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Montana governor wants to get drugs from Canada

HELENA, Mont. - Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he is seeking federal permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada for use in the state insurance programs.Schweitzer says the state spends about $100 million a year on prescription drugs for Medicaid, the children's health insurance program, state employees, and prison inmates. He estimates $40 million could be saved by getting prescription drugs from Canada.

Hard times taking some of the aid out of Medicaid

Mar. 13--NORFOLK -- James Parker cringes when he thinks about cuts to MediÃ‚Âcaid insurance that could make it even harder to get the medical care he needs. He's one of more than 775,000 Virginians covered by Medicaid, a shared state and federal insurance program for the disabled and people with low incomes. The Medicaid program already pays doctors and hospitals much less than private insurance does -- below actual costs in most cases.

Obama decries waste, fraud in gov't health system

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - President Barack Obama denounced waste, inefficiency and downright fraud in the government's health care system on Wednesday as he sought to rally public support for his revamped overhaul plan. Obama pressed Congress to act on the health care overhaul measure without further delay."I believe that Congress owes the American people a final up or down vote on health care reform.

Va OKs 1st bill banning mandated health coverage

RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia's General Assembly is the first in the nation to approve legislation that bucks federal health care reforms by banning mandatory health insurance coverage.Without debate, the House of Delegates voted 80-17 Wednesday to accept Senate amendments to a bill that supporters say preserves Virginia's prerogatives as a state.Thirty-four other legislatures have filed or proposed similar measures rejecting health insurance mandates.

Pharmaceutical group spent $6.3M lobbying in Q4

WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical industry's main trade group spent $6.3 million in the fourth quarter lobbying Congress, the White House and multiple government agencies on health care provisions and related issues, according to a quarterly disclosure report.The group's members include drug giants Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson and more than two dozen other U.S. and foreign companies.The group also lobbied on several health care-related parts of the 2010 federal budget, including funding for pandemic preparedness and for both the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

Insurers alone can't be blamed for rates, economists say: Demand, prices push up health care costs

Mar. 14--In the final push for health care reform, health insurance companies have become an inviting target, with supporters of reform focusing on insurers imposing steep rate increases for individual insurance. Proponents of the Democrats' proposed legislation, from grass-roots organizers to President Barack Obama, point to big rate increases for individuals -- such as a pending 24% average increase from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield for its most popular Wisconsin plans -- as evidence that the system is broken. Yet health economists contend that insurance companies, while often meriting criticism for their practices, aren't to blame for high health care costs.

The Philadelphia Inquirer Jeff Gelles column: Consumer 10.0: From one health insurer's perspective

Mar. 14--If you're a health insurer nowadays, chances are you feel cast as Snidely Whiplash. Just ask the folks at Philadelphia's Independence Blue Cross. As the region's dominant insurer, Blue Cross is often in the crosshairs as health-care costs rise and policyholders struggle with higher premiums and co-pays.

As universities tighten ethics policies, drug firms turn to private physicians to promote products

Mar. 14--This article is part of an ongoing series about how money and conflicts of interest affect medicine and patient care. When looking for a doctor to travel the country and tout its costly prescription fish oil pill, GlaxoSmithKline didn't select a heavyweight university researcher. For just three months of speaking engagements last year, GlaxoSmithKline paid Dall $45,000, ranking her among the most highly paid of more than 3,600 doctors nationwide who spoke for the company, which released records for only one quarter of the year.

For insurers, health care debate is a prescription for uncertainty: The fortunes of UnitedHealth Group and other insurers are tied to the twists and turns of health reform.

Mar. 14--Last Monday, as President Obama launched a last-ditch effort to save health reform, health insurance stocks took a beating. Shares of UnitedHealth Group, the biggest U.S. insurer by revenue, fell almost 2 percent to close at $33.10. While the Minnetonka-based insurer's share price ended the week even lower at $32.91, the message was clear, if not entirely new: that any reform package passed by the Democrats is likely to crimp the profits of health insurers.

Medicine disposal debated

Mar. 14--SOUTH YARMOUTH -- Little hits closer to home for Cape Cod residents than the quality of their water. So when a Cape Cod Hospital official revealed during a recent Yarmouth Board of Health workshop that the health care facility routinely flushes narcotics down the drain, in accordance with federal rules, he piqued the group's interest. But on Friday, Pernick and Cape Cod Hospital pharmacy director Peter Scarafile defended the practice of flushing a small amount of unused drugs, saying they follow federal regulations and guidelines for disposing pharmaceuticals, including narcotics.