at the Medicaid expansion battles in Virginia and Florida and Republican concerns in Illinois.

1 Apr 2014

Assessing the possible impact of Obamacare on Nov. elections

A variety of news organizations analyzed what might happen in the fall, because of political campaigns built around the health law.

1 Apr 2014

Mobile phones with tobacco screening guidelines offer cessation counseling

Smartphones and tablets may hold the key to getting more clinicians to screen patients for tobacco use and advise smokers on how to quit. Even though tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S., clinicians often don't ask about smoking during patient exams.

1 Apr 2014

Americans' experience with health law depends on where they live

Some states that embraced the law, like Oregon, have had difficulty enrolling residents because of glitch-ridden online marketplaces, while others like New Hampshire have seen unexpectedly strong enrollments despite prevailing critical views.

31 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 31, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations offer assessments of the administration's campaign to get people signed up for health care and a look at the issues going forward after today's deadline for most enrollments.

31 Mar 2014

Coventry First commends passage of Kentucky Legislation

The Kentucky legislature unanimously passed landmark legislation to help seniors pay for long term care. The legislation enables seniors to pay for their long term care by selling their life insurance policies for as much as 10 times more than the cash surrender value and applying those proceeds toward their long term care.

31 Mar 2014

Advocates urge Senate to reject forced treatment provision in Rep. Murphy's bill

The bill rushed through the House of Representatives by voice vote yesterday to patch Medicare regulations includes a highly controversial provision that has nothing to do with Medicare, and that would subject people in crisis to forced treatment.

31 Mar 2014

Research roundup: Distance from a transplant center; Medicaid prenatal care; metastasis of email; profiting from Medicare Advantage

Centralization of specialized health care services such as organ transplantation and bariatric surgery is advocated to improve quality, increase efficiency, and reduce cost.

29 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: Nothing 'magical' about 6 million enrollees; the high cost of hep C medicine

Big news this afternoon on the Affordable Care Act: The ACA exchange signups have reached the 6 million mark. With a few more days to go before the open sign-up period closes (well, sort of) it looks like the original 7 million estimate -- which the Congressional Budget Office had revised downward after the botched October roll-out of the federal exchange -- is going to be pretty close to the mark.

29 Mar 2014

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: GOP can no longer wait for Obamacare 'to implode;' Ryan's version of 'trickle-down economics'

Ryan plan would repeal health law, offer private option Medicare

First Edition: April 2, 2014

Viewpoints: 'Thrice-buried' Obamacare 'looks very much alive;' Ted Cruz 'gets an earful'

Concord Coalition expresses doubts on policy details of Ryan’s budget proposal

Expensive hepatitis drug draws huge sales

Michigan Rep. Dave Camp won't seek re-election

Catasys' fourth quarter 2013 revenues up 161%

First Edition: April 1, 2014

Providing health insurance coverage to uninsured people does not result in reduced readmission rates

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Teva Pharmaceutical's appeal related to COPAXONE patent

Utah's Medicaid efforts may pave route for other red states

Assessing the possible impact of Obamacare on Nov. elections

Mobile phones with tobacco screening guidelines offer cessation counseling

Americans' experience with health law depends on where they live

First Edition: March 31, 2014

Coventry First commends passage of Kentucky Legislation

Advocates urge Senate to reject forced treatment provision in Rep. Murphy's bill

Research roundup: Distance from a transplant center; Medicaid prenatal care; metastasis of email; profiting from Medicare Advantage

Viewpoints: Nothing 'magical' about 6 million enrollees; the high cost of hep C medicine

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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