House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said that he will seek to revise inflation updates in Medicare reimbursements for hospitals and other health providers to help cover the cost of other health care proposals, CongressDaily reports. [click link for full article]

A new study on liver retransplantation (re-LT) over a 15 year period at a clinic in Germany found that indications for the surgery had changed and there were fewer rejections, complications, and recurrence of disease during that time. The positive trend may be due to improvements in intensive care management and immunosuppressants, along with early decisions about when to retransplant despite the shortage of quality donor organs. [click link for full article]

Some pharmaceutical companies have improperly used a “nominal price exception” to reduce rebates that states receive as part of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, according to the results of a three-year Senate Finance Committee investigation released on Thursday, CQ HealthBeat reports. [click link for full article]

On February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow, and predicted an early spring. While this brings great joy to many people in the Northeastern U.S, it means an…

Despite FDA’s recent approval of silicone breast implants, there still are “considerable risks that women must consider before walking into the operating room,” Edward Melmed, a Dallas-based plastic surgeon, and Judy Norsigian, executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves, write in a [click link for full article]

In the February issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic President and CEO Denis Cortese, M.D., and Chief Administrative Officer Robert Smoldt, call for a reimbursement system based on value rather than the current “pay-for-performance” system used by many insurers, including Medicare. [click link for full article]

If you thought Americans would rather pop a pill to treat illness than make major diet changes, think again. A new survey shows the vast majority would rather change their diets - including trying a vegetarian diet - than use medicines. According to a nationally representative survey of 1,022 adults conducted in mid-January by Opinion Research Corporation, 69 percent of Americans would prefer to try a dietary approach. Just 21 percent preferred treating diabetes with medicines. [click link for full article]

A report by the US government shows a sudden sharp rise in youth suicide rate. The year 2003 to 2004 (the latest data does not show anything more recent) shows a sudden 18 per cent rise for suicides among the under 20s, from 1,737 to 1,985. The rise is largely driven by increases in deaths among older teenagers. This is a sudden reversal in a trend that has shown a steady decline in the 10 years before that. [click link for full article]

“Children’s Health Insurance: State Experiences in Implementing SCHIP and Considerations for Reauthorization,” Government Accountability Office: The report tracks trends in SCHIP enrollment, spending and composition across the states. [click link for full article]

Lawmakers at a Senate Finance Committee on Friday debated reauthorization of the SCHIP program and discussed whether states should cover adults under the program, CongressDaily reports. [click link for full article]