Democrats will focus on a series of health policy changes in the 110th Congress, with top priorities likely to include giving the government the power to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries and increasing federal funding for stem cell research, according to panelists speaking at a post-election break-down presented by Health360Strategies. Read more »
Although the pay for performance ship seems to have sailed in the Medicare program, Democrats may not be the most gung-ho of shipmates. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., delivered a blistering attack on "P4P" in a recent speech, and at a Washington, D.C., forum a respected Democratic health policy analyst voiced pronounced skepticism about instituting P4P for physician payment. Read more »
Surrounded by leaders from business and labor groups, Sen. Ron Wyden announced an ambitious plan for the next Congress to create universal health care coverage. The Oregon Democrat's proposal aims to provide health insurance to all Americans without increasing the $2.3 trillion spent annually on health care in the United States. Under Wyden's plan, the system of employment-linked health insurance would end. Read more »
Proponents of health savings accounts are hailing an array of provisions Congress passed aimed at increasing enrollment in the accounts, while some analysts say the changes might do little to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance. Read more »
From Wall Street's point of view, the biggest winners in the Medicare provisions that Congress cleared included dialysis clinics, home health agencies, and home oxygen equipment providers. Read more »
In their final burst of lawmaking to wrap up the 109th Congress, lawmakers fended off looming shortfalls in funding for coverage of children and passed a separate measure praised by Wyoming Republican Sen. Michael B. Enzi as a "small but important step" toward preventing premature births. Read more »