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Views on health reform: U.S. not getting value for its spending; Cutting doctors' school debt to curb costs

When it comes to healthcare, Americans are not getting a lot of value for their money. The United States spends 17.6% of its gross domestic product, nearly twice the average of the nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But life expectancy in the United States in 2010, at 78.7 years, is below the OECD average of 79.8 years. The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than in most developed countries - it is higher than the rates in Greece, Hungary and Slovakia.

21 Jul 2012

House subcommittee approves spending bill that deletes health law funding

The measure, which is part of the GOP plan to defund the health overhaul, also deletes all federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

20 Jul 2012

Economic issues dominate voters' concerns, while health law bubbles on back burner

Though the economy seems to be trumping the health law on the campaign trail, the overhaul is one of the flashpoints in what the New York Times describes as a "philosophic clash" over the role of the federal government. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, campaigning in Florida, is expected to talk Medicare. In the background, Vice President Joseph Biden says Obama expected the political backlash triggered by the health law.

20 Jul 2012

Polling indicates Americans still divided on health law

An NPR poll shows that a slight majority - 51 percent - favored amending rather than doing away with the health law. A Quinnipiac poll in Virginia found that 50 percent of respondents said Congress should repeal the overhaul.

20 Jul 2012

Survey finds Medicare beneficiaries happier with coverage than younger people on private plans

The poll results, published in Health Affairs, found that 8 percent of seniors said their coverage was "fair" or "poor" while 20 percent of those with a plan offered through work said that.

20 Jul 2012

Claimsnet second quarter 2012 revenues increase 12% to $657,000

Claimsnet.com inc., a leading provider of Internet-based claims processing solutions for the healthcare industry, today reported its results for the second quarter of 2012, which ended June 30, 2012.

20 Jul 2012

Frist urges state leaders - both Democrats and Republicans - to move quickly on state-based exchanges

In an op-ed published Wednesday in "The Week," former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who is also a surgeon, suggested that GOP governors rethink their rejection of the online insurance markets called for in the health law.

20 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Researchers see potential to control HIV pandemic; The 'ceaseless attacks' on women's reproductive health

We are at a moment of extraordinary optimism in the response to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A series of scientific breakthroughs ... have the potential to markedly expand the available preventive tools. There is evidence of the first cure of an HIV-infected person. And most important, the finding that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy can both improve individual patient outcomes and reduce the risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners by 96% has led many to assert what had so long seemed impossible: that control of the HIV pandemic may be achievable.

20 Jul 2012

NeoGenomics second quarter 2012 revenue increases 49% to $15.6 million

NeoGenomics, Inc., a leading provider of cancer-focused genetic testing services today reported its results for the second quarter 2012.

19 Jul 2012

ACP testimony focuses on innovative solutions to align value with care

"We know that the current Medicare payment system is not serving the needs of patients, physicians or taxpayers," David L. Bronson, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), today told the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

19 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 19, 2012

Today's headlines include a variety of stories exploring public opinions about the health law, the upcoming election and the Supreme Court.

19 Jul 2012

Opponents see possible avenues to send health law back to court

But in related news, a federal judge in Nebraska rejected a suit filed by seven states to block the measure's contraception coverage mandate, saying the states did not have standing to file it because they failed to prove they would suffer "immediate harm."

19 Jul 2012

Geographic adjustments not optimal tools to tackle larger national policy goals

Changing the way that Medicare payments are adjusted to account for regional variations in the cost of providing care as recommended by a previous report from the Institute of Medicine would result in payment increases for some hospitals and practitioners and decreases for others, concludes the Phase II report from the IOM study.

19 Jul 2012

IOM: Paying providers more in some parts of county won't solve access problems

In a new report, the Institute of Medicine concludes that raising Medicare reimbursements for some areas of the country will not necessarily address the physician shortage.

19 Jul 2012

New UC M program to test comprehensive care physician model

Patients who are frequently hospitalized account for a disproportionate amount of health care spending in the United States. Working with a $6.1 million grant, a new University of Chicago Medicine program will test whether an updated version of the traditional general practitioner can reduce spending while also improving care for these patients.

19 Jul 2012

Virtual colonoscopy effective screening tool for colorectal cancer in seniors

A recent study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology has reconfirmed that virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography) is an effective screening tool for colorectal cancer in seniors age 65 and older.

19 Jul 2012

Study identifies professional networks among physicians across geographic areas

Physicians tend to share patients with colleagues who have similar personal traits and practice styles, and there is substantial variation in physician network characteristics across geographic areas, according to a study in the July 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Jul 2012

Hospital performance at mercy of stroke severity

Accounting for stroke severity has a major impact on the accuracy of models that rank the performance of hospitals in acute stroke care, show findings published in JAMA.

18 Jul 2012

Drug coverage issues, dual eligibles program draw Democrats' interest

According to these stories from Politico and Politico Pro, some House Democrats are calling on the Department Of Health and Human Services to use the Medicare prescription drug program as a model for the health law's essential health benefits drug coverage requirement.

18 Jul 2012

Study: Medicare payment adjustments could take toll on safety net hospitals

A change in Medicare hospital payments, which is based on quality and scheduled to kick in this October, could add to the financial problems faced by facilities that treat largely the poor and uninsured.

18 Jul 2012