6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upholds individual mandate - POLITICO.com

6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upholds individual mandate - POLITICO.com: "The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the health reform law’s controversial requirement that nearly all Americans buy insurance, marking a significant win for President Barack Obama in the legal battles over his signature legislation."

California Legislature passes budget - The Washington Post

California Legislature passes budget - The Washington Post: "SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Exercising their new majority-vote authority, California Democrats on Tuesday closed the remainder of what had been a gaping budget deficit by relying on a combination of deep spending cuts, optimistic revenue projections and new fees that are sure to be challenged in court."

Surgeons Who Tested Medtronic's Infuse Failed to Report Problems - WSJ.com

Surgeons Who Tested Medtronic's Infuse Failed to Report Problems - WSJ.com: "Surgeons who conducted clinical trials to test a Medtronic Inc. bone-growth protein widely used in spine surgery didn't report serious complications that arose in those trials in their research papers, a new study says.
Over the past decade, 15 of those surgeons have collectively received at least $62 million from the medical-device giant for unrelated work, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medtronic documents and of recent disclosures made on the company's website."

Top Democrats reject new plan to cut Medicare spending - The Washington Post

Top Democrats reject new plan to cut Medicare spending - The Washington Post: "Leading congressional Democrats immediately recoiled Tuesday from a new proposal to cut $600 billion in Medicare spending over the next decade — in part by raising the eligibility age."

Health exchanges: A new gold mine - POLITICO.com

Health exchanges: A new gold mine - POLITICO.com: "Cheryl Smith and Brett Graham may live in Salt Lake City — but you’d be hard pressed to find them in Utah these days. The pair lead the health exchange practice at the consulting firm Leavitt Partners and, ever since the health care reform law passed, they have been in hot demand."

Edwards LifeSciences: Sapien panel date set for July 20 - MassDevice

Edwards LifeSciences: Sapien panel date set for July 20 - MassDevice: "Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE:EW) will get its much-anticipated date with the FDA for its flagship Sapien transcatheter heart valve device on July 20. The federal watchdog agency's circulatory system devices advisory panel will review the company's pre-market approval application for the Sapien system. If it gets a green light from the panel, it should gain approval from the watchdog agency for commercial sale in the U.S., possibly by the end of the summer (the FDA is not bound by its advisory panels' recommendations, but usually follows their guidance). Edwards filed its PMA application in October 2010 and has staked its flag on an October 2011 release, sinking about $40 million into a launch that CEO Michael Mussallem said will allow the company to compete in 200 to 400 centers in the U.S."

Weaning the Hill off Medicare formula - POLITICO.com

Weaning the Hill off Medicare formula - POLITICO.com: "The Medicare physician payment formula is often attacked as a budget gimmick that holds down federal spending on paper, even though everyone knows the cuts it imposes will never come into effect."