The Senate health care bill’s 5% tax on elective cosmetic procedures (breast implants, Botox wrinkle treatments, etc.) is drawing opposition from predictable quarters: Cosmetic surgeons and companies that sell products used in cosmetic procedures.... 

The CBO says three or four million people would enroll in the new, government-backed insurance plan created by the Senate health-care bill . That low figure isn’t terribly surprising. CBO said about six million people would enroll in the public... 

The numbers are starting to come out on the health bill crafted by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and they appear to hit the main targets set by President Obama. Here are early highlights: The bill would cost $849 billion over the next decade, according... 

An article in today’s WSJ goes through the numbers explaining why restricting insurance coverage for abortions as now being debated on Capitol Hill would do little in practical terms to change the affordability of abortion for the vast majority of... 

Drug and device companies, along with other industry players, spend about $1 billion a year to fund the continuing medical education classes doctors have to take to keep their licenses current. We may soon get more insight into how that money flows:... 

Like everybody else, we’ve been busy scrutinizing the details of how the various health-care bills would affect Medicare. As it turns out, though, a whole new special commission — not mentioned in any of the bills — could wind up driving... 

If you go home from the hospital after being treated for congestive heart failure , there’s a good chance you’ll be back in a few weeks. Nationwide, about one in four Medicare patients hospitalized for heart failure is readmitted within a... 

I hosted a jack-o’-lantern carving party at my house this weekend and needed to come up with a nice cocktail for my guests. During the holiday season I love warm and spicy drinks like eggnog and hot buttered rum but they’re filled with tons... 

Wade through the CBO estimates of the House health-care bill, and you’ll notice some big projected savings for things like this: Incorporating Productivity Improvements Into Market Basket Updates That Do Not Already Incorporate Such Improvements... 

When Congress added prescription drug coverage to Medicare a few years back, the drug industry won a huge victory: The new law barred the federal government from negotiating on the prices Medicare pays for prescription drugs. The big House health-care...