BREAKING NEWS

Health system reform: Abstract debate inside Supreme Court as protest signs dominate outside

■ Justices appeared split on the central constitutional issue as demonstrators, including dozens of physicians, framed the arguments in more personal terms. Opponents of the law decried it as federal overreach, but as one physician put it, “This is not about politics; this is about people.”

• » Slideshow: The scene outside the Supreme Court
• » The four questions before the court
• » High court strikes down diagnostic test patents

TOP NEWS

Medicaid primary care pay: The next SGR?

■ Putting Medicaid primary care rates on par with Medicare’s raises concerns that doctors will face a new kind of payment cliff after just two years, after funding from the health reform law runs out and rates drop.

More newborns showing ill effects of maternal opioid use

■ The number of newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome nearly tripled over 10 years due to increasing opiate use among pregnant women, a new study shows. Health officials say physicians nationwide should be prepared to care for these children and their mothers.

Editor's Pick

Medicare coverage of new services

Persistent chronic health conditions have prompted Medicare to try new strategies in an effort to improve care and lower costs in the long run. We examined several recent coverage expansions in the program to see if doctors and their patients are buying into the promise that they offer.

• » Medicare’s new approach to familiar diseases
• » Medicare battles depression: Payment parity aims to increase treatment
• » Medicare’s missed checkups: Few seniors get wellness exam