First Edition: August 9, 2010

Aug 9 2010

Today's health policy headlines include dispatches from the campaign trail, news of the President's weekly address and developments from the health care marketplace.  

In Superman's Hometown, A Labor Dispute Over Health
Union workers at the nation's only uranium conversion plant, in Metropolis, Ill., have erected 42 crosses nearby in memory of workers who died of cancer. Twenty-seven smaller crosses symbolize workers who have survived the disease (The New York Times).

Virginia's Attorney General On Health Care, Immigration
Host Liane Hansen speaks to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli about immigration and health care. Last week, a federal court refused to dismiss Cuccinelli's suit against the new federal health care law, and Cuccinelli issued an opinion which gives the OK for Virginia police to inquire about the immigration status of those they stop (NPR). 

Obama Promotes Health Overhaul
President Barack Obama on Saturday credited the health care overhaul with extending the solvency of Medicare and delivering new benefits and savings to senior citizens — a group of voters that remains deeply skeptical of the new law (Politico).

KHN's Daily Report - Obama: Health Reform Law Boosts Future Of Medicare
Kaiser Health News tracked reports about the coverage of President Barack Obama's weekly address. This week's topic was Medicare.

In Va.'s 5th, Incumbent Democrat Sees Voter Frustration Firsthand
The crowds that have been showing up for Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello's town halls have been smaller and more polite than the angry throngs he saw during last August's raucous congressional recess (The Washington Post).

Medicare's Private Eyes Let Fraud Cases Get Cold
They don't seem that interested in hot pursuit. It took private sleuths hired by Medicare an average of six months last year to refer fraud cases to law enforcement (The Associated Press).

Doctors Get Dose Of Technology From Insurers
Health-insurance companies including Humana Inc. and Aetna Inc. are stepping into the race to equip doctors with high-tech patient records (The Wall Street Journal).

Renewed Effort To Lure Doctors To Rural Areas Faces Obstacles
Sarah Carricaburu slipped her sleek new iPhone into her purse for the day. With no signal here deep in the woods, it's useless. She swiveled away from her desktop computer, which can't access the Internet, and glanced at the manila folders of patient records neatly stacked on a shelf by nurses (The Washington Post).

U.S. Mulls St. Jude Complaint
The U.S. Justice Department said it wants to intervene in a lawsuit against St. Jude Medical Inc. in which a former worker accused the heart-device maker of using medical studies to pay kickbacks and boost product usage (The Wall Street Journal).

Marijuana Legalization Receiving Fewer Contributions Than Previous Drug-Related Propositions
Two years ago, when Californians were voting on an initiative that would have trimmed prison time for nonviolent drug offenders, Bob Wilson, a wealthy New York City investor, spent $2.8 million on the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to get it passed (Los Angeles Times).

When Facebook Goes To The Hospital, Patients May Suffer
William Wells arrived at the emergency room at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach on April 9 mortally wounded. The 60-year-old had been stabbed more than a dozen times by a fellow nursing home resident, his throat slashed so savagely he was almost decapitated. Instead of focusing on treating him, an employee said, St. Mary nurses and other hospital staff did the unthinkable: They snapped photos of the dying man and posted them on Facebook (Los Angeles Times).