Election 2012

The national debate around healthcare has intensified in the 2012 elections. The issue is front and center in national, state and local political conversations. But amid the rhetoric, the soundbites, and the spin, many of the realities of healthcare and truths about reform are lost along the campaign trail. In response to these concerns, MedTech Media's leading healthcare publications, Government Health IT, Healthcare IT News and Healthcare Finance News, are deciphering the political doublespeak and asking the questions our readers find most pertinent – about politicians, healthcare policies and delivery system reform at the federal, state, and local levels.

 
Nebraska advances insurance exchange despite politicians' health reform view
May 16, 2012 |
Mary Mosquera
Dark horse U.S. Senate candidate favored by Tea Party upsets Nebraska Republican primary race.
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Betting on SCOTUS, Vegas-style
May 9, 2012 |
Kaiser Health News www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Sites including InTrade and FantasySCOTUS are declaring odds on which way the Supreme Court Justices will rule on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and, not surprisingly, those odds changed after the oral arguments.
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Small number of swing voters to decide presidential election
May 4, 2012 |
Rene Letourneau
The upcoming presidential election may come down to Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin, if Stuart Rothenberg is correct. And swing voters everywhere may be too busy watching 'Dancing with the Stars' to make any decisions before autumn.
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The very partisan political strategy around men's reproductive health
April 30, 2012 |
Stephanie Bouchard
Classic wedge or media ploy? Either way, the contraception controversy and proposed legislation may be more a tactic to get women to voting booths than anything else.
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Connecticut considers post-ACA world
April 24, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
While the Supreme Court weighs oral arguments about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), state health officials in Connecticut share their thinking about what will happen there after the decision. Hint: Everything is on the table, including a state-level individual mandate.
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Delaware, a leader in HIE and other health IT
April 24, 2012 |
Mary Mosquera
The First U.S. state established the first operational statewide health information exchange, and continues to promote health IT innovations.
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Pennsylvania previews parties' cost-containment messaging
April 24, 2012 |
Frank Irving
President Barack Obama and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney will have to strike the fine balance of containing costs while deciding where they stand on Medicare expansion, as Tuesday's primary in Pennsylvania displays.
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Kaiser: SCOTUS hearings didn't change public view of health reform
April 24, 2012 |
Kaiser Health News www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Americans' perception of the individual mandate remains the same. What has changed? The percentage of Republicans believing the justices will use legal analysis, rather than their own agendas, in the ruling.
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Rhode Island: Small state, big HIT
April 24, 2012 |
Diana Manos
Tuesday's primary highlights the Ocean State's vast health IT and healthcare accomplishments.
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Social media reactions to Bachmann calling Obama a 'healthcare dictator'
April 20, 2012 |
Kelly Mehler
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is attacking President Obama over healthcare again, this time making claims based on something she says Obama muttered under his breath. Citizens are divided.
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NY Gov issues order to create insurance exchange
April 19, 2012 |
Mary Mosquera
With Republicans blocking legislation in state Senate, New York Gov. Cuomo took executive action to set up health insurance exchange.
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Many Americans unaware of ACA benefits, survey says
April 19, 2012 |
Kaiser Health News www.kaiserhealthnews.org

A survey released today shows outreach efforts for two popular provisions are missing key parts of their target audience.
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The very partisan political strategy around men's reproductive health
April 30, 2012 |
Stephanie Bouchard
Classic wedge or media ploy? Either way, the contraception controversy and proposed legislation may be more a tactic to get women to voting booths than anything else.
More

Are politics extinguishing state health insurance exchanges?
April 16, 2012 |
Mary Mosquera
Development of state health insurance exchanges "is not for sissies," as the full enormity of the task is not realized until states do it -- neither, then, are the politics around it, and the fight is happening in the state legislatures' trenches.
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They all chant 'ACA repeal' but what could a GOP president actually do?
March 19, 2012 |
Diana Manos
Republican hopefuls are saying that they would undo president Obama's health reform law but really doing so is more complicated than Executive Orders or campaign promises.
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Will health IT bipartisanship survive the elections?
February 6, 2012 |
Mike Miliard
Parties and candidates will inevitably stoke the health reform debate fires between now and November but the one aspect they all seem to agree on, at least publicly, is the raft of benefits health IT brings. But the survival of HIT's bipartisan nature will ultimately be a matter of federal funding -- and not all health-centric technologies are equal.
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How politics distort Americans' perception of health reform
January 30, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
Soundbites and slogans don't approximate the whole PPACA picture, but many U.S. citizens base their understanding -- and potentially their votes -- solely on what politicians tell the public.
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Newt Gingrich on health IT: Then, now and the time between
January 17, 2012 |
Bernie Monegain
The GOP candidate has taken a long and weaving road to arrive at his current stance concerning health IT's power to transform care delivery, and gained considerable attention, as well as financial profit, along the way.
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Paul ceases campaigning without dropping out
May 14, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
GOP presidential candidate says he will no longer campaign but still intends to carry delegates to the Republican National Convention.
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Paul surprises in 3 states, Obama talks healthcare on the trail
May 7, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
Ron Paul garnered delegates in Iowa, Maine and Nevada, furthering his chances to making it to the GOP convention, while President Obama reinforced his take on health reform.
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Gingrich foreshadows future healthcare efforts
May 3, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
Expressing that he did not communicate some of his healthcare plans very well, Newt Gingrich, during his farewell speech, touches on how he intends to keep working to better healthcare.
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Editor's Desk: T.W.I.G. Notes
April 26, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
This Week in Government Health IT ... A look at health issues in this week's primary states, MU stage 2 needs more than SMTP, top 5 hurdles to meaningful use, and Big Data Week.
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Romney attacks Obama's health reform in victory speech
April 25, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
With five more states under his belt, GOP frontrunner tells supporters that when it comes to President Obama's health reform law, "we've already seen where this path leads."
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Editor's Desk: T.W.I.G. Notes
April 19, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
This Week in Government Health IT ... Big Data, the Boston Red Sox, AMA lobbyists' role in ICD-10 delay, and the 5 facets of HIT at greatest risk in SCOTUS ruling.
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Santorum exits, poll puts Obama ahead of Romney on healthcare
April 10, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
The rhetoric with which Romney and Obama distinguish each other’s healthcare plans, and past actions, is going to be complex, somewhat confusing, and perhaps even comedic at times.
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Romney, Santorum, Obama and a judge all fire away over healthcare
April 4, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
On the campaign trail and elsewhere around the nation, the rhetoric around health reform is heating up.
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Editor's Desk: T.W.I.G. Notes
March 30, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
This Week in Government Health IT. SCOTUS, SCOTUS, SCOTUS. Wait, there's more, such as VA plans to deploy early iEHR, ONC contest winners, Obama's big data dive, and a galaxy of innovative apps.
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How might Romneycare fare against Obamacare in the final election?
March 14, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
Although none of the four GOP candidates are backing down, Romney is claiming that the math, as in number of delegates won, is on his side. That would make for a health reform showdown later this year.
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Dems start campaign to tout PPACA benefits
March 13, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
The Democratic National Committee this week is beginning a multi-faceted effort to educate voters about how health reform helps them.
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Editor's Desk: T.W.I.G. Notes
March 9, 2012 |
Tom Sullivan
This Week in Government Health IT: the brouhaha over EHR costs, Stage 2 public comments period begins, HL7’s broadening horizons, and the GOP pack.
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