Morning Read: AHRQ survives House budget axe, Martin Shkreli wants to bail out rappers
Also, groups react to healthcare elements of the federal budget deal, and get ready for the seamy underworld of digital health.
House reaches deal on more than $1T spending bill and 2-year medical device tax pause
House leadership approved a two-year suspension of the medical device tax and the Cadillac tax on high-cost insurance plans.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Burwell, senators to identify priorities for fixing Meaningful Use by 2017
HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell has agreed to work with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to identify specific ways to fix the faltering Meaningful Use health IT incentive program, either legislatively or administratively. Burwell made the pledge to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) during a hearing on the HHS 2016 budget before the Senate Appropriations Committee's health subcommittee Thursday,
“Why Are Medicare Costs Rising So Fast? – It’s Actually Not Complicated”
Medicare is complicated. And expensive to government and individuals. My last post was the beginning of a primer on Medicare. It is not simple but can be understood. Medicare covers about 50 million older Americans for general health care and covers about 75% of covered services or 50% of total health care costs of these […]
Will “Medicare As We Know It” Persist Or Will It Change?
With the nomination of Congressman Paul Ryan last summer as the vice presidential candidate of the Republican Party, Medicare became front and center in the political discussions and, although there is less attention just now, it will return with a vengeance once again to dominate. To understand the dialogue requires an understanding of Medicare, how […]