Minnesota Republicans in a tough spot over exchange: “If Minnesota can’t show that it can operate an exchange by early 2013, the federal government will create and operate one for Minnesotans — anathema to Republicans who fervently oppose federal intervention in local health care markets.” [Kaiser Health News]
Study finds bundling is hard to get off the ground: Researchers from the Rand Corporation and the Harvard School of Public Health looked at three sites that were trying to implement a bundling methodology and found that “the efforts moved along slowly. In two to three years of trying, none of the providers or insurers actually made or received a bundled payment, or even implemented a contract to start them. That “lagged months or years behind their planned milestones.” [WSJ]
Graphic cigarette labels put on hold: “U.S. Judge Richard J. Leon sided with five tobacco companies — including Lorillard and Reynolds American — in their request that the new rules be put off until the court can actually rule on the merits of the claim. The companies filed suit against the federal rule in August, saying the large, graphic warnings violate free speech.” [WSJ]
Economy may be coloring views of health care: A recent Robert Wood Johnson poll “found that 45 percent of people thought the health of Americans had become worse during the past five years, and 40 percent thought it had stayed about the same. Only 13 percent thought it was better.” [NPR]
Tort reform efforts stalled: “In a bid to win support for health reform from skeptical doctors back in 2009, President Barack Obama pledged action on an item near the top of their wish list — malpractice reform. And he delivered an initial step: $25 million to test alternatives to the medical liability system. That won praise from the American Medical Association, among others. But since then, tort reform on the federal level has been put on ice, a victim of both tight money and bitter politics.” [Politico]
IRS says more small businesses are taking advantage of credits: “The IRS and the Treasury Department are pushing back on a new report that found that fewer small businesses than expected were claiming a tax credit tucked into the health care law.” They “say that the inspector general’s figures are outdated, asserting that more recent statistics found that $435 million in credits had been claimed.” [Sam Baker]
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