States Wrestle Over Medicaid Funds in Stimulus Package-WSJ Health Blog

States Wrestle Over Medicaid Funds in Stimulus Package-WSJ Health Blog: "The $819 billion economic stimulus package now heads to the Senate after passing the House in a 244-188 vote, without a single Republican saying “yea.” Now it heads to the Senate, where one of the sticking points is expected to be how funds for Medicaid will be distributed."

House Passes Stimulus Package - WSJ.com

House Passes Stimulus Package - WSJ.com: "The House passed an $819 billion tax-and-spending bill Wednesday, in a recession-fighting effort that would extend the reach of the federal government across the U.S. economy by reshaping policy on energy, education, health care and social programs."

Stimulus May Provide Relief - NYTimes.com

Stimulus May Provide Relief - NYTimes.com: "The stimulus bill working its way through Congress is not just a package of spending increases and tax cuts intended to jolt the nation out of recession. For Democrats, it is also a tool for rewriting the social contract with the poor, the uninsured and the unemployed, in ways they have long yearned to do."

States Take Aim At Medicaid - WSJ.com

States Take Aim At Medicaid - WSJ.com: "At least 25 states have enacted or proposed cuts in health-insurance programs for the poor, potentially leaving millions of patients with reduced levels of care or no coverage at all."

Health Reform Pervades Economic Stimulus Bill

Health Reform Pervades Economic Stimulus Bill: "You might mistake the economic stimulus package slated for a House vote today for a health-reform bill, if weren’t sprinkled with some goodies for other sectors of the economy."

Health care turns on Kennedy's welfare - Politico.com

Health care turns on Kennedy's welfare - Politico.com: "Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s seizure on Inauguration Day reignited the lingering — and largely unspoken — worry within Washington health care circles that the coming health care reform battle could be a whole lot harder without its wiliest general."

Medicare Covers More Off-Label Uses of Cancer Drugs - NYTimes.com

Medicare Covers More Off-Label Uses of Cancer Drugs - NYTimes.com: "Medicare, with little public debate, has expanded its coverage of drugs for cancer treatments not approved by the Food and Drug Administration."

Stimulus Plans Differ on Health Spending - WSJ.com

Stimulus Plans Differ on Health Spending - WSJ.com: "Proposed spending in the U.S. Senate's stimulus package includes $3 billion more for health information technology than that proposed by the U.S. House, a summary released Friday by the Senate Appropriations Committee shows."

Kid Coverage to Grow? - WSJ.com

SCHIP Vote in the Senate - WSJ.com: "Congress is poised to hand President Barack Obama a quick legislative victory on health care, giving a boost to his goal of covering every child in the nation."

New Rules on Doctors and Medical Firms Amid Ethics Concerns - NYTimes.com

New Rules on Doctors and Medical Firms Amid Ethics Concerns - NYTimes.com: " Smith & Nephew, a leading maker of artificial hips and knees, has told executives and sales representatives attending a big meeting of orthopedic surgeons next month to limit interactions with the doctors to the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m."

First Embryonic Stem-Cell Trial Gets Approval From the FDA - WSJ.com

First Embryonic Stem-Cell Trial Gets Approval From the FDA - WSJ.com: "In a watershed moment for one of the most contentious areas of science and American politics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical treatment derived from embryonic stem cells."

Treatment Language Creates Ill Will-CongressDaily

Treatment Language Creates Ill Will-Congress Daily: "House Appropriations Chairman David Obey set off a firestorm recently by including report language for the House economic stimulus package that implied that $1 billion to fund research to compare the effectiveness of medical treatments would keep patients from more-expensive medications and procedures -- and even staffers who crafted the bill language are fuming over the report."

Doctor-Owned Hospitals Fare Poorly in Child Health Bill - WSJ.com

Doctor-Owned Hospitals Fare Poorly in Child Health Bill - WSJ.com: "A bill making its way through Congress to provide more low-income children with health-insurance coverage could spell financial trouble for scores of hospitals owned by physicians."

Report Criticizes F.D.A. on Device Testing - NYTimes.com

Report Criticizes F.D.A. on Device Testing - NYTimes.com: "In recent years, the accountability office, Congress’s auditing arm, has chastised the F.D.A. as failing to put into effect its own plan to protect the nation’s food supply, as failing to adequately inspect the foreign drug plants that provide most of the nation’s medicines and as being so hobbled by bureaucratic infighting that it fails to detect emerging drug dangers."

Putting a Price on Compassion - NYTimes.com

Putting a Price on Compassion - NYTimes.com: "Last Thursday, The New England Journal of Medicine published an opinion piece titled “Money and the Changing Culture of Medicine.” The authors, Dr. Pamela Hartzband and Dr. Jerome Groopman, argue that the current drive to fit health care into a business framework has resulted in a loss of medicine’s communal and compassionate aspects."

Medtronic Paid Researcher $19 million- WSJ.com

Medtronic Paid Researcher $19 million - WSJ.com: "A prominent spine surgeon and researcher at the University of Wisconsin received $19 million in payment over five years from Medtronic Inc., one of the country's largest makers of spinal devices, according to a senator who is investigating potential conflicts of interest in medicine"

Daschle's Confirmation Slows in Committee - WSJ.com

Daschle's Confirmation Slows in Committee - WSJ.com: "Former Sen. Tom Daschle's confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services has slowed as the Republican staff on the Senate Finance Committee staff examines his tax records and his association with an education-loan provider that is separately under committee scrutiny."

House Votes to Expand Children’s Health Care - NYTimes.com

House Votes to Expand Children’s Health Care - NYTimes.com: "With enthusiastic support from President-elect Barack Obama, the House on Wednesday passed a bill to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program. President Bush twice had vetoed similar legislation."

Obama taps Corr for HHS deputy -Politico.com

Obama taps Corr for HHS deputy - Politico.com: "President-elect Barack Obama has tapped Bill Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to be deputy secretary of health and human services."

Congress Set to Renew Health Care for Children - NYTimes.com

Congress Set to Renew Health Care for Children - NYTimes.com: "Congress is poised to give President-elect Barack Obama a quick victory by passing a bill to provide health insurance to millions of low-income children."

In F.D.A. Files, Claims of Rush to Approve Devices - NYTimes.com

In F.D.A. Files, Claims of Rush to Approve Devices - NYTimes.com: "An official at the Food and Drug Administration overruled front-line agency scientists and approved the sale of an imaging device for breast cancer after receiving a phone call from a Connecticut congressman, according to internal agency documents."

Medical Journal Changes Its Policy - NYTimes.com

Medical Journal Changes Its Policy - NYTimes.com: "Criticism by a national accreditation group over a lung cancer study that failed to disclose an author’s financial conflicts has led The New England Journal of Medicine to change its procedures."

A Wolfe in Regulator's Clothing: Drug Industry Critic Joins the FDA - WSJ.com

A Wolfe in Regulator's Clothing: Drug Industry Critic Joins the FDA - WSJ.com: "Over three decades, Dr. Wolfe, head of the health group at advocacy organization Public Citizen that Ralph Nader founded, has helped push 16 drugs off the market and slap restrictions on several multibillion-dollar products. He has been so hostile to the FDA under President George W. Bush that he decried its 100th-anniversary celebration in 2006 as a 'propaganda campaign' to hide its 'unprecedented assault on the American public.'"

A Wolfe in Regulator's Clothing: Drug Industry Critic Joins the FDA - WSJ.com

A Wolfe in Regulator's Clothing: Drug Industry Critic Joins the FDA - WSJ.com: "Over three decades, Dr. Wolfe, head of the health group at advocacy organization Public Citizen that Ralph Nader founded, has helped push 16 drugs off the market and slap restrictions on several multibillion-dollar products. He has been so hostile to the FDA under President George W. Bush that he decried its 100th-anniversary celebration in 2006 as a 'propaganda campaign' to hide its 'unprecedented assault on the American public.'"

Daschle seeks aggressive health care overhaul - washingtonpost.com

Daschle seeks aggressive health care overhaul - washingtonpost.com: "Tom Daschle told former Senate colleagues on Thursday that as health secretary he would learn from Bill Clinton's failed attempt to overhaul health care, an effort criticized as too long, secretive and hard to understand."

Obama's pick to lead on health care gets hearing - washingtonpost.com

Obama's pick to lead on health care gets hearing - washingtonpost.com: "Showing the emphasis that some lawmakers are putting on health care issues this year, former Sen. Tom Daschle will be the first of President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet choices to undergo a hearing."

Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending - NYTimes.com

Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending - NYTimes.com: "President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be “a central part” of his administration’s efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade into the thorny politics of entitlement programs."

With More Oversight Possible Under Obama, Drug Industry Works to Polish Its Image - washingtonpost.com

With More Oversight Possible Under Obama, Drug Industry Works to Polish Its Image - washingtonpost.com: "The pharmaceutical industry, confronting sluggish growth, low prestige and the prospect of more-aggressive government oversight, is moving on several fronts to burnish its image and align itself rhetorically with the health reform goals of President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress."

With More Oversight Possible Under Obama, Drug Industry Works to Polish Its Image - washingtonpost.com

With More Oversight Possible Under Obama, Drug Industry Works to Polish Its Image - washingtonpost.com: "The pharmaceutical industry, confronting sluggish growth, low prestige and the prospect of more-aggressive government oversight, is moving on several fronts to burnish its image and align itself rhetorically with the health reform goals of President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress."

Transition hosts health care meetings - Chris Frates - Politico.com

Transition hosts health care meetings - Chris Frates - Politico.com: "President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is starting to collect political intelligence it could use to sway lawmakers and special interest groups in the upcoming health care reform debate."

Health care could nab $100B payday - Politico.com

Health care could nab $100B payday - Politico.com: "The $775 billion economic stimulus plan being cobbled together by President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats could pump more than $100 billion into the health care sector, modernizing its delivery system and providing care to those who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, according to sources close to the planning."

Blue Shield of California Reinstates Insurance for Patients it Dropped-WSJ Health Blog

Blue Shield of California Reinstates Insurance for Patients it Dropped-WSJ Health Blog: "In a bid to put to rest legal troubles over a practice of canceling patients’ health insurance policies after they got sick, Blue Shield of California has agreed to grant coverage again to nearly 700 such patients."

Obama Wants Journalist for Surgeon General - washingtonpost.com

Obama Wants Journalist for Surgeon General -washingtonpost.com: "President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation."

Child Psychiatrist to Curtail Industry-Financed Activities - NYTimes.com

Child Psychiatrist to Curtail Industry-Financed Activities - NYTimes.com: "A prominent Harvard child psychiatrist will curtail activities financed by the drug industry while Massachusetts General Hospital investigates his failure for years to disclose the consulting fees he received from drug makers."

Spending Rise for Health Care and Prescription Drugs Slows - NYTimes.com

Spending Rise for Health Care and Prescription Drugs Slows - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — National health spending grew in 2007 at the lowest rate in nine years, mainly because prescription drug spending increased at the slowest pace since 1963, the government reported Monday."

FDA Approved More Drugs in 2008 - WSJ.com

FDA Approved More Drugs in 2008 - WSJ.com: "Federal regulators approved more new drugs in 2008 than in any of the prior three years, a consolation of sorts to an industry struggling with greater scrutiny, thousands of layoffs and thinning drug pipelines."

No More Goodies for Doctors From Drug Makers - NYTimes.com

No More Goodies for Doctors From Drug Makers - NYTimes.com: "Starting Jan. 1, the pharmaceutical industry has agreed to a voluntary moratorium on the kind of branded goodies — Viagra pens, Zoloft soap dispensers, Lipitor mugs — that were meant to foster good will and, some would say, encourage doctors to prescribe more of the drugs."