Health Policy & Regulatory

Editor's Note: This post first appeared on the World Economic Forum Blog.


At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2013 there was anticipation mixed with some trepidation about the level of fortitude leaders would bring to the essential task of reducing chronic illness and promoting healthy living. Certainly, the motivation is there – 36 million lives lost every year and millions more disabled or compromised by chronic illness – but there is work to do to turn talk into action. Read full post »

This post was co-authored by Katie Conover, SVP, Public & Corporate Affairs, and Joe Wagner, VP/GM, Public & Corporate Affairs and originally appeared on the Ketchum Blog.

As the election draws very near, one of the
greatest questions on the minds of most is the future of health care reform, which Congress passed a little over two years ago.

Since its passage, the bill, known as the Affordable Care Act, has been implemented in phases, with the bulk of reform set to roll out in 2014, when states are slated to begin offering health insurance through fully operational exchanges.

If President Barack Obama is re-elected, health care reform will continue to unfold exactly as the legislation dictates.  But what happens if Governor Romney wins the election?

While everyone agrees that the system is broken – and that something must be done to reign in health care costs, how to do this remains the million dollar – or more aptly, trillion dollar – question. Read full post »

Jeff Levine is an award-winning journalist who was the medical correspondent for CNN for 17 years.  He has also worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Byron Dorgan, as Washington bureau chief for WebMD, and as a media specialist at Ketchum. A guest contributor to Health-E Minds, the following post represents Jeff’s perspective on the presidential election debates, based on his opinions generated during his many years of observing and reporting on healthcare and politics. To read Jeff’s commentary on the earlier debates, click here.  – Nancy Hicks, Senior Vice President, Associate Director, Ketchum North America Healthcare Practice

By the time this entry is published, the last
presidential debate will be over, but the final word on health care reform awaits the electoral outcome and pending legal actions by conservative opponents. Read full post »

Jeff Levine is an award-winning journalist who was the medical correspondent for CNN for 17 years.  He has also worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Byron Dorgan, as Washington bureau chief for WebMD, and as a media specialist at Ketchum. A guest contributor to Health-E Minds, the following post represents Jeff’s perspective on the presidential election debates, based on his opinions generated during his many years of observing and reporting on healthcare and politics. – Nancy Hicks, Senior Vice President, Associate Director, Ketchum North America Healthcare Practice

With tonight’s second presidential debate
just hours away, a look back on the first debate offers insights into what we might expect to see this evening, particularly from a healthcare reform perspective.  Read full post »

For the pharmaceutical industry, most have
focused on the crisis of the patent cliffhanger: the loss of more than $30 billion in revenue due to patent expiration of prescription drugs once dubbed “blockbusters.”

However, a greater crisis awaits - one that impacts not only a company’s bottom-line, but also a pharmaceutical company’s greatest asset: its corporate reputation. Companies must brace themselves to handle the industry’s role in combating the prescription drug abuse epidemic.

While most major causes of preventable death are declining, drug overdoses are an exception. And, opioids seem to bear the brunt of the blame. A 2011 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that most drug-related deaths were not the result of illicit drugs, such as heroin or cocaine, but instead were the result of prescription pain medicines, mainly opioids.  Inappropriate use of opioids caused nearly 342,000 emergency department visits in 2009, according to government figures. The drugs were blamed for 16,000 deaths that year, up from 14,800 in 2008. Read full post »