Senate Passes Budget Agreement

The Senate passed a budget agreement Tuesday, following its adoption last week by the House, making it the first joint budget resolution to be approved by Congress since 2009. The proposal, which outlines deep cuts to eliminate deficits over the coming decade, passed 51-48. All 46 members of the Democratic caucus voted no. (Nick Timiraos/The Wall Street Journal)

Obama Appoints Health IT Expert as HHS Assistant Secretary

The Obama administration has nominated Karen DeSalvo to become the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s assistant secretary for health, a position that she has held on an interim basis since last fall. (Sarah Ferris/The Hill)

Roberts at Center Stage as Supreme Court Approaches Historic Decisions

You can never be far from the center of any discussion of the “Roberts court” when your name is John G. Roberts Jr. But as the Supreme Court last week ended a decade of oral arguments under the chief justice’s leadership, Roberts came in for special attention as not only the public face of the court but also its most scrutinized player. (Robert Barnes/The Washington Post)

Famed Neurosurgeon Ben Carson Announces White House Campaign

Retired surgeon Ben Carson declared his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination Monday, resting his longshot bid on his vision of the nation as “a place of dreams” where people can thrive when freed from an overbearing government. (Ed White/The ASsociated Press via The Miami Herald)

Shift Toward Hospice Care Increased Medicare Costs

The popularity of hospice care grew between 2004 and 2009 but that didn’t bring down Medicare costs for people dying in nursing homes, according to a new study of three quarters of a million U.S. nursing home residents. (Gene Emery/Reuters)

*Bonus Story*

Reimbursement Issues Block Paramedics from Expanded Role

Paramedics are primed to play a larger role in the health care system, which they’re sure will help lower costs and benefit patients. Yet they’re running into regulatory roadblocks that they say state and federal officials have to move. Despite the track record of initiatives in places like Nevada and Texas, where paramedics are providing in-home care, coordinating patient services and saving millions in the process, Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans still won’t reimburse for such work. The program successes to date are only beginning to change that. (Erin Mershon/Politico)