A panel of leading health policy analysts said that Congress should no longer delay in creating an entity that would compare the value of health care treatments. With health costs rising at unsustainable rates, authoritative research comparing the effectiveness of drugs, devices, and medical procedures for given medical conditions would provide a way to bring spending down to sustainable levels, the analysts said at an industry-sponsored forum. Read more »
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has joined the ranks of prominent politicians prescribing a major overhaul of the U.S. health system. In a speech to health policymakers, Bloomberg outlined a vision for the medical field that would harness health information technology to improve preventive care. Read more »
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said that she will reintroduce legislative proposals that would broaden the use of health information technology and give principal caregivers temporary relief from their obligations. Read more »
Lawmakers ready to overhaul the way Medicare pays physicians are starting to understand exactly how much it will cost to fix the sustainable growth rate, or SGR, a major priority for Congress later this year. Read more »
Democratic and Republican House members, backed by a broad industry and consumer coalition, announced a $60 billion plan that is intended to provide health insurance to most American children without it. Read more »
Hunting for details to flesh out his rationale for cutting payments to Medicare Advantage plans, Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., invited the head of the Medicare program to quantify the extra benefits those plans provide. Read more »