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McCain Votes No, Derails 'Skinny Repeal' in Marathon Session

"The Senate struggled late into the night to craft and then vote on a 'skinny repeal' of the health law, but came up empty as the bill was defeated in a 51-49 vote ... McCain's vote was unexpected and ends -- for now -- the Republican Party's effort to kill Obamacare."

Is Your Company a Good Fit for Onsite Wellness?

"[1] Does your organization already have a health strategy in place? ... [2] What are your organization's goals? ... [3] Is there a culture of trust and employee engagement? ... [4] Where do employees work? ... [5] What is the size and demographic of the eligible population? ... [6] What medical services are needed? ... [7] Is your organization self-insured and looking for ways to stabilize the upward trend of medical cost? "

The Real Savings in Onsite Wellness Programs

"[I]ncentives and penalties with regard to health insurance premiums are really a matter of semantics and presentation: both are changes relative to a baseline. For incentives, that baseline is high and meeting the requirements begets a discount (a $500 monthly premium becomes $450); for penalties, the baseline is low and not meeting the requirements begets an increase (a $450 premium becomes $500). By either meeting an incentive or avoiding a penalty the employee is taking money the employer has put on the table to participate in a wellness program."

$89,000 Orphan Drug Gets a New Owner -- and Likely a New Price

"Marathon Pharmaceuticals' controversial $89,000-a-year drug ... is getting a new owner.... PTC Therapeutics announced plans ... to buy the Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug Emflaza from Marathon for $140 million in cash and stock. The drug's new price was not announced.... For years, many American patients have imported the generic version at a cost averaging from $1,000 to $1,600 annually. The cost typically was not covered by insurers."

Proposed Amendment Would End Federal Health Benefits Plan

Excerpt: Several of the more than 500 amendments the Senate Finance Committee is facing as it begins a marathon markup of health care reform legislation would affect public servants' health coverage -- and one would end the federal government's health insurance program. The provision, offered by ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would force civil servants to leave the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and purchase insurance through the state-based health exchanges that are a centerpiece of the health reform bill. Employees would move to the exchanges beginning in 2013.

Audio: Obama's Health Care Law: Past, Present and Future

"[Monday morning March 26, 2012,] the Supreme Court begins a three-[d]ay marathon of oral arguments challenging President Obama's landmark health care law, the Affordable Care Act. Weekends on All Things Considered guest host Laura Sullivan previews the arguments with NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. She also speaks to Mark Gross, owner of a professional line standing service, who is poised to have a lucrative week, and Jeff Rother of the National Coalition on Health Care walks us back through health reform's tempestuous path to the Supreme Court."

What Smoking Cost Me

Excerpt: As anyone who's ever applied for life insurance knows, you need a health examination before the insurance company can determine your monthly premiums. We were pretty confident going into the exam (my wife's a marathoner, I'm fairly active) that we'd secure at least 'preferred health' rates. We got 'preferred' all right -- I got 'preferred tobacco,' and we were hit with $120 more in monthly premiums than we'd expected.

The Flexibility Bias

"What the flexibility bias literature shows us is that using work/life policies for other kinds of reasons -- such as for a personal health-related reason or even using it to do things like training for a marathon, are not stigmatized in the same way as taking leave for family care-related responsibilities."

Moody's Proposes Making Pension Liabilities a Bigger Factor in Bond Ratings

"The agency would increase the weight to 20 percent from 10 percent and decrease the weight for economic strength to 30 percent from 40 percent. Weights for governance and management (20 percent) and financial strength (30 percent) -- the other two factors in the way Moody's scores its [government obligation] ratings -- would stay the same. The step by Moody's is just the latest in what has become a marathon of changes by various organizations in recent years that aim to place a bigger emphasis on pensions' effect on fiscal health."