Exclusive: The Woodward, Sperling emails revealed

Exclusive: The Woodward, Sperling emails revealed-politico: POLITICO’s “Behind the Curtain” column last night quoted Bob Woodward as saying that a senior White House official has told him in an email he would “regret” questioning White House statements on the origins of sequestration. The official in question is Gene Sperling, economic adviser to the president. The White House has since pushed back, saying the exchange was far more innocuous than Woodward claims.

Device lobby "doubles down" on medical device tax repeal

Device lobby "doubles down" on medical device tax repeal-massdevice: MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Medical device lobbying group AdvaMed unveiled its 2013 agenda, highlighting its efforts to "double down" on efforts to repeal the 2.3% medical device tax that took effect at the start of the year. "This issue is critically important to companies large and small that already are living with the real-world harmful impact this tax is having – including layoffs, cuts in R&D and delayed expansion plans," AdvaMed president & CEO Stephen Ubl said in prepared remarks.

The security risks of medical devices

The security risks of medical devices-massdevice: Beth Israel Deaconess has been outspoken about the risks of malware on FDA 510k approved medical devices such as radiology workstations, echocardiogram machines, and patient monitors. Although these devices appear to be "appliances" that you simply plug into the network and use for patient care, they are actually sophisticated computers, often running outdated versions of operating systems and applications that are not resilient against purposeful attacks.

Obamacare is ramping up a health-care turf war

Obamacare is ramping up a health-care turf war-washingtonpost: The Affordable Care Act will extend health insurance to millions of Americans — a number that grows weekly with Republican governors signing onto the Medicaid expansion. Health policy experts expect that increased insurance coverage will lead to increased demand for health care. Once a patient has access to health insurance coverage, the thinking goes, she or he will be more likely to turn up seeking care.

Sources: Obama to meet with congressional leaders

Sources: Obama to meet with congressional leaders-politico: President Obama is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders from both parties at the White House on Friday, according to three sources briefed on the plans.House Speaker John Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are expected to attend the meeting to discuss the sequester cuts.

Medicare Needs Fixing, but Not Right Now

Medicare Needs Fixing, but Not Right Now-newyorktimes: What’s the rush? For all the white-knuckled wrangling over spending cuts set to start on Friday, the fundamental partisan argument over how to fix the government’s finances is not about the immediate future. It is about the much longer term: how will the nation pay for the care of older Americans as the vast baby boom generation retires? Will the government keep Medicare spending in check by asking older Americans to shoulder more costs? Should we raise taxes instead?

Insiders Foresee One-Month Sequester, Effort To Give Agencies Flexibility On Cuts

Insiders Foresee One-Month Sequester, Effort To Give Agencies Flexibility On Cuts-insidehealthpolicy: Washington insiders, including FDA funding advocates, are bracing for across-the-board funding cuts to go into effect March 1 for at least one month while lawmakers work toward a government funding measure to replace the continuing resolution that expires at the end of March and also address the sequester. The Alliance for a Stronger FDA also told its members Monday (Feb. 25) there is increased discussion on Capitol Hill about legislation that would give agencies more discretion in allocating the cuts as opposed to requiring they be imposed equally.