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First Edition: May 23, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about the CBO's dire predictions about a possible recession as well as details about how health policy is handled in new presidential campaign ads.

23 May 2012

Novel tiny spectrometer can detect food quality

Whether fruit, meat or cheese - the quality of food is not always as consumers would like it to be. But, in future, a spectrometer will allow them to gage the quality of food before they buy it. No bigger than a sugar cube, the device is inexpensive to manufacture and could one day even be installed in smartphones.

10 May 2012

House Republicans divided over how to 'replace' health law

Ask each of the 242 House Republicans what kind of health policy they'd like to enact instead of President Barack Obama's health care reform law and you might get 242 different answers. Even after three years of railing against Obama's plan, Republicans have coalesced around only a few basic tenets of health policy - let alone a full replacement plan.

2 May 2012

First Edition: May 1, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports from the presidential campaign trail and from states on issues ranging from Massachusetts' payment reform to Idaho's scope-of-practices issues.

2 May 2012

Medicare's trust fund to remain solvent until 2024, report calls for fixes

News outlets report on the predictions offered by the Medicare trustees, and examine the assumptions behind them as well as the political landscape.

25 Apr 2012

GAO report offers rebuke of Medicare bonus program

A report to be released today by government auditors calls the Medicare bonus program wasteful and questions claims it improves quality of care.

23 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 23, 2012

Today's headlines feature advance information about what the trustees who oversee Medicare and Social Security will say about the financial well-being of these massive programs when they release their annual report later today.

23 Apr 2012

Obama administration will expand use of competitive bidding in Medicare

A year-long experiment found that the competitive bidding approach saved money without harming beneficiaries. It also made inroads against waste and fraud.

20 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 18, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports about how a one-year experiment on Medicare competitive bidding showed positive results in terms of saving money as well as reducing waste and fraud.

19 Apr 2012

GOP plans for health law replacement; Obama softens court rhetoric

Republican lawmakers say they are beginning to pull together a health care package that could replace the 2010 law if the Supreme Court overturns it.

5 Apr 2012

FTC blocks Ohio hospital merger; Kan. mental hospital's 'poor working conditions'

The Federal Trade Commission has blocked an Ohio hospital merger in a closely watched case that could slow the consolidation of health care providers around the country.

4 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 4, 2012

In today's headlines, President Barak Obama goes on attack against GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and the Republican budget blueprint; a federal court judge asks for clarifications regarding Obama's comment on judicial activism and the high court's consideration of the health law; as well as reports that doctors are stepping into the effort to curb unnecessary medical treatments.

4 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 3, 2012

In today's health policy headlines, President Barack Obama's expresses confidence that the health law will stand.

3 Apr 2012

Court's review of Medicaid expansion could affect other federal programs

A major issue in the Supreme Court battle over the new health care law is whether Congress can force states to make a huge expansion of Medicaid, to add millions of low-income people to the rolls. States say the federal law is unconstitutionally coercive because all their Medicaid money would be at risk if they flout the new requirement. The states argument has implications that go far beyond health care.

26 Mar 2012

House approves bill to kill Medicare cost panel

In what is viewed as a largely symbolic move, the GOP-led House passed a bill that would undo the health law's Medicare cost control board. Though the measure initially drew some Democratic support, those votes all but disappeared after the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board was linked to medical malpractice legislation.

23 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 23, 2012

Today's health policy headlines are full of previews of next week's health law action at the Supreme Court.

23 Mar 2012

GOP coordinates renewed assault on health law as its two-year anniversary, court date near

The fight for public opinion is expected to intensify in the days ahead -- as the date of the health law's Supreme Court oral arguments closes in.

21 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 20, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about the new GOP budget proposal, to be unveiled today by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

20 Mar 2012

In insurance, gender rating continues

Women still pay more than men for the same health insurance coverage, according to new research and data from online brokers. The new health care law will prohibit such "gender rating," starting in 2014. But gaps persist in most states, with no evidence that insurers have taken steps to reduce them.

20 Mar 2012