Another Health Care Overhaul Hurdle - Antitrust Laws - NYTimes.com

Another Health Care Overhaul Hurdle - Antitrust Laws - NYTimes.com: "President Obama’s campaign to cut health costs by $2 trillion over the next decade, announced with fanfare two weeks ago, may have hit another snag: the nation’s antitrust laws."

FDA Gives Advice on Divulging Risks - WSJ.com

FDA Gives Advice on Divulging Risks - WSJ.com: "The Food and Drug Administration issued proposed advertising guidelines for drug and medical-device makers, with suggestions on ways to present risk information to consumers and health-care professionals."

Conservative Groups Fault Health-Care Agenda - WSJ.com

Conservative Groups Fault Health-Care Agenda - WSJ.com: "Conservative groups are stepping up the battle against Democrats' proposed health-system overhaul with advertising campaigns contending that the changes could result in long waits for surgery and difficulty obtaining prescription drugs."

Obama Curtails Bush Policy That Let Federal Rules Override State Laws - washingtonpost.com

Obama Curtails Bush Policy That Let Federal Rules Override State Laws - washingtonpost.com: "President Obama continued to reverse his predecessor's policies this week by undoing a controversial Bush administration rule known as 'preemption' that used federal regulations to override state laws on the environment, health, public safety and other issues."

Medtronic List Omits Name - WSJ.com

Medtronic List Omits Name - WSJ.com: "U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley expressed concern that a list of consultants provided to him by Medtronic Inc. doesn't include a doctor accused of falsifying data in a favorable study of the company's Infuse bone-graft product."

PhRMA Tries to Keep ‘Comparative Effectiveness’ in Check - WSJ

PhRMA Tries to Keep ‘Comparative Effectiveness’ in Check- WSJ: "The drug industry is taking it up a notch in its push against the idea of comparing the effectiveness of drugs and using the information to make insurance-coverage decisions."

Justice Department to Widen Health-Care Fraud Investigation - washingtonpost.com

Justice Department to Widen Health-Care Fraud Investigation - washingtonpost.com: "The Obama administration today is announcing it would expand Justice Department health-care strike forces to Detroit and Houston, part of a broader commitment to root out fraud in Medicare and Medicaid programs."

Voters Hand Schwarzenegger Big Defeat-CNN.com

Voters Hand Schwarzenegger Big Defeat-CNN.com: "California's governor said he would meet with state leaders Wednesday after voters panned a handful of ballot measures designed to pull the state out of a deepening budget crisis."

Vermont Wants Data on Industry Pay - WSJ

Vermont Wants Data on Industry Pay - WSJ: "Vermont’s governor is on the verge of signing into law a bill requiring drug and device makers to make public all of the money they give to doctors and others in health care, “naming names and listing dollar amounts,” as the New York Times describes it."

U.S., States Join Lawsuits On Wyeth Drug Sales - WSJ.com

U.S., States Join Lawsuits On Wyeth Drug Sales - WSJ.com: "The Justice Department and 16 states joined two whistleblower lawsuits alleging that Wyeth defrauded the government by offering discounts to hospitals on two of its drugs that it didn't offer to Medicaid."

New Taxes Loom to Pay for Health-Care Overhaul - WSJ.com

New Taxes Loom to Pay for Health-Care Overhaul - WSJ.com: "To pay for an overhaul of the nation's health system, Senate leaders have formally laid out proposals for new taxes on everything from employer-sponsored health-care benefits and nonprofit hospitals to alcohol and sugary drinks."

Arnold Schwarzenegger limps into proposition fight - POLITICO.com

Arnold Schwarzenegger limps into proposition fight - POLITICO.com: "Five-and-a-half years after winning election with a promise to fix and reform California's dysfunctional state budget, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting what may be his final chance to fulfill that pledge and leave a lasting change on the state's balance sheets."

Dems unclear where Baucus will side on health care reform - POLITICO.com

Dems unclear where Baucus will side on health care reform - POLITICO.com: "The fate of health care reform this year rests in the hands of a stoic Montana senator with a reputation for confounding his party and a zeal for bipartisanship that many in his caucus don’t share."

Idea on Hill: Taxing Health Benefits - WSJ.com

Idea on Hill: Taxing Health Benefits - WSJ.com: "The idea of taxing employee health-care benefits to raise money for an overhaul of the health system is gaining strength in Congress, although it drew criticism from Barack Obama when he was campaigning for president."

News Analysis - Obama’s Push for Health Care Cuts Faces Daunting Odds - NYTimes.com

News Analysis - Obama’s Push for Health Care Cuts Faces Daunting Odds - NYTimes.com: "President Obama engineered a political coup on Monday by bringing leaders of the health care industry to the White House to build momentum for his ambitious health care agenda."

Senate Committee Lays Out Health-Plan Options - WSJ.com

Senate Committee Lays Out Health-Plan Options - WSJ.com: "The Senate Finance Committee on Monday released three scenarios for creating a new public health-insurance plan and said small businesses should get a tax credit to provide workers with health insurance."

Industry Groups Pledge to Stem Health-Care Cost Increases - washingtonpost.com

Industry Groups Pledge to Stem Health-Care Cost Increases - washingtonpost.com: "Volunteering to 'do our part' to tackle runaway health costs, leading groups in the health-care industry have offered to squeeze $2 trillion in savings from projected increases over the next decade, White House officials said yesterday."

House to Hold Hearing on Preemption

The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on H.R. 1346, the "Medical Device Safety Act of 2009," which would eliminate the federal preemption defense for medical device manufacturers of PMA devices in state court product liability cases. More information on the negative impact of preemption.

White House on defense over legitimacy of budget cuts - TheHill.com

White House on defense over legitimacy of budget cuts - TheHill.com: "As congressional Republicans howled about what they view as fictional budget cuts and fuzzy math, the White House found itself playing defense over what President Obama said Thursday are $17 billion in cuts."

Taxing Those With Insurance to Pay for Those Without - NYTimes.com

Taxing Those With Insurance to Pay for Those Without - NYTimes.com: "It is an alluring way to pay for the ambitious plan to expand health coverage to the nearly 50 million people who are now uninsured. Simply put, the government would tax the people who already have the most expensive health benefits, as provided by their employers."

Obama's Budget Knife Yields Modest Trims - washingtonpost.com

Obama's Budget Knife Yields Modest Trims - washingtonpost.com: "President Obama has said for weeks that his staff is scouring the federal budget, 'line by line,' for savings. Today, they will release the results: a plan to trim 121 programs by $17 billion, a tiny fraction of next year's $3.4 trillion budget."

OPINION: Obama's Global Tax Raid - WSJ.com

OPINION: Obama's Global Tax Raid - WSJ.com: "President Obama revealed Monday that he's half a supply-sider. If only someone could explain to him the other half."

Party Switch Costs Specter His Seniority on Senate Committees - washingtonpost.com

Party Switch Costs Specter His Seniority on Senate Committees - washingtonpost.com: "The Senate last night stripped Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) of his seniority on committees, a week after the 29-year veteran of the chamber quit the Republican Party to join the Democrats."

Sebelius says health care reform is urgent - POLITICO.com

Sebelius says health care reform is urgent - POLITICO.com: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is telling philanthropic leaders Tuesday that President Obama’s plan to reform the nation’s health care is urgent — 'it is not political and it is not optional.”"

Suits Over Device Raise FDA Questions- NYTimes.com

Suits Over Device Raises FDA Questions - NYTimes.com: "The lawsuits raise new questions about the process by which the F.D.A. reviews new medical devices. While it “approves” drugs, it merely “clears” medical devices with minimal testing if they are deemed “substantially equivalent” to devices already in use."

Need for Cost Data Slows Health-Care Overhaul - WSJ.com

Need for Cost Data Slows Health-Care Overhaul - WSJ.com: "Senate leaders are working against a tightening calendar in tackling two of the most difficult aspects of a health-care overhaul: how to provide every American with health-insurance coverage and how to pay for it."

Sen. Specter Sends Mixed Signals on Health Reform -WSJ Health Blog

Sen. Specter Sends Mixed Signals on Health Reform - WSJ Health Blog: "It’s not so easy to read into what Sen. Arlen Specter’s switch to the Democratic party means for health reform."