Archives: Morning Breakouts

Senate Democrats held a hearing Wednesday at which Senators and witnesses debated the constitutionality of the health overhaul.

Making good on a promise to investigate funding, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., has launched an inquiry into the comparative Effectiveness research budget.

California Healthline draws parallels between the fight over the Medicare Catastrophic Care Act and the current health reform battles.

Experts continue to analyze the potential meanings and impacts of a federal judge's ruling earlier this week that the health law is unconstitutional and states find themselves in the hotseat as they make plans to move forward or stall their implementation progress.

News outlets reported on the Republican-sponsored repeal measure, which was defeated in 47-51 vote. But a small piece of the law was repealed.

"Stockpiling antiviral flu drugs and vaccines saves lives and reduces disease in a flu pandemic," but the cost to maintain such a stockpile and deploy interventions in the event of an outbreak "is too expensive for around two thirds of the world's population, scientists said on Wednesday," Reuters reports.

Three studies published on Tuesday in PLoS Medicine show that "intermittent use of preventive antimalarial drugs can be beneficial in curbing the spread of the disease in children," Agence France-Presse reports (2/1).

On the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) gathered to discuss the continent's progress against HIV/AIDS, Walta Info reports.

Politico examines how Republicans' proposed budget cuts could affect foreign aid funding. The House Republican majority has recommended combining President Barack Obama's "State and foreign aid requests with 'nonsecurity' domestic spending and to cut appropriations to 2008 levels." According to Politico, "[t]he result could be a $16 billion, or nearly one-third, reduction in the resources available to State, which finds itself pitted against domestic programs also facing the ax."

As experts continue to parse the specifics of a federal Judge's Monday ruling striking down the health overhaul, experts speculate about what the Supreme Court could decide. Meanwhile, insurers, health industry stakeholders and even state officials mull their next steps.