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Viewpoints: WSJ says GOP 'kamikaze' defunding mission will not go well; taxing Medicare benefits; problems with Penn. State's wellness program

These critics [like Heritage Action and the Club for Growth] portrayed the Boehner plan as a sellout because of a campaign that captured the imagination of some conservatives this summer: Republicans must threaten to crash their Zeros into the aircraft carrier of ObamaCare.

18 Sep 2013

GOP lawmakers contemplate daunting budgetary choices -- Defund health law? Avoid gov't shutdown? Raise debt ceiling?

The fiscal choices set up intra-party fissure for Republicans and draw more tough talk from President Barack Obama.

18 Sep 2013

Health insurance exchange news: Investors say 4 million Americans will initially enroll

This number is well below the Congressional Budget Office's prediction of seven million. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that many Americans will pay less than $100 a month in premiums, based on an HHS report to be released today.

18 Sep 2013

Emotional stress, cognitive impairment linked to early hospital readmission of heart patients

Heart patients' mental state and thinking abilities may help predict whether costly and potentially dangerous early hospital readmission will follow their release after treatment, according to the results of a significant new study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers.

18 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 17, 2013

Today's headlines include stories detailing how the health law's new online insurance marketplaces will work.

17 Sep 2013

Leading geriatrician asserts elimination of Medicare three-night hospital stay rule

Elimination of a Medicare rule that mandates a three-night hospital stay as a precondition for skilled nursing rehabilitation coverage could reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and improve patient care without increasing costs to the patient or the federal government, a leading geriatrician asserts in on online publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

17 Sep 2013

Medical imaging self-referral leads to unnecessary imaging examinations

Patients having knee MRI examinations are significantly more likely to receive a negative finding if referred by physicians who have a financial interest in the imaging equipment being used, according to a study published online in the journal Radiology.

17 Sep 2013

Hospitalizations for endocarditis have declined in recent years

Hospitalizations for endocarditis, a deadly heart infection that disproportionately affects older heart patients, have declined in recent years despite recommendations for limited use of antibiotics to prevent the illness. These findings were recently published by Yale School of Medicine researchers in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

17 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: GOP willing to move to default if they can't cripple health law; it's time to figure out if workplace wellness programs work

This year, as has been the case so often in the past, their target is President Obama's health care reform law. If it is not repealed or defunded or delayed or otherwise left bleeding in the public square, they will not pass a spending bill needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30. And if that doesn't cripple the health law (which it won't), they will resort to the far more serious threat of default, refusing to raise the nation's debt ceiling, no matter the catastrophe that would cause (9/14).

17 Sep 2013

Young people remain in the dark as Obamacare exchanges prepare to open

Several newspapers explore how uninformed many young people are about new online insurance exchanges which open in two weeks, even though their participation is considered crucial to the markets' success.

17 Sep 2013

Final countdown on for health exchange launches

Federal officials are happy with what may turn out to be a soft launch of the health law's insurance exchanges Oct. 1. In the meantime, states are busy readying consumers for the exchanges' kickoffs with informational sessions and campaigns designed at creating a better-informed public.

17 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 13, 2013

Today's headlines include stories highlighting how the health law factors into Capitol Hill's current political dynamics.

13 Sep 2013

Overly ambitious objectives may limit success of Meaningful Use EHR Incentive program

An aggressive timeline combined with overly ambitious objectives may unnecessarily limit the success of the entire Meaningful Use EHR Incentive program, the American College of Physicians (ACP) warned today in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

13 Sep 2013

Longer looks: Understanding the mind; facebook depression; planning for a successful end of life

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

13 Sep 2013

Safety measures intended to improve bariatric surgery outcomes may impede obese minorities' access to care

Safety measures intended to improve bariatric surgery outcomes may impede obese minorities' access to care. This is according to a new research letter published online in the September 12 issue of JAMA which compares rates of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery for minority Medicare vs. non-Medicare patients before and after implementation of a Medicare coverage policy.

13 Sep 2013

Federal data system for health exchanges passes a test

Reuters reports this system has now been tested and certified as secure. Meanwhile, Medicare beneficiaries are increasingly confused by the media blitz surrounding the law's new online insurance marketplaces.

13 Sep 2013

The final push for Obamacare

News outlets report on the ambitious plans of a handful of health insurance co-ops starting from scratch after being funded by the law, how smokers may be charged higher premiums if they don't take cessation classes and the challenge of explaining the law in multiple languages.

13 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 12, 2013

Today's headlines include a range of stories related to the politics and policies in play as Oct. 1 -- the health law's big day -- quickly approaches.

12 Sep 2013

New analysis finds ASCs provide billions of dollars to Medicare program and its beneficiaries

A new analysis by researchers at the prominent University of California-Berkeley Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare finds that ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) provide billions of dollars in savings to the Medicare program and its beneficiaries.

12 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: Hopes for single payer system remain; GOP's move to tie debt ceiling to health law is dangerous; subsidy fraud must be stopped

With the Oct. 1 rollout of a major facet of the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, you'll be hearing a lot about the glitches, loopholes and shortcomings of this most important restructuring of America's healthcare system in our lifetimes.

12 Sep 2013

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: WSJ says GOP 'kamikaze' defunding mission will not go well; taxing Medicare benefits; problems with Penn. State's wellness program

GOP lawmakers contemplate daunting budgetary choices -- Defund health law? Avoid gov't shutdown? Raise debt ceiling?

Health insurance exchange news: Investors say 4 million Americans will initially enroll

Emotional stress, cognitive impairment linked to early hospital readmission of heart patients

First Edition: September 17, 2013

Leading geriatrician asserts elimination of Medicare three-night hospital stay rule

Medical imaging self-referral leads to unnecessary imaging examinations

Hospitalizations for endocarditis have declined in recent years

Viewpoints: GOP willing to move to default if they can't cripple health law; it's time to figure out if workplace wellness programs work

Young people remain in the dark as Obamacare exchanges prepare to open

Final countdown on for health exchange launches

First Edition: September 13, 2013

Overly ambitious objectives may limit success of Meaningful Use EHR Incentive program

Longer looks: Understanding the mind; facebook depression; planning for a successful end of life

Safety measures intended to improve bariatric surgery outcomes may impede obese minorities' access to care

Federal data system for health exchanges passes a test

The final push for Obamacare

First Edition: September 12, 2013

New analysis finds ASCs provide billions of dollars to Medicare program and its beneficiaries

Viewpoints: Hopes for single payer system remain; GOP's move to tie debt ceiling to health law is dangerous; subsidy fraud must be stopped

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit 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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