“I think we’re going over the cliff. It’s pretty clear to me they made a political calculation. This offer doesn’t remotely deal with entitlement reform in a way to save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security from imminent bankruptcy. It raises $1.6 trillion on job creators that will destroy the economy and there are no spending controls.”
— Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Dec. 2, 2012
In dismissing the administration’s offer to resolve the so-called “fiscal cliff,” Sen. Graham referred to the “imminent bankruptcy” of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
We have warned before that politicians in both parties are guilty of misusing such phrases as “bankruptcy” or “broke” when talking about Medicare. But Graham hits the trifecta here — Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. We take no position on whether the White House’s proposals are adequate, but what’s he talking about?
Healthcare law will have new California Legislature scrambling
Lawmakers will need to move quickly to clear the way for Californians' enrollment in a new state-run insurance market next fall in the run-up to the Affordable Care Act.
By Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times
10:40 PM PST, December 2, 2012
SACRAMENTO — When state lawmakers are sworn in Monday for the new legislative session, they will have little time to enjoy the pomp and circumstance.
Facing a federal deadline, the Legislature must move quickly to pass measures to implement President Obama's healthcare law and revamp the state's insurance market. New legislation will help extend coverage to millions of uninsured Californians and solidify the state's reputation as a key laboratory for the federal law.
Legislative leaders have said they also want to overhaul environmental regulations, curb soaring tuition at public colleges, and tweak the state's tax structure and ballot-initiative system.
But healthcare remains one of the largest and most immediate challenges.
The federal Affordable Care Act takes effect in January 2014, when most Americans face the requirement to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. State lawmakers must pass a series of rules to clear the way for enrollment in a new state-run insurance market next fall, including a requirement for insurers to cover consumers who have preexisting medical conditions and limits on how much they can charge based on age.
Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to call a special session of the Legislature next month — concurrent with the regular session — so healthcare bills that he signs can take effect within 90 days rather than the next year.
Appeals court puts 1st Amendment over public health
An appellate panel clears a man who pitched a drug for an unapproved use for it, saying he had a free-speech right to promote other uses. It's a blow to the FDA.
David Lazarus
December 7, 2012
The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act makes it illegal to sell a prescription drug for any purpose other than what's listed on the label.
Nevertheless, a divided federal appeals court this week tossed out the conviction of a former drug sales rep who was recorded pitching a doctor on other uses of a medicine approved by regulators solely to treat the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
And here's the kicker: The court ruled that the sales rep had a free-speech right to promote the drug's unapproved uses.
I'm as big a fan of the 1st Amendment as anyone, but this decision strikes me as fundamentally flawed.
We're not talking about a right to express yourself. We're talking about selling stuff — stuff that could harm or even kill you if used improperly.
Moreover, it would seem that a serious blow has been dealt to the Food and Drug Administration's power to ensure the safety of prescription meds. The drug industry can now pitch any use for its products, regardless of what regulators say.
"This is a complete disgrace," said Steven Miles, a professor of medicine and bioethics at the University of Minnesota. "What this basically does is destroy drug regulation in the United States."
Felicia Cohn, director of medical bioethics for Kaiser Permanente Orange County, was more circumspect. But only slightly so.
"This completely undermines the FDA's authority over how drugs are marketed," she said. "I can't imagine that the marketing folks in the drug industry won't seize upon this as an excuse to sell almost all drugs beyond their approved usage."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20121207,0,4668058,print.column
Q&A: What would it mean to raise Medicare's eligibility age?
Raising the age for starting Medicare is among the leading proposals to slow the program's spending — key to a federal budget deal. But how would it work?
By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau
December 7, 2012
WASHINGTON — As they debate ways to control the federal deficit, President Obama and congressional Republicans have both acknowledged the need to rein in federal spending on healthcare programs such as Medicare, which provides health insurance to about 50 million elderly and disabled Americans.
Among the leading proposals to slow Medicare spending — a key ingredient of a budget deal — is to raise the eligibility age for the program, an option frequently championed by conservatives.
Here are answers to some basic questions about the concept and its potential effects:
How would raising the Medicare eligibility age work?
Most proposals envision gradually raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 over a decade or longer. Lawmakers agreed in the 1980s to a similar phase-in to raise the Social Security eligibility age, a process that is still underway.
This idea was discussed during the 2011 budget negotiations between the president and congressional Republicans and was championed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.
How much money would that save?
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-medicare-qa-20121207,0,6291485,print.story
Even as they face a growing number of disturbed people, police often lack crisis training. And the leadership and data-gathering needed to stem the bloodshed are largely absent.
A few times each week, across the United States, police shoot and kill mentally ill people in complicated, often incredible circumstances.
In Houston, Texas, a pen-wielding, wheelchair-bound double amputee is fatally shot in the head when police are called to a group home for the mentally ill. In Saginaw, Mich., six police officers gun down a homeless, schizophrenic man in a vacant parking lot when he refuses to drop a small folding knife.
In Seattle, Wash., a police officer fatally shoots a mentally ill, chronic alcoholic as he crosses the street, carving a piece of wood with a pocket knife. In Portland, Ore., police check on a man threatening suicide and wind up killing him with a single gunshot in the back.
"Some of them, it seems the person is almost executed," said Ron Honberg, director of national policy and legal affairs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the country's premier mental health advocacy group
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