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Talk of budget 'grand bargain' continues

Just as lawmakers prepared to depart for their August break, President Barack Obama sought to revive interest in a budget deal combining new tax revenue with cuts to health and retirement benefits.

3 Aug 2013

Tavenner challenges GOP health law claims during Capitol Hill hearing

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Marilyn Tavenner disputed statements by Republican lawmakers that the country's health care reform law is causing workers to lose hours or benefits. The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service also testified.

3 Aug 2013

Home healthcare sector: A steady source of job growth, employment in healthcare field

The July 2013 jobs report, released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, continues to demonstrate that the home healthcare sector is a steady source of job growth and employment in the healthcare field.

3 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 2, 2013

Today's headlines include details about today's health law repeal vote in the House. It comes just as lawmakers prepare to leave for the August break.

2 Aug 2013

State highlights: Brooklyn hospital files for bankruptcy plans to close; N.D. abortion law blocked; Texas women's health program serving thousands less

A selection of health policy stories from New York, North Dakota, Texas, Minnesota and California.

2 Aug 2013

CMS proposal to remove Bariatric Surgery Facility Certification may place Medicare patients at risk

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is considering a reversal of its 2006 decision requiring certification of facilities that perform bariatric surgery, a move the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, and other medical societies say could endanger Medicare patients who undergo bariatric surgery.

2 Aug 2013

Study finds that tens of billions of dollars spent each year for moderate chronic kidney disease

Even early stages of kidney disease come with steep medical costs, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The study found that expenses related to moderate chronic kidney disease cost Medicare tens of billions of dollars each year.

2 Aug 2013

Obama seeks to calm 'jittery Democrats' on health law rollout

Meanwhile, senior GOP leaders plan more votes to chip away at Obamacare, in part to dissuade their rank and file from demanding a government shutdown this fall unless the health law is defunded.

2 Aug 2013

SGR repeal measure moves to full House consideration

Some medical societies, which support repealing Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate formula, are expressing concern that a bill won't be signed into law before a scheduled 25 percent reduction in Medicare physician payment takes effect. Meanwhile, members of the Senate Finance Committee are working on their own plan.

2 Aug 2013

BD reports quarterly revenues of $2.053 billion for third fiscal quarter

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, today reported quarterly revenues of $2.053 billion for the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2013, representing an increase of 3.6 percent from the prior-year period, or 5.1 percent on a foreign currency-neutral basis.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 1 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 1, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader about if the health law requires employer-sponsored insurance to cover maternity benefits for an employee's dependents (8/1).

1 Aug 2013

Medicare premiums hold the line -- increasing $1 in price from the past three years

The Obama administration cast the average monthly premium price increase as a matter of inches.

1 Aug 2013

U.S. divide on abortion widens along regional lines

Opposition to abortion has grown in parts of the South, while those in the Northeast and West Coast continue to be strong supporters of abortion rights, a study says.

1 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: GOP's shutdown vow; Peter Orszag defends rationale behind Medicare payment board

A dozen Republicans in the Senate have said they'd rather shut down the government than provide funding for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the 2010 healthcare reform law better known as Obamacare. Meanwhile, more than 60 Republicans in the House have called on their leadership to cut off all federal support for the law in the coming fiscal year. And they complain when President Obama doesn't hold up his end of the bargain? (7/30).

1 Aug 2013