Today, President Obama signed the economic stimulus bill into law, and now, the bill’s earmarks are starting to trickle out into the mainstream media’s coverage of its ceremony. From the approximately $140B allotted to reform the “broken” healthcare infrastructure , there’s something for everyone in the major sectors of the healthcare economy — from IT to Medicaid. The issue that raises the ire of fiscal conservatives is the bill’s overwhelming aid on the front end to states. Not so fast, says Obama: as an example, the stimulus bill will increase federal payments by $87 billion to those ailing local governments to prevent healthcare cuts, and also penalizes states if they do cut benefits while the extra money is available.

The research sector also has much to celebrate. The stimulus bill will give a much needed shot in the arm to tertiary care centers and their bastions of excellence, as they can move forward with the development of novel therapies and the establishment of new paramenters and treatment guidelines for many chronic diseases — all in the name of maintaining future quality and cost-effective evidence based medical algorithms. Of course, this is a general sketch of more specifics to come. Suffice it to say, however, the healthcare portion of Obama’s economic stimulus package carries with it a hefty commitment on its way to convincing lawmakers and healthcare consumers alike of its necessity. | LINK

She’s a divorced 57 year-old female who was forced to step down from her job because of the debilitating side effects from the chemotherapy used to treat her breast cancer. Initially, from the time she was diagnosed, she was able to continue to work as a high powered executive. All of that came to a halt when she stopped working and subsequently had to sell her house in order to meet her co-pay and former employer health insurance costs. Now cancer free — but still needing expensive chemo — she survives on disability income and somehow manages to meet the constant out-of-pocket expenses she now has for medical services outside of her current physician network. Comparing herself to the Bionic Woman, the woman muses, “Sometimes you sit there and think: Am I really worth this?” | LINK | PDF of study here