Congress news from FierceHealthcare
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SPOTLIGHT: Obama wants health reform passed before summer recess
All along, President Obama has said that he wants to get health reform done and out the door in an astonishingly short amount of time. It seems he was serious. This week, Obama is pushing to see... Read more...
Group urges Congress to protect tax benefit of hospital gifts
Particularly given that charitable giving to hospitals is already down steeply, Congress should avoid making tax code changes that discourage donations even more, according to a new industry group.... Read more...
Are industry's promises to cut $2T smoke and mirrors?
Yesterday, several top interest groups in the healthcare world came together to announce that they were prepared to take steps to cut healthcare cost growth significantly over the next decade, saving... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: IOM - Uninsured crisis ready to boil over
The Institute of Medicine has been trying to draw attention to the crisis of the uninsured for many years, issuing six reports on the subject between 2001 and 2004 alone. Today, it's telling Congress... Read more...
Senate and House clash over electronic record privacy
This week the Senate and House are battling over legislation designed to strengthen privacy protections for electronic medical records. While the House supports tough measures backed by consumer... Read more...
Congress considers bundled payments for Medicare
While the idea is still in its early stages, Congress is taking a serious look at the notion of paying for an episode of care in some cases rather than permitting providers to bill for separate... Read more...
Study: Doctors largely support commercial funding for CME
The healthcare industry may be in an uproar over pharma and medical devicemaker funding for physician activities, but physicians don't seem to be so conflicted, if a recent study is to be believed.... Read more...
Study: Some healthcare reform bills are better than others
Congress got a little excited at the end of their last session, and introduced almost a dozen bills intended to shrink the number of uninsured patients in the U.S. And while no one bill is likely to... Read more...
Senate witnesses call for cost-containment
With senators going ahead on health reform before President-elect Obama gets into office, discussions have already started about what is necessary. Witnesses have been testifying in particular about... Read more...
Case study: How TN physicians are changing their practice
With Medicare cuts looming, many physicians vowed that they'd stop accepting Medicare patients entirely if and when the cuts went through. The thing is, even though Medicare cuts have been held off,... Read more...
