GOP spending cuts to fight health reform law? As they seek to make good on their campaign promise to roll back President Obama’s healthcare overhaul, the incoming Republican leaders in the House say they intend to use their new muscle to cut off money for the law, setting up a series of partisan clashes and testing Democratic commitment to the legislation, according to The New York Times.
Data could predict serious illnesses. The Office of Personnel Management intends to create a giant database of medical claims information about federal employees and enrollees in two programs created by health reform law so it can find patterns to help predict and prevent serious and costly illnesses, though health privacy advocates are concerned, according to American Medical News.
Collaborate or die. International consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers says biotechnology companies must collaborate to produce more efficient and cost-effective medicines or face extinction in a new report called Biotech Reinvented.
Pfizer arthritis drug has market promise. Pfizer Inc.’s experimental pill for rheumatoid arthritis, tasocitinib, reduced pain and inflammation without unforeseen side effects in a study that may help the company supplant injectable drugs with $12 billion in yearly sales, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
Express Scripts could cut 1,000 jobs. Express Scripts could cut 992 jobs in two facilities in the Philadelphia area if negotiations with a union fail, according to Pharmalot.
Cleveland Clinic advises on efficiency. Kaleida Health in Buffalo, N.Y., hired the Cleveland Clinic to offer excellence and cost-efficiency advice on its heart-care program, including its policies, procedures, personnel, outcomes and facilities, according to the Buffalo News.
Forum Health buyer gets extension for $1.5B in debt. Community Health Systems Inc. (NYSE:CYH), the Tennessee for-profit hospital company that recently completed a $120 million purchase of bankrupt Forum Health in Youngstown, Ohio, has negotiated a two-and-a-half-year extension for $1.5 billion in bank debt.
