Skip to main content

Policy and Legislation

By Rene Letourneau | 04:38 pm | December 15, 2011
The proportion of Americans reporting problems affording prescription drugs remained level between 2007 and 2010, with more than one in eight going without a prescribed drug in 2010, according to a national study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change. Despite the flat numbers, the news isn't necessarily good.
By Chris Anderson | 11:18 am | December 15, 2011
The National Center for Health Statistics released new data yesterday showing 2.5 million more adults 26 and under had health insurance than would have without passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
By Stephanie Bouchard | 04:11 pm | December 14, 2011
A House bill passed Tuesday that included a "fix" to the ongoing sustainable growth rate problem is expected to meet its demise in the Senate. If the bill somehow survives, President Barack Obama has threatened to veto it. Where does that leave doctors? Facing the likelihood of a 27.4 percent pay cut.
By Chris Anderson | 11:52 am | December 14, 2011
Only 27 percent of physicians believe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will likely reduce healthcare costs by increasing efficiency and half believe access to healthcare will decrease because of hospital closures that will result from the law, according to a new study published yesterday by industry consulting firm Deloitte.
By Michelle McNickle | 02:05 pm | December 12, 2011
A recent report released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave insight into the variation of healthcare spending by state, with New England and the Mideast regions spending the most. Here are eight more healthcare spending trends identified in the report.
By Bernie Monegain | 11:33 am | December 12, 2011
Canadians with chronic conditions face more barriers to the care they need according to survey results released recently by the Commonwealth Fund.
By Stephanie Bouchard | 05:04 pm | December 08, 2011
As the country faces a shortage of doctors in the coming decades as the demand for them increases, one Midwestern state has put a number on just how many extra doctors per year it will need to avoid a crisis: 100.
By Rene Letourneau | 04:55 pm | December 08, 2011
The Department of Health and Human Services granted more than $14 million Thursday to 45 school-based health centers across the country, increasing the number of children served at the centers by nearly 50 percent.
By Kester Freeman | 09:57 am | December 07, 2011
Thanks to groups like the Premier healthcare alliance, federal officials have been kept informed of one of the worst drug shortages impacting U.S. hospitals in recent history.
By Chris Anderson | 12:07 pm | December 06, 2011
In advance of today's scheduled Senate subcommittee hearing on the proposed $29.1 billion merger of pharmacy benefit management companies Express Scripts and Medco, three Republican senators have sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging them to pay special attention to the dominant position the merged company would have in the mail order pharmacy market.