Obama healthcare reform Republicans can cheer about (Morning Read)

Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about the healthcare industry.

Healthcare reform: ‘Bluff’ called. President Obama embraced a plan that would allow states to opt out of federal healthcare reform by 2017 if the states can do better. Plus, the president said he’s open to moving that date to as soon as 2014.

That actually still isn’t soon enough for many Republican governors. Or, more to the point, it’s only a start of what the governors really want, which is to start slashing requirements and benefits in Medicaid.

But, politically speaking, the compromise calls the bluff of anyone who thinks they could do better. It still keeps the GOP’s let-them-eat-block-grants approach to healthcare funding at bay, while forcing every state to meet the federal criteria for healthcare.

“At the end of the day, children need to be protected,” an official told The Hill’s Healthwatch. “While we need to find a more sustainable path for Medicaid, [President Obama] raised concerns that a block grant could potentially leave children vulnerable and didn’t necessarily think that was the best path.”

But is it enough of a compromise to make a difference but burdened state budget?

Resistance to Pfizer Canada. Protests over Pfizer Canada’s alliance to create physician education programs with the Canadian Medical Association is the second harsh critique of Pfizer’s Canadian operation. Watchdogs also complained when a Pfizer executive was picked to lead the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Fortunes from the flu. Noravax was won a $97 million flu vaccine contract with the federal government and inked a deal with the South Korean government to use its drug.

Mobile health lessons… via the NIH. The mHealth Summer Institute starts in June. ’NIH is committed to harnessing the power and reach of mobile technologies to extend healthy life and to reduce the burden of illness and disability,’ explained Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Dr. Roderic Pettigrew.

Arcalyst FDA approval? Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it will file a marketing application for its gout treatment in by the middle of this year with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after positive study results.

Dealflow and more. Austrian biotech Arsanis has raised $10 million, diabetes device company Intuity Medical has received a $20 million credit facility; healthcare publisher MDx Medical has purchased UCompareHealthCare.com.