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First Edition: January 9, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about how the politics of the health law continue to play out on Capitol Hill.

9 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Health law debate on contraceptive coverage; Cuccinelli: No investigators for Medicaid fraud; 50 years after the famed report on smoking

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization of Roman Catholic nuns that runs nursing homes around the country, is testing the contraceptive coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Last week, we're sorry to say, the nuns won a temporary reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Under the law, most employers are required to provide their employees with health insurance that covers birth control. But the Obama administration agreed to a compromise for nonprofit religious groups that object to contraception, exempting them from paying for such coverage. Instead, insurers agreed to absorb the cost. All the religious organization has to do is fill out a simple form attesting to its situation. Unfortunately, even that was too much for the Little Sisters of the Poor (1/7).

9 Jan 2014

Researchers investigate how workplace environment in primary care settings affects NPs' ability

More than a dozen states have passed legislation expanding the role of nurse practitioners (NPs) so they can help fill the shortage of primary care providers in the U.S. But a new study from Columbia University School of Nursing, published in the Journal of Professional Nursing, suggests that the organization and culture in health care settings often impedes the full utilization of NPs so that state laws expanding scope of practice may not be sufficient to relieve the nation's primary care crisis.

9 Jan 2014

Democrats reject GOP offer: Jobless benefits for health law suspension

Republicans are pushing proposals involving suspending parts of the health law in return for extending unemployment aid. Lawmakers also are making progress on a $1 trillion spending bill, again with health law negotiations at the center.

9 Jan 2014

FDA approves Actavis' ANDA for Telmisartan Immediate-Release Tablets

Actavis plc today announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Telmisartan Immediate-Release Tablets, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg, a generic equivalent to Boehringer Ingelheim's Micardis. Actavis intends to launch the product immediately.

9 Jan 2014

Health industry insiders analyze, predict and prescribe

Kaiser Health News checks in with former HHS chief Michael Leavitt while CQ HealthBeat details insights from another insider, Robert Laszewski.

9 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 8, 2014

Today's headlines include news from Capitol Hill about how current events offer a window into the dynamics of the 2014 campaign season.

8 Jan 2014

Healthfirst invests in Infogix Cost Sharing Reduction Solution

Infogix, Inc., a developer of software that helps businesses automate the monitoring and analysis of operational data, today announced that Healthfirst, a not-for-profit managed care organization offering health insurance to individuals and families living in the New York metropolitan area, has invested in the Infogix Cost Sharing Reduction Solution to accurately forecast important financial formulas under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act legislation while also ensuring the integrity of all data involved.

8 Jan 2014

Blue Shield Life and Health imposes excessive rate increase on over 80,000 Californians

Blue Shield Life and Health is imposing an unreasonable rate increase on over 80,000 Californians with individual health insurance policies, an average of 9.8% that adds up to a 22.8% increase for the year. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today that the company would not budge on its excessive rate hike.

8 Jan 2014

State highlights: States' troubled health law websites fall hardest on poor; Va. Sen. Deeds introduces mental health bills after son's death; state abortion battle strategies

A selection of health policy stories from Virginia, Florida, Texas, Georgia and California.

8 Jan 2014

Hospitals with higher rates of readmissions may suffer cut in Medicare payments by 2015

Hospitals that treat more poor seniors who are on both Medicaid and Medicare tend to have higher rates of readmissions, triggering costly penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, finds a new study in Health Services Research.

8 Jan 2014

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; possibility of Medicaid deal in virginia; a new name for brain death

For decades a common refrain was that the rapid rise in health spending hurt the competitiveness of American businesses and ate into workers' take-home pay. Businesses and politicians from both sides of the aisle agreed that something had to be done to slow the growth of health-care costs.

8 Jan 2014

Health care spending grew at record slow pace

Americans' spending on health care rose a relatively modest 3.7 percent in 2012 -- slower than the growth of the overall economy -- dropping from 17.3 percent of U.S. spending to 17.2 percent, according to an annual report from the Centers on Medicare & Medicaid Services.

7 Jan 2014

Healthcare Trust of America executes new $300 million senior unsecured loan

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. announced today that it had executed a new $300 million senior unsecured, 4-year term loan (the "New Term Loan").

7 Jan 2014

Medicare seeks to tighten drug program rules to fight fraud

Draft regulations issued Monday would overhaul the prescription drug program and could save up to $1.3 billion over five years.

7 Jan 2014

First Edition: January 7, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of reports about state developments related to the health law's online marketplaces as well as details regarding the latest Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' figures on health costs.

7 Jan 2014

CMS report shows slower growth in health spending with the Affordable Care Act implementation

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued findings that show slower growth in health spending since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This successful cost control is consistent with data demonstrating that savings from generic medicines are at an all-time high, reaching $217 billion in 2012 and $1.2 trillion over the most recent decade, according to the 2013 Report on Generic Drug Savings in the U.S., the fifth annual report compiled by IMS Health on behalf of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

7 Jan 2014

Rice University, MD Anderson analyze complications on costs of complex cancer surgery

Although complications from surgical care for cancer patients may seem infrequent, the costs associated with such outcomes are extremely high, according to researchers from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

7 Jan 2014

HHS to release slow-growth health spending numbers as Obama readies for big push for law

News outlets covered administration efforts to build public confidence in the Affordable Care Act.

7 Jan 2014

Bunker Vein and Imaging Center starts second location in Round Rock

Bunker Vein and Imaging Center is proud to announce its second location, which opened this month in Round Rock, Texas. Dr. Stephen Bunker and his medical team have been treating patients with varicose veins, spider veins and venous disease for over five years in the Central Austin area.

7 Jan 2014

Medicare News and Research

First Edition: January 9, 2014

Viewpoints: Health law debate on contraceptive coverage; Cuccinelli: No investigators for Medicaid fraud; 50 years after the famed report on smoking

Researchers investigate how workplace environment in primary care settings affects NPs' ability

Democrats reject GOP offer: Jobless benefits for health law suspension

FDA approves Actavis' ANDA for Telmisartan Immediate-Release Tablets

Health industry insiders analyze, predict and prescribe

First Edition: January 8, 2014

Healthfirst invests in Infogix Cost Sharing Reduction Solution

Blue Shield Life and Health imposes excessive rate increase on over 80,000 Californians

State highlights: States' troubled health law websites fall hardest on poor; Va. Sen. Deeds introduces mental health bills after son's death; state abortion battle strategies

Hospitals with higher rates of readmissions may suffer cut in Medicare payments by 2015

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; possibility of Medicaid deal in virginia; a new name for brain death

Health care spending grew at record slow pace

Healthcare Trust of America executes new $300 million senior unsecured loan

Medicare seeks to tighten drug program rules to fight fraud

First Edition: January 7, 2014

CMS report shows slower growth in health spending with the Affordable Care Act implementation

Rice University, MD Anderson analyze complications on costs of complex cancer surgery

HHS to release slow-growth health spending numbers as Obama readies for big push for law

Bunker Vein and Imaging Center starts second location in Round Rock

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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