Diana Manos

New data released Thursday by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association found that 2008 generic drug use among Blue plan members increased by more than 8 percent and generated at least $2.5 billion in savings.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on Monday the national average fee-for-service growth rate for 2010 Medicare Advantage plans. Rather than the 4.24 percent growth rate of 2009, CMS will give Medicare Advantage plans an 0.81 percent rate for 2010.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have called on Congress to pass comprehensive healthcare reform legislation for the president to sign by July 4.

Congress is brewing up some recipes for healthcare reform, and quite a few cooks are expected to crowd into a very hot kitchen. Congressional leaders have called for a final bill by this summer. The unanswered questions likely to draw the most heat are: how to pay for the reform and how far will the plan lean toward universal mandated care?

President Barack Obama’s $3.5 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget holds promise for physicians seeking a fix to what they consider a flawed Medicare payment system.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius expressed strong support for healthcare reform in both of her confirmation hearings this week before Congress. The Senate Finance Committee could vote on her nomination as Department of Health and Human Services Secretary as early as next week.

Congress is expected to vote today on the fiscal year 2010 budget. President Obama's proposal calls for nearly $77 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services and includes funding to correct the Medicare physician payment structure, advance health IT and expand research of care comparative effectiveness.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee commended the nation’s leading health insurers in a letter Wednesday, urging them to continue working with Congress to find ways to offer higher-quality, lower-cost healthcare plans.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, tapped for Department of Health and Human Services Secretary by President Obama last month, told Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday that her accountant found $8,000 in errors in her past three tax returns, which she has now paid.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is seeking federal funding to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, which affects 5.3 million Americans and costs Medicare more than $91 billion a year.