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Viewpoints: Orszag on CAP cost-control proposals; High-tech and health costs

The Center for American Progress proposals thus wisely recognize that there is no single strategy to continue the recent progress in slowing the growth in health-care costs. In contrast, the Republican budget plan put forward by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin seems based on a belief that all that's needed is to shift risks: from Medicare to beneficiaries through a premium-support program, and from the federal government to state governments by turning Medicaid into block grants.

3 Aug 2012

Roundup: Investors not shaken by accretive decision in Minn.; Conn. state abortion coverage conflicts with federal regs

Accretive Health got off pretty easy -- at least according to some on Wall Street. The $2.5 million that the Chicago-based firm must pay Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is "relatively immaterial," wrote analysts from Credit Suisse on Tuesday, July 31, as they sized up the settlement announced between the parties.

2 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Romney praises Israeli health care system -- which has an individual mandate; Sebelius and Pelosi hail launch of women's preventive care provisions

At a breakfast fundraiser in Jerusalem on Monday, (Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney) had nothing but nice things to say about our ally. But in flattering Israel, he raised more doubts about his political abilities. ... he also praised Israel's health care system. "Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel?" he asked.

2 Aug 2012

Mass. lawmakers unveil bill to cut health costs

Massachusetts lawmakers are expected to vote Tuesday on long-awaited legislation to rein in health care costs. The effort, which would put the state again at the forefront of health policy, will be watched by other states looking to control spiraling costs. After months of debate, House and Senate leaders filed a bipartisan compromise bill of more than 350 pages Monday night that would seek to contain health-care costs by setting a target at which overall state health spending should rise.

1 Aug 2012

Mass. cost control legislation seeks to reconcile wide coverage, high costs

Federal overhaul is often compared to Massachusetts' effort, but that state has yet to find a way to curtail health spending.

31 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Health law no threat to innovation; Failure to expand Medicaid would 'doom' thousands; Don't stigmatize mentally ill

For better or worse, the Democrats incorporated a good deal of mainstream Republican thinking about health care reform from the past decade, including mandated coverage and health insurance exchanges, into the Affordable Care Act. This leaves the GOP, embarrassingly, with little to say about what is wrong with the act.

31 Jul 2012

Research roundup: Slowdown in medical imaging; Hospitals' efforts mixed on reducing readmissions

Recent research showed a slowdown in the use of medical imaging for people enrolled in Medicare. This article follows up and finds that annual imaging growth slowed down from an average of 14 percent between 2000 and 2005 to 2.6 percent between 2006 and 2009. An analysis of commercial insurance claims shows a similar trend outside of Medicare. Based on

28 Jul 2012

Mo. gov. expects health law questions to be settled by lawmakers in 2013

States are implementing the health law: In Missouri, the governor says legislators will likely wait until the 2013 legislative session to settle their decisions on the health law's Medicaid expansion and exchanges, Texans get insurance rebates and Georgia works to define "basic" health coverage.

27 Jul 2012

CMS: Doughnut hole provision in health law has saved seniors $4B

According to the Obama administration, seniors have saved on average $629 on their medications during the first half of this year.

27 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: AIDS spread in U.S. South; Abortion opponents battle in Ariz.; GOP's costly effort to kill health law

More than 30 years into the AIDS epidemic, a combination of safe-sex education and a new generation of pharmaceuticals has left many Americans convinced that HIV/AIDS is a problem that has been, if not solved, at least addressed. But that's certainly not true in the American South, which accounts for nearly 50% of all new HIV infections in the United States.

27 Jul 2012

AmSurg second quarter revenues increase 23% to $231.6 million

Christopher A. Holden, President and Chief Executive Officer of AmSurg Corp., today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012. Revenues for the quarter were $231.6 million, a 23% increase from $187.5 million for the second quarter of 2011.

24 Jul 2012

Calif. Medi-Cal payments could be hurting patient access; Kansas Medicaid struggles with waiting lists for developmentally disabled

Shortcomings are examined in programs in California, where low reimbursements are discouraging doctors, and Kansas, where there's a large waiting list for developmentally disabled care.

24 Jul 2012

Roundup: Plan for new Md. hospital advances; Outsourcing of prison health care gets scrutiny; Alaska Native medical center seen as model

Maryland officials are preparing to unveil this week a detailed plan for a $600 million regional hospital to replace the ailing Prince George's Hospital Center and establish a new health-care network throughout Prince George's County. The plans are part of a broad effort to improve health care in a county where an estimated 150,000 residents lack health insurance or have insufficient coverage and often rely on hospital emergency rooms for primary care.

24 Jul 2012

HHS issues final rule on essential health benefits data collection

Meanwhile, new research from the Center for Studying Health System Change indicates that more small businesses may be self-insuring -- a step that will reduce their participation in the health law's insurance exchanges.

21 Jul 2012

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

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

Obama defends health law in Ohio town hall meeting

President Obama says he doesn't mind the "Obamacare" label and is chastising Republican Mitt Romney for not championing the Massachusetts health overhaul.

18 Jul 2012

Health law opponents sharpen fight focus on insurance tax credit

According to news reports, critics have pinpointed this part of the health law in their effort to undo the sweeping overhaul. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that very few middle-income taxpayers will pay more as a result of the measure's taxes, fees and penalties.

18 Jul 2012

Health Reform News and Research

Viewpoints: Orszag on CAP cost-control proposals; High-tech and health costs

Roundup: Investors not shaken by accretive decision in Minn.; Conn. state abortion coverage conflicts with federal regs

Viewpoints: Romney praises Israeli health care system -- which has an individual mandate; Sebelius and Pelosi hail launch of women's preventive care provisions

Mass. lawmakers unveil bill to cut health costs

Mass. cost control legislation seeks to reconcile wide coverage, high costs

Viewpoints: Health law no threat to innovation; Failure to expand Medicaid would 'doom' thousands; Don't stigmatize mentally ill

Research roundup: Slowdown in medical imaging; Hospitals' efforts mixed on reducing readmissions

Mo. gov. expects health law questions to be settled by lawmakers in 2013

CMS: Doughnut hole provision in health law has saved seniors $4B

Viewpoints: AIDS spread in U.S. South; Abortion opponents battle in Ariz.; GOP's costly effort to kill health law

AmSurg second quarter revenues increase 23% to $231.6 million

Calif. Medi-Cal payments could be hurting patient access; Kansas Medicaid struggles with waiting lists for developmentally disabled

Roundup: Plan for new Md. hospital advances; Outsourcing of prison health care gets scrutiny; Alaska Native medical center seen as model

HHS issues final rule on essential health benefits data collection

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

House subcommittee approves spending bill that deletes health law funding

First Edition: July 19, 2012

Opponents see possible avenues to send health law back to court

Obama defends health law in Ohio town hall meeting

Health law opponents sharpen fight focus on insurance tax credit

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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