health care
Health care – a few congressional updates
So, today the Senate Finance committee passed its version of a health care reform bill. Work will now shift to merging this bill with one passed earlier this year by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. Three House committees have jointly approved a bill as well.
In the meantime, hearings have and will continue [...]
Health care reform bill introduced in the House
The Chairmen of the three House of Representatives committees with jurisdiction over health policy introduced a huge health care reform bill today – and that’s the easy part. Those committees, Education & Labor, Energy & Commerce, and Ways & Means, will begin marking up the legislation this week, and will undoubtedly go through many changes before, or [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )NIH Announces New Program to Develop Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases
The National Institutes of Health is launching the first integrated, drug development pipeline to produce new treatments for rare and neglected diseases. The $24 million program jumpstarts a trans-NIH initiative called the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program, or TRND.
The program is unusual because TRND creates a drug development pipeline within the NIH and [...]
Senate Finance Committee releases policy options for financing health care reform
Healthcare reform is a major objective of the Obama administration . How much will it cost, and how will it be paid for? The Senate Finance Committee has released several documents recently. The third and final paper addresses policy options. It can be found here on the committee website. Public comments are due by May [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Health Care Back on the Front Burner?
Senators Max Baucus (D, MT) and Ted Kennedy (D, MA) today both signaled strong support for another run at health care reform. Kennedy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, said he would “continue to lay the ground work for early action by Congress when President-elect Obama takes office.
In opening remarks at today’s Brookings [...]
Medicare bill clears Senate – and Kennedy returns
With the unexpected appearance of Senator Ted Kennedy, back in the Senate for the first time in six weeks, the Medicare bill passed the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 69-30, enough of a margin to override the President’s threatened veto.
The bill replaces a 10.6 percent cut to Medicare’s physician pay rates, which was supposed to have [...]
Health care costs threaten american businesses
A recent study by the New America Foundation reinforces the concern that health care costs put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage when competing with overseas firms.
The study found that in 2005 U.S. firms spent twice as much on health care than their foreign competitors – and we’re not talking China or India. Try $2.28/hour in health care [...]
