Grassley Pushes Tax on Health Benefits; Axelrod Won’t Rule It Out -WSJ Health Blog

Grassley Pushes Tax on Health Benefits; Axelrod Won’t Rule It Out - WSJ Health Blog: "Chuck Grassley and David Axelrod both talked health care on ABC’s This Week. Grassley plumped for the idea of taxing high-end health benefits. Axelrod said President Obama prefers funding health reform by limiting tax deductions for people making more than $250,000 a year — but wouldn’t rule out going along with a tax on benefits, if that’s what Congress passes."

Cancer Drugs’ Cost-Effectiveness Questioned - WSJ.com

Cancer Drugs’ Cost-Effectiveness Questioned - WSJ.com: "The widespread use of expensive cancer drugs to prolong patients’ lives by just weeks or months was called into question by an article published Monday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute."

Abbott Told To Pay J&J $1.67 Billion Over Patent - WSJ.com

Abbott Told To Pay J&J $1.67 Billion Over Patent - WSJ.com: "A federal jury in Texas Monday upheld the patent on Johnson & Johnson's arthritis treatment Remicade and ordered Abbott Laboratories to pay its rival $1.67 billion for infringing on the patent."

Little Hope for G.O.P. to Support Health Bill - NYTimes.com

Little Hope for G.O.P. to Support Health Bill - NYTimes.com: "Congressional Republicans are finding much to dislike in Democratic health care proposals, illustrating the immense difficulty Democrats face in fashioning an overhaul that can attract enough Republican support to be portrayed as bipartisan."

Sebelius Presses Lawmakers on Health Care - WSJ.com

Sebelius Presses Lawmakers on Health Care - WSJ.com: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers Wednesday that President Barack Obama is willing to listen to suggestions on how to pay for a health-care overhaul, as long as they don't increase the deficit."

Obama Open to Health Overhaul Without Public Plan - WSJ.com

Obama Open to Health Overhaul Without Public Plan - WSJ.com: "President Barack Obama on Tuesday signaled flexibility on a key health-care issue, suggesting he is open to an overhaul that doesn't include a government-run program to compete with private insurers."

Senate Looks to Trim Tax Break for Personal Medical Costs - WSJ.com

Senate Looks to Trim Tax Break for Personal Medical Costs - WSJ.com: "A proposal in the Senate to limit tax deductions for medical costs would fall hardest on middle-income taxpayers who are uninsured and who come up against expensive health problems."

Knee Replacements Are Determined to Be Cost-Effective - WSJ.com

Knee Replacements Are Determined to Be Cost-Effective - WSJ.com: "A $20,000 procedure to replace a knee ravaged by arthritis in the elderly is generally a good deal for both patients and the federal Medicare program that pays the bill, according to a new study."

Obama health plan imperiled - POLITICO.com

Obama health plan imperiled- POLITICO.com: "President Obama's campaign for health care reform by this fall, once considered highly likely to succeed, suddenly appears in real jeopardy."

Health Care Reform’s Moment Arrives — Again - NYTimes.com

Health Care Reform’s Moment Arrives — Again - NYTimes.com: "In their heart of hearts, few in the Obama administration would have predicted late last year that they would be this well positioned by June to achieve a major victory on health care. As the economy faltered, and attention focused on Wall Street and Detroit, it seemed unthinkable that Congress would be ready to devote the summer of 2009 to the costly proposition of providing health coverage for all, a goal that has eluded presidents since Theodore Roosevelt."

Medicare Cuts Weighed to Fund Health Overhaul - WSJ.com

Medicare Cuts Weighed to Fund Health Overhaul - WSJ.com: "A key Senate committee, pressed to find ways to pay for a health-care expansion, is considering cuts in Medicare that would kick in automatically if other efforts to trim spending in the program fail."

Price Tag of Health Reform Bill Prompts Sparring and a Delay in Congress - washingtonpost.com

Price Tag of Health Reform Bill Prompts Sparring and a Delay in Congress - washingtonpost.com: "President Obama's hopes for quick action on comprehensive health-care reform ran headlong this week into the realities of Congress, as lawmakers searching for the money to pay for a broad expansion of coverage discovered that it wasn't easy to find and descended into partisan -- and intraparty -- bickering."

Baucus Backs Off on Timing Of Health-Care Legislation - WSJ.com

Baucus Backs Off on Timing Of Health-Care Legislation - WSJ.com: "The drive in Congress for rapid action on health care hit a speed bump amid rising concern among rank-and-file lawmakers over the cost and attempts by Senate Democratic leaders to win some Republican support."

Committee Spars Over Medical Device Industry Witness - WSJ.com

Committee Spars Over Medical Device Industry Witness - WSJ.com: "Democrats and Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are pointing fingers at each other behind the scenes over a witness invited to testify at a hearing Thursday about how the federal government approves medical devices."

Medtronic Paid the Surgeon Accused Of Falsifying Study Nearly $800,000 - WSJ.com

Medtronic Paid the Surgeon Accused Of Falsifying Study Nearly $800,000 - WSJ.com: "Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. says it paid nearly $800,000 over the past three years to a former Army surgeon accused of fabricating a study that reported positive results for one of the company's key spine products."

Senate Mulls Over Health-Bill Details - WSJ.com

Senate Mulls Over Health-Bill Details - WSJ.com: "A key Senate committee wrestled Monday with details of a health plan that would allow nonprofit cooperatives to compete with private insurers and would tax health-care benefits for the first time."

Dems vs. Dems on health bill - POLITICO.com

Dems vs. Dems on health bill - POLITICO.com: "President Barack Obama's plan for a government health insurance program has touched off an increasingly fierce Democratic civil war on Capitol Hill, as liberals fearful about squandering the chance to achieve that goal are taking aggressive steps to keep moderates in line."

Industry Groups Push Back on Kennedy's Health Bill - WSJ.com

Industry Groups Push Back on Kennedy's Health Bill - WSJ.com: "Employers and health-insurance companies are pushing back against parts of a health bill proposed by Sen. Edward Kennedy, in a sign of the challenges that loom for Democratic-led legislation."

On Health Care, Congress Must Navigate Tricky Political Terrain - washingtonpost.com

On Health Care, Congress Must Navigate Tricky Political Terrain - washingtonpost.com: "The new president stood before a joint session of Congress and called for health-care reform in the most urgent terms possible."

Decision Makers Differ on How to Reshape Nation's Medical Services - washingtonpost.com

Decision Makers Differ on How to Reshape Nation's Medical Services - washingtonpost.com: "On that point there is rare unanimity among Washington decision makers: The U.S. health system needs a major overhaul."

Grassley Scolds Obama on Twitter - WSJ.com

Grassley Scolds Obama on Twitter - WSJ.com: "Sen. Chuck Grassley says that President Barack Obama has 'got nerve' to go sightseeing in Paris while telling lawmakers it's time to deliver on a health-care overhaul."

Health care reform draft bill released - POLITICO.com

Health care reform draft bill released - POLITICO.com: "The Senate committee chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) began circulating draft language Friday of a health care reform bill that would create a public insurance option to compete with private insurers."

GOP health plan tensions build - POLITICO.com

GOP health plan tensions build - POLITICO.com: "Senate Republicans showed growing frustration Thursday with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats over a public insurance plan, calling it a deal breaker that would kill prospects for a bipartisan health care reform bill."

Barack Obama stresses health care as an economic necessity - POLITICO.com

Barack Obama stresses health care as an economic necessity - POLITICO.com: "Of the many attacks that could fell President Barack Obama’s bid for health care reform, he appears most concerned about charges that it is an all-pain, no-gain budget buster."

Judd Gregg gives health reform a go- POLITICO.com

Judd Gregg gives health reform a go - POLITICO.com: "Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) broke ranks with his Senate colleagues Monday and offered his own competing plan for health care reform — a proposal he said embodies what he would do if he had “a magic wand.”"

Health Groups Detail Plans to Reduce Costs - WSJ.com

Health Groups Detail Plans to Reduce Costs - WSJ.com: "Health-care providers plan to help cut up to $1.7 trillion of costs over the next decade by improving care for chronic diseases, streamlining administrative tasks and reducing unnecessary care, major industry groups said Monday."

Obama Said to Be Open to Taxing Health-Care Benefits - WSJ.com

Obama Said to Be Open to Taxing Health-Care Benefits - WSJ.com: "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on Tuesday indicated that President Barack Obama may be warming to the idea of taxing employer-provided health-care benefits to pay for an overhaul of the nation's health system. But the White House, and a key Democratic senator, quickly shot down the idea that the president has had a change of heart"

Health plans abound for Republicans- POLITICO.com

Health plans abound for Republicans - POLITICO.com: "Senate conservatives have a bill. House moderates have a bill. The House GOP study group is looking at writing one. So is a group of physicians in the House. Then on Monday, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg put in his own plan."