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Posts from Health Reform Watch have been cited by media sources throughout the country, including The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Kaiser Health News, The Health Care Blog, NPR's Planet Money Blog, Duke Univ. Med. Center News, American Health Line Alerts, BusinessWeek.com, Concurring Opinions, Balkinization, The New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Las Vegas Sun, Maggie Mahar, Ezra Klein, Tom Geoghegan, and the official homepage of the Office of the Democratic Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer.
Kaiser- Obama Readies Compromise On Birth Control Mandate
- Birth Control Mandate Is A Rallying Cry In Presidential Campaigns
- Catholics Choosing Sides In Contraception Battle As Bishops Lead Fight Against Administration
- Some Senate Democrats Split From White House On Contraception Rule
- New Contraceptive Rule Has Precedents In Federal, State Law
- The Commonwealth Fund
- Employers and the Exchanges Under the Small Business Health Options Program: Examining the Potential and the PitfallsA set of Commonwealth Fund–supported Health Affairs articles examines the potential of the Affordable Care Act's Small Business Health Care Options Program to provide affordable options for small employers who now face high premiums and administrative costs when they insure their employees.
- Making the SHOP Exchanges WorkMany small employers—which make up the vast majority of American businesses—struggle to afford and manage health insurance for their employees. Timothy Jost discusses how the SHOP exchanges will make it easier for small employers to offer affordable plans.
- New Study: Small Businesses Could Buy Health Insurance for Nearly 10 Million Workers Through the Affordable Care Act's Small Business Health Insurance Exchanges
- Health Insurance Exchanges of Past and Present Offer Examples of Features That Could Attract Small-Business CustomersThis Commonwealth Fund–supported article in Health Affairs recommends ways the exchanges can reach out to small-business owners to meet their needs.
- How Small Business Health Exchanges Can Offer Value to Their Future Customers—And Why They MustIn this Commonwealth Fund–supported article, Jon Kingsdale argues that the reason many small firms do not currently offer health insurance to employees is not lack of availability—as there is a thriving commercial market for small-group coverage—but because of cost.
- Employers and the Exchanges Under the Small Business Health Options Program: Examining the Potential and the Pitfalls
- RWJF Health Reform News
- Small BusinessOnly a few employers will take advantage of rules allowing some small businesses to avoid pending health reform measures, rendering the rules relatively obsolete and minimizing their impact on health insurance costs, according to new analysis and simulations conducted by health policy researchers.
- ObamaCare's Medicaid MandateCan a technically voluntary program also be coercive? Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
- Birth-Control Compromise to Be Announced by White HouseThe White House plans to announce a compromise designed to allay the concerns of religious organizations on a Health and Human Services rule that would require religious employers to cover birth control, a senior administration official confirmed to POLITICO.
- Thousands Join First Lady for 'Let's Move' OutingWild arm swings, sharp robotic turns, pulsing fist pumps.
- Bill Would Require Standards on Arsenic, Lead in Fruit JuiceThe next time your kid reaches for more apple juice, think twice.
- Small Business
- ACA Litigation Blog
- NY Times Health Policy
- Obama Offers ‘Accommodation’ on Birth Control RuleThe decision to soften a requirement that religious-affiliated organizations pay for insurance plans offering free birth control was meant to appease Catholics on the left — not bishops.
- Supply of Methotrexate, a Cancer Drug, May Run Out SoonHundreds or even thousands of lives are at risk after a major manufacturer suspended production of methotrexate, a treatment for childhood leukemia.
- National Briefing | Environment: E.P.A. Is Sued Over Delays in Soot StandardsEleven states sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday over its delays in tightening air quality standards involving soot.
- Bishops Planned Battle on Birth Control Coverage RuleRoman Catholic bishops began mobilizing months ago for a major campaign against a requirement that religious-affiliated institutions cover birth control in their insurance plans.
- Boehner Vows to Fight Contraception RuleCongressional Republicans stepped into the battle over an Obama administration rule requiring health insurance plans at Catholic universities and charities to offer free birth control.
- Obama Offers ‘Accommodation’ on Birth Control Rule
- WaPo Health
- Redskin London Fletcher’s fitness regimenLet’s say your job is to take off at a sprint, get moving about 20 mph and slam yourself full speed into a brick wall — 60 times in a single afternoon. We’d give you a helmet and lots of padding to protect yourself. Because of the toll this would take on your body, we’d make you do it only once a week. And we’d reward you handsomely. Read full art […]
- Keep your New Year’s fitness resolution without hitting the gymThis is it. This is the year you finally get in shape, shed those pounds or meet that fitness pledge you made at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31. But do you have to build the new you in a hot, stuffy gym, cheek by jiggly jowl with a dozen other sweaty resolutionaries awaiting their turn on the elliptical machine? Read full article >>
- My workplace fitness resolutionI’m not saying my co-workers are fat. In fact, a fair number of them are toothpick skinny — including, unfairly, the guy who brings in his latest cupcake creation every other day. Many of them are also super-active, always running, biking and yoga-ing in their free time. Read full article >>
- Guys: Stretch now or pay laterListen up, ladies, because it’s confession time, and as you may know, this is not my gender’s forte. So let’s get this over with: Although we are bigger, stronger and faster than you are, we must acknowledge that when it comes to flexibility, most of us are pretty much outclassed. We aren’t built like you, and we don’ t bend like you do. Read full […]
- Ways to get kids to eat quinoaWhen people ask me to list my favorite healthy foods, quinoa always tops the list. And not just because the National Restaurant Association named it the hottest trend in side dishes in 2010. My boys think I like quinoa because when it was first discovered it was named “the mother grain.” Yes, I am proud to be a mother myself, but check out all the real […]
- Redskin London Fletcher’s fitness regimen
- Fierce Healthcare
- Eisai loses panel vote on new Dacogen useA federal advisory panel voted down Eisai's attempt to gain an approval for Dacogen as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. The pharma company has been trying to gain an OK to use the drug for elderly patients for whom chemo has failed. The advisers voted 10 to 3 against, making any formal approval unlikely. Story
- Mouse study triggers demands for a possible Alzheimer's treatmentInvestigators have turned in intriguing animal data suggesting that an orphan drug used to treat lymphoma may be effective in countering Alzheimer's disease. And with the news grabbing headlines around the world, researchers say they need to race to a more conclusive understanding of how the drug works in humans as physicians field demands for the treat […]
- NeurogesX slammed again as FDA panel spurns pain patchNeurogesX ($NGSX) finds itself on the ropes this morning, with its badly battered shares taking yet another beating after an FDA panel unanimously shot down an attempt to get an approval to use its pain patch for HIV-related neuropathy. Earlier in the week, regulators issued an internal assessment that NeurogesX never laid out a clear set of data supporting […]
- High price of failure drives drug development costs into the stratosphereThe debate over the true cost of developing new drugs has created a virtual cottage industry of analysis in recent years. Critics maintain that the pharma industry has wildly overblown costs to justify the often extraordinary price it can place on a new product. Industry officials countered by citing Tufts' figure of more than a billion dollars per new […]
- FDA maps out long-awaited rules for the biosimilars businessThe FDA has finally issued its eagerly anticipated draft of rules governing the development of biosimilars, laying out a roadmap for a multibillion-dollar industry that's been rapidly taking shape under the wing of big biopharma companies and a slate of multinational players. Analysts quickly concluded that the rules largely fit a broad framework that F […]
- One father's heartbreak inspired a $250M quest for a cureEvery new drug ever approved involved years of workby dedicated teams of investigators. In the case of the newcystic fibrosisdrug Kalydeco from Vertex ($VRTX), the story also includes Boston businessman Joe O'Donnell, who helped raise much of the money the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation used to back the development of the treatment. The Boston Globe toda […]
- Altheos grabs $12.5M more, launches glaucoma trial Drug developer Altheos has expanded its Series A round by an additional $12.5 million, just in time for the launch of a Phase IIa dosing trial for its glaucoma treatment. The South San Francisco startup can now herald the fact that its "A" round raised a not-insignificant $32.5 million. Existing investors Bay City Capital, Novo A/S, Canaan Partners […]
- Takeda opens new drug development center in ChinaJapan's Takeda is adding a new drug development center in Shanghai intended to complement the international clinical work now under way in Singapore and Cambridge, MA. Both of the existing operations, including the cancer drug developer Millennium in Cambridge, work with contract research organizations to advance new treatments through the clinic. Now t […]
- Cytomedix snaps up stem cell biotech Aldagen for a bargain priceJust 10 months after abandoning its second effort to go public, Aldagen is selling out to a small regenerative medicine company for just $16 million in shares and the chance to earn another chunk of stock based on the clinical success of its stem cell therapies. The news isn't likely to spur much joy among its investors. Durham, NC-based Aldagen reporte […]
- Celgene pays $15M for front-row seat on Acetylon myeloma programSince its launch back in 2009, Boston-based Acetylon Pharmaceuticals has fueled its work on a next-gen HDAC inhibitor with $40 million drawn from wealthy individual backers as well as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation. But with its lead program in a classic Phase Ia dose-escalation safety study, Celgene has stepped in with a $15 million strategic investme […]
- Eisai loses panel vote on new Dacogen use
- Boston Globe Health Blog
- MIT professor wins prestigious chemistry prizeBy Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff Robert Langer, a biomedical engineer at MIT best known for his contributions in the fields of tissue engineering and drug delivery, has been named the winner of the 2012 Priestley Medal, a prestigious prize...
- Daily check up: New York Times points to Mass. public opinion on health care mandate as a modelIn an editorial today, the Times says support for the national mandate could follow the recent trend in Mass. and grow
- Brigham and Women's performs face transplant on woman mauled by chimpJonathan Wiggs / Globe Staff Photo Steve Nash, brother of Charla Nash, who received a full face transplant at Brigham and Women's Hospital late last month, appeared at a press conference today with his wife, Kate. Charla Nash did not...
- Poll: Public supports mandatory physical educationIn a survey of 501 Mass. residents, 87 percent said the state should require 30 min. of physical activity each school day
- Immigrant health care back in courtImmigrant advocates had hoped for a quick decision, but the state plans to file a motion that would delay the process
- MIT professor wins prestigious chemistry prize
- LA Times Health Blog
- Health Affairs Blog
- New Transparency Rules For Health Plans: A Huge Win For ConsumersEditor’s note: See another Health Affairs post on this topic by Tim Jost. How do you shop for health insurance today? For many of us, our employer makes the decision for us. And if there is a choice of health plans, the employer also provides helpful summaries of the benefits, premium differences, and cost-sharing so [...]
- Implementing Health Reform: The Summary Of Benefits And CoverageEditor’s note: Another Health Affairs Blog post, by Mila Kofman and Sabrina Corlette, also discusses the February 9 final rule implementing Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements that health plans provide consumers with short, easy to understand summaries of benefits and coverage. Tim Jost’s post below discusses this new rule; additionally, it ha […]
- Small Business Health Insurance Exchanges: Potential And PitfallsThe Affordable Care Act’s state health insurance exchanges for small businesses present a host of opportunities for states now creating them, but they also present design and regulatory challenges that could make or break the success of the program, according to a cluster of articles in the February issue of Health Affairs, released yesterday. The [...]
- New Health Affairs: Some Physicians Not Always Honest With PatientsDespite wide institutional acceptance of a medical professionalism charter that endorses openness and honesty in physicians’ interactions with patients, not all doctors comply, according to a survey whose results are published in the February 2012 issue of Health Affairs, released today. Although about two-thirds of doctors responding to the survey did agr […]
- The ACA Supreme Court Litigation: The States’ Medicaid And Minimum Coverage BriefsBriefs continue to be filed at a furious pace in the Affordable Care Act Supreme Court litigation. On January 6, the federal government led off with its brief challenging the decision of the Eleventh Circuit federal court of appeals that the ACA’s minimum coverage requirement (individual mandate) is unconstitutional. The states and the National Federat […]
- New Transparency Rules For Health Plans: A Huge Win For Consumers
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