Selected stories from the daily newsletter CQ HealthBeat from the week of September 6, 2010. Provided as a service under rights licensed by The Commonwealth Fund. The full-text version of this newsletter is available in the
Health Reform section of commonwealthfund.org.
A new paper by independent government economists and actuaries projects that the new health care law will push the growth of national health spending slightly higher during the next decade rather than curbing it. Read more »
President Obama on Friday said that "bending the cost curve on health care is hard to do," and the administration's goal in the health care law is to "slowly bring down those costs." Read more »
With voters identifying the economy and jobs as their top concerns this election cycle, opponents of the new health care law are attempting to link the two by reprising their argument that the overhaul will be a "jobs killer." Read more »
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius fired off a letter to the nation's health insurance trade association warning that there will be "zero tolerance" for "unjustified rate increases" and "misinformation" about the health care law. Read more »
A new study on medical liability pegs its total cost to the health care system at $55.6 billion annually, or about 2.4 percent of total health care spending, an estimate much lower than those used by Republicans to argue in favor of tort reform. Read more »
Despite strong evidence that primary care doctors can play a key role in providing high-quality care, access to primary care doesn't by itself assure better treatment outcomes, says a study released by Dartmouth College researchers. Read more »