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Viewpoints: Health care system doesn't live up to its billing for many Americans; Romney woos seniors with 'clever Medicare gambit'

If you like your doctor, if your insurance works, if you feel that you're getting good value for your health care dollar, then in your view the U.S. system may rank high. If you don't have a regular doctor, if you're without insurance or underinsured, if you're swamped by medical bills, then in your view the U.S. system may not rank so high. And this is aside from debate over the role of government in the health care system.

17 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 16, 2012

Today's headlines feature reports that the federal government has cut Texas Medicaid funds because of a Planned Parenthood flap.

16 Mar 2012

Translating the health law into reality one regulation at a time

Part of implementing the health law includes replacing jargon in health insurance policies with plain English. Meanwhile, the release of a federal mental health parity rule is held up to coordinate it with the overhaul.

16 Mar 2012

In Congress, a budget battle is brewing

House GOP lawmakers are pushing cuts in the 2013 budget plan that go much deeper than the outline agreed upon last summer as part of a Republican-Democratic deal to raise the debt ceiling.

16 Mar 2012

NEJM publishes results from Teva's laquinimod Phase III study on RRMS

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech today announced the publication of results from the laquinimod Phase III ALLEGRO study in the March 15 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

16 Mar 2012

What's in store at the Supreme Court

News outlets report on the issues in play when the high court hears the health law oral arguments later this month, how particular justices might form their opinions and lay out the new, all-or-nothing position adopted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

16 Mar 2012

Romney's opponents attack him on Massachusetts health law and Planned Parenthood statement

The Massachusetts health law, which GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney signed while governor and which includes an individual mandate, continues to haunt him in the primaries. Meanwhile, Democrats use his recent pledge to 'get rid of' Planned Parenthood to diminish his appeal with female voters.

16 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Health costs crushing Detroit; Military care still faces funding issues; Romneycare scores

Legacy costs are bankrupting Detroit just as they crushed its automakers. Firefighters can retire at 55 and earn 70% of their highest salary plus a 2.25% annual cost-of-living inflator in perpetuity. The result? Employee benefits alone now make up about half of the city's general fund. Health costs have grown by more than 60% since 2008 while the city's pension bill has quadrupled to $200 million.

16 Mar 2012

Longer looks: Last interview with Oregon's assisted-suicide law architect; Med students spurn primary care for hospital jobs

Dr. Peter Goodwin, a family physician and right-to-die activist, took his own life on March 11, 2012, at age 83. He did it legally, with the blessing of his family and doctors, under the Oregon law allowing physician-assisted suicide - the first such law in the country - that Goodwin was instrumental in creating. … He did not look like a dying man; he was chirpy and alert ... However, as a result of his fatal disease - a Parkinsons-like condition called coritcobasal degeneration - he could not use his right hand or do much reliably with his left.

16 Mar 2012

Kodak retirees seek to protect health benefits in the face of Chapter 11 proceedings

Some former Kodak employees are asking a judge to appoint a retiree committee to protect their benefits as the photography company reorganizes under bankruptcy protection.

15 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 15, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about emerging Congressional budget battles and political strategies surrounding the health law.

15 Mar 2012

Santorum wins the South, but Romney focuses on Obama

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum solidified his claim to be the favored candidate of the party's conservative base with his wins in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday night, while rival Mitt Romney stepped up his attacks on President Barack Obama.

15 Mar 2012

Preparing for 'Ryan 2.0'

Democrats and Republicans alike are girding for the unveiling of the 2013 budget plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R- Wis., and its provisions to overhaul Medicare.

15 Mar 2012

CBO: Deficit estimate for 2012 increased to $1.2 trillion; Baby boomers' health costs continue as long-term concern

The Congressional Budget Office issued a new round of estimates that also included revisions of the health law's costs and coverage expansion.

15 Mar 2012

New position paper outlines national approach to antimicrobial stewardship

As the supply of life-saving antibiotics becomes increasingly threatened, infectious diseases experts urge healthcare systems and policymakers to step up efforts to protect patients by preserving the effectiveness of available antibiotics through antimicrobial stewardship initiatives.

15 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Health law savings questioned; Ryan-Wyden plan for all; Penalizing hospitals may not save money

As we approach the second anniversary of ObamaCare, it's worth re-examining some of the claims its proponents made about the impact of the law on health-care costs. Three of the law's most-touted cost-control measures have already been shown to be unlikely to succeed.

15 Mar 2012

Teva commences commercial launch of Escitalopram Oxalate Tablets

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has commenced commercial launch of Escitalopram Oxalate Tablets, the Company's generic version of Forest Laboratories' depression and generalized anxiety disorder treatment, Lexapro Tablets.

15 Mar 2012

State roundup: Caregivers face 'burnout' threat as need grows, Kansas nursing home staff inadequate?

Long term care advocates say they're concerned about caregiver burnout. And they say Wisconsin may be overestimating projected savings from uncompensated care that relatives provide. State health officials need to find nearly $80 million in savings from a popular program that keeps the elderly and disabled out of nursing homes. The administration wants to know what assistance friends and family are giving so that care isn't replaced by Medicaid services.

15 Mar 2012

IPAB opponents eye curbs on medical malpractice lawsuits as means to pay for repeal

This idea has drawn support for some GOP lawmakers seeking to get rid of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, but trial lawyers are already lining up against it. Meanwhile, a new Congressional Budget Office estimate indicates that because Medicare spending is slowing, the board may never actually have to spring into action.

14 Mar 2012

New rule ensuring equal access for ESRD patients receives DPC praise

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), the nation's largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, applauded the Administration for taking steps to solidify a key provision that will ensure end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have equal access to private coverage as Affordable Care Act reforms are implemented.

14 Mar 2012

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: Health care system doesn't live up to its billing for many Americans; Romney woos seniors with 'clever Medicare gambit'

First Edition: March 16, 2012

Translating the health law into reality one regulation at a time

In Congress, a budget battle is brewing

NEJM publishes results from Teva's laquinimod Phase III study on RRMS

What's in store at the Supreme Court

Romney's opponents attack him on Massachusetts health law and Planned Parenthood statement

Viewpoints: Health costs crushing Detroit; Military care still faces funding issues; Romneycare scores

Longer looks: Last interview with Oregon's assisted-suicide law architect; Med students spurn primary care for hospital jobs

Kodak retirees seek to protect health benefits in the face of Chapter 11 proceedings

First Edition: March 15, 2012

Santorum wins the South, but Romney focuses on Obama

Preparing for 'Ryan 2.0'

CBO: Deficit estimate for 2012 increased to $1.2 trillion; Baby boomers' health costs continue as long-term concern

New position paper outlines national approach to antimicrobial stewardship

Viewpoints: Health law savings questioned; Ryan-Wyden plan for all; Penalizing hospitals may not save money

Teva commences commercial launch of Escitalopram Oxalate Tablets

State roundup: Caregivers face 'burnout' threat as need grows, Kansas nursing home staff inadequate?

IPAB opponents eye curbs on medical malpractice lawsuits as means to pay for repeal

New rule ensuring equal access for ESRD patients receives DPC praise

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition 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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