By Drew Armstrong Feb 27, 2014 10:30 AM PT

Medicine shortages in the U.S. caused by manufacturing issues, drugmaker closures, recalls and quality issues have been reduced since 2012, though still cost U.S. hospitals about $200 million a year.

There were 38 new drug shortages reported in the U.S. from January to September 2013 in which doctors and hospitals couldn’t get needed medicines, down from 117 for all of 2012, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The lack of available drugs delayed or canceled patient care in 65 percent of hospitals compared with 84 percent in 2011, according to a survey released today by Premier Inc. (PINC), a health-care consulting and supply chain company based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Larry Light, Contributor, 2/27/2014 @ 4:34PM

What’s the point of leaving your money to your kids? That’s the provocative question that Rick Kahler asks. Kahler, president of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, S.D., and a member of the AdviceIQ network, is a wide-ranging thinker who interestingly and entertainingly looks beyond the box.

A survey done by the financial services company HBSC finds that only 59% of U.S. parents intend to leave their children an inheritance, the lowest of the 15 nations studied. The fact the U.S. is last came as no surprise to me. What did surprise me was that 59% seemed high.

By WILLIAM H. FRIST, M.D., 2/26/2014 @ 7:37AM

Like much of the Affordable Care Act, the Cadillac tax—Obamacare’s solution to a tax subsidy created during World War II—offers a solution to an important problem, but is fraught with unintended consequences. Ideally, the tax would prompt employers to offer more cost-effective plans, with some shift of risk to employees along with mechanisms to help employees spend healthcare dollars wisely. For many reasons, that is not likely to be the reality.

Feb 26, 2014

In written testimony, Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says the changes are needed to head off cost increases, but an industry-sponsored study argues some of the changes could cost taxpayers more.

Reuters: U.S. Medicare Chief Defends Proposed Part D Drug Benefit Reforms:

The Obama administration’s top Medicare official on Tuesday defended proposed changes to the popular Part D drug benefits program for the elderly and disabled that are fiercely opposed by a broad network of drugmakers, insurers, healthcare providers and patient advocates. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a new rule in January that would fundamentally alter the program’s private insurance coverage for certain drugs, change the pharmacy networks that some plans cover and limit the number of policies available to beneficiaries in any given region. … Medicare chief Jonathan Blum said in written testimony to a congressional panel that the 2015 policy changes are needed to head off higher costs to the program from expensive new biologic therapies and rising subsidies for insurers and lower-income consumers (Morgan, 2/25).

By Jenny Gold, Feb 25, 2014

Sheila Lawless is the office manager at a small rheumatology practice in Wichita Falls, Texas, about two hours outside of Dallas. She makes sure everything in the office runs smoothly – scheduling patients, collecting payments, keeping the lights on. Recently she added another duty–incorporating the trickle of patients with insurance plans purchased on the new Affordable Care Act exchanges.

Open enrollment doesn’t end until March 31, but people who have already bought Obamacare plans are beginning to use them. “We had a spattering in January—maybe once a week. But I think we’re averaging two to three a day now,” says Lawless.

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Feb 25, 6:55 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Obama administration raced to meet its self-imposed deadline for online health insurance markets, security experts working for the government worried that state computer systems could become a back door for hackers.

Documents provided to The Associated Press show that more than two-thirds of state systems that were supposed to tap into federal computers to verify sensitive personal information for coverage were initially rated as “high risk” for security problems.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and KEN THOMAS, Feb 25, 9:36 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressing for a final rush of health care enrollees, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that about 4 million people have signed up for health insurance through federal or state marketplaces set up under his health care law.

But with a key deadline approaching fast, he urged some of his most steadfast backers to help sign up millions more by then.

By Mark Miller, Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:12pm EST

(Reuters) – Seniors can breathe a little easier now that Social Security benefit cuts are no longer part of this year’s federal budget debate. But the other shoe hasn’t dropped in Washington. That would be Medicare cost shifting.

Last week, President Barack Obama’s administration ditched one of its worst retirement policy ideas, the “chained CPI” for Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). But we still don’t know if the president or lawmakers will renew efforts to shift a higher share of Medicare costs to seniors as part of budget talks this year.

Healthcare costs already eat up a sizable part of Social Security benefits for many seniors, so if Medicare out-of-pocket costs jump while COLA formulas hold steady, seniors will be taking one step forward and two steps back.

By Craig Galbraith, February 25, 2014

AT&T on Tuesday said that it is investing $300 million in resources to accelerate its work with solution providers over a three-year span beginning in 2013. The vast majority of this investment is expected to be spent this year and next year.

The investment is intended to drive more Application Programming Interface (API) development and enhance a suite of programs and services to speed up solution providers’ transformation from traditional upfront sales compensation to a recurring revenue stream.

AT&T also announced agreements with GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance, Wells Fargo Capital Finance and AT&T Capital Services Inc. to help solution providers in the AT&T Partner Exchange reseller program to strengthen their working capital and grow their business.

Robert J. Szczerba, Contributor, 2/24/2014 @ 7:42AM

Have you ever wondered why your doctor is always running late while you’re sick and sitting in a cold examination room? The answer is simple economics. Your doctor’s office operates under the same economic pressures as any other business, but that fact may not be apparent to your doctor nor to you.

PROFIT = (PRICE – COSTS) x QUANTITY. If you’ve ever taken an economics course, you’re undoubtedly familiar with this formula for profit. Let’s take for example a local retailer that purchases their batteries wholesale for $2.50 per pack. The retailer wants to maintain a 50% profit margin and sells the batteries to you for $5.00. Makes sense so far, right? Well, when the wholesaler of the batteries increases their price to $2.75 per pack, the retailer now has to sell the batteries for $5.50 in order to maintain that 50% margin.