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Viewpoints: Sanders on angry Americans; Sebelius on Md. exchanges; Samuelson: 'it's the elderly, stupid'

If the Republicans have their way, the entire burden of deficit reduction will be placed on the elderly, the sick, children and working families. In the midst of a horrendous recession that is already causing severe pain for average Americans, this approach is morally grotesque. ... The Reid plan is bad. The constantly shifting plan by House Speaker John Boehner is much worse. ... Those cuts would mean drastic reductions in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

30 Jul 2011

Amgen reports 8% increase in second quarter total product sales to $3,893 million

Amgen reported total revenue increased 4 percent during the second quarter of 2011 to $3,959 million versus $3,804 million in the second quarter of 2010. Total product sales increased 8 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to $3,893 million versus $3,613 million in the second quarter of 2010. The increase in total revenue in the second quarter of 2011 included a decline in other revenue due to certain milestone payments earned in the second quarter of 2010.

29 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 29, 2011

Today's headlines include speculation about how the debt-ceiling debate may have altered the discussion regarding changes to Medicare.

29 Jul 2011

LifePoint Hospitals second quarter revenues increase 11.0% to $877.6 million

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2011.

29 Jul 2011

HMS second quarter revenue increases 26% to $89.3 million

HMS today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2011.

29 Jul 2011

Amerigroup second quarter total revenues increase 6.3% to $1.53 billion

Amerigroup Corporation today announced that net income for the second quarter of 2011 was $44.3 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, versus net income of $67.2 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010 and compared to $70.5 million, or $1.37 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011.

29 Jul 2011

Hospice services improve quality of care and support for dementia patients

Hospice services substantially improved the provision of care and support for nursing home patients dying of dementia and their families, according to an analysis of survey responses from hundreds of bereaved family members.

29 Jul 2011

Coventry Health Care second quarter operating revenues increase 6% to $3.0 billion

Coventry Health Care, Inc. today reported consolidated operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2011.

29 Jul 2011

Veterans' health care costs are a big part of federal budget

Though the withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan will save the nation billions of dollars a year, another cost of war is projected to continue rising for decades to come: caring for the veterans.

29 Jul 2011

Debt-ceiling pressure increases as deadline approaches

News outlets report that states are getting more nervous and are taking steps to prepare for the loss in federal dollars. Meanwhile, in the background, political maneuvering surrounding Medicare and Medicaid continues.

29 Jul 2011

Nation's health care tab continues to grow

The nation's health care tab is on track to hit $4.6 trillion in 2020, accounting for about $1 of every $5 in the economy, government number crunchers estimate in a report out Thursday. How much is that? Including government and private money, health care spending in 2020 will average $13,710 for every man, woman and child, says Medicare's Office of the Actuary.

29 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Pessimism on partisan debt dealings; supporting community clinics; 'mystery shopper' should go forward

FDR began the entitlement era with the New Deal and Social Security, but for decades it remained relatively limited. … That changed in the mid-1960s with LBJ's Great Society and the dawn of the health-care state. Medicare and Medicaid were launched in 1965 with fairy tale estimates of future costs. Medicare, the program for the elderly, was supposed to cost $12 billion by 1990 but instead spent $110 billion.

29 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 28, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the ever-growing US health health care tab and about the petition filed by a conservative legal center to bring their health law challenge to the Supreme Court.

28 Jul 2011

Brooklyn drugstores accused of Medicare Part D fraud

With a blue awning with the Russian word for pharmacy written on it and a sign hung in the window declaring "We Accept All Medicare Part D Plans," Monica's looks like a typical mom-and-pop Brooklyn drugstore.

28 Jul 2011

Boehner plan faces delay as debt deal continues to be elusive

The delay was caused both by a Congressional Budget Office analysis that found the proposal by House Speaker John Boehner didn't score the promised savings and by conservatives' skepticism about the plan.

28 Jul 2011

Medicare Part D ups patient compliance, reduces hospital costs

The findings, which were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggested that for seniors, access to affordable prescription drugs would reduce their need for emergency and short-term nursing care.

28 Jul 2011

PCMA President releases statement on new Medicare Part D study

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt released the following statement today on a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found "implementation of Medicare Part D was followed by a significant reductions in nondrug medical spending, particularly on acute and post acute care, for elderly Medicare beneficiaries with limited prior drug coverage".

28 Jul 2011

Watson to acquire portfolio of divested generic pharmaceutical products

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of generic pharmaceutical products that are being divested as a result of the merger between Perrigo Company and Paddock Laboratories.

28 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Chambliss on reviving Gang of Six proposal; WSJ on Medicare Part D; Friedman on 'doing this right'

I joined five other senators to identify the difficult issues and make the hard, necessary decisions to address the twin challenges of our deficit and debt. ... Among other provisions, our proposal reduces the debt by $3.7 trillion over the next 10 years, stabilizes our publicly held debt by 2014, and imposes tough and honest budget enforcement.

28 Jul 2011

FDA accepts peginesatide NDA for anemia associated with CKD

Affymax, Inc. and Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc., U.S., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) for peginesatide (formerly known as Hematide™) for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adult patients on dialysis.

27 Jul 2011