Reform Rodeo: Latest News & Interviews; CER; the Constitution; HIT; Robotic Surgery

Photo by David Monniaux

1. : Kaiser Health News keeps you up to date by rounding up various stories on the Dems’ latest down-to-the-wire push on health reform. Their coverage of Representative Dennis Kucinich’s (and other reluctant Dems’) endorsement of the bill is here .

2. : The New York Times asks health wonks for opinions on the chances of passing health reform . Respondents include Robert Reich, former secretary of labor Gail Wilensky, Project Hope; Paul Starr, professor of public policy;  James C. Capretta, Ethics and Public Policy Center; Karen Davenport, Center for American Progress; Jacob S. Hacker, political science professor.

3. : A group at the New England Journal of Medicine proposes 5 steps to advance one of the most promising–yet often ignored–means of reforming our health care system: comparative effectiveness research.

4. : Jonathan Adler at the Volokh Conspiracy discusses the constitutionality of the “deem and pass.” Regardless of its constitutionality, Ezra Klein exposes some factual inaccuracies in recent reporting on the tactic.

5. : The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette alerts us to a lawsuit by Highmark Inc. against the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance , which claims that the Department exceeded its authority when challenging Highmark’s proposed merger with Independence Blue Cross.

6. : John Halamka at Life As A Healthcare CIO discusses the aggressive thresholds for meaningful use that have been set in the most recent rules, and what the HIT Policy Committee is doing to assuage those concerns .

7. : A new TED talk about the current state of robotic surgery . An article covering the topic can be found here .