It’s a pretty safe bet that you’d be happy if someone agreed to pay you more to do the same thing you’ve already been doing.So, surely primary care doctors can appreciate one provision of the federal health reform law that bumps Medicaid rates for primary care up to the same level as Medicare rates, right? [...]

Among the lesser-known but more far-reaching provisions of federal health reform is the medical loss ratio requirement that the law imposes on health insurance companies.Medical loss ratio (MLR) regulations are aimed at controlling cost and dictate that insurers must spend a certain percentage of the premium dollars they collect on medical care, rather than on [...]

The above graph from Dan Diamond on Twitter makes clear the role healthcare reform played in President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address: Not much.As predicted by MedCity News on Monday, Obama’s 2012 State of the Union featured only passing references to health policy, as the president chose to focus more broadly on economic [...]

Healthcare played an important role in last year’s State of the Union address, as President Barack Obama sought to highlight ways his administration could work with Republicans to amend his controversial health reform law in the wake of Democrats’ crushing defeat in 2010 mid-term elections.But it looks unlikely that healthcare will garner more than a [...]

Minnesota has more to lose from possible National Institutes of Health budget cuts than its population size would suggest, with the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic bringing in hundreds of millions in grant dollars to the state.

The promise by Congressional Republicans to rein in federal spending for the 2012 fiscal year completely ignores the importance of investment in biomedical research and the jobs it creates, not to mention the fiscal and lifesaving benefits. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1 on February 19th. The bill now moves on to the Senate and could be voted on this week. H.R. 1 will cut NIH funding by $1.6 billion (5.2%) below the current 2010 level and reduce the budget for medical research to $29.4 billion — back to 2008 levels, not accounting for inflation.

President Barack Obama’s federal budget proposal would eliminate a $318 million fund for graduate medical education at children’s hospitals.

New regulations governing the pathway for new innovative medical devices will come out on Wednesday, President Obama announced Tuesday. Changes to the 510(k) program will be released by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Voters don’t dislike Obamacare in the Tea Party sort of way. Many who say they are opposed to the Obama-styled US healthcare reform bill are against it because they wish it went further, according to a new poll. They are not part of the repeal-and-replace crowd that incoming GOP Congressman claim to represent.

The next step for the now unconstitutional US healthcare reform efforts (and other Obama setbacks). A doctor who really wasn’t. Boston Scientific’s (long) quest for perfection. Healthcare social media: medical businesses still far away from jumping on board. Plus, Glaxo’s big sports nutrition buy and fresh funding for everything from cancer detection to cardiac surgical devices.