State Frets Cost, Impact of New Medicaid Rule (RedNova)
By Ralph Thomas, The Seattle Times Jun. 28--OLYMPIA -- Come Monday, the state will require an estimated 1 million Medicaid recipients to prove they are United States citizens in order to receive the government-funded health benefits for the poor.

CQ's Schuler Addresses Health Care Legislation, Drug Pricing Reports, Medical Liability Reform (Medical News Today)
Congressional Quarterly reporter Kate Schuler discusses several health-related bills approved last week by the House, two reports that indicate drug prices are increasing at rates above inflation and legislation to reform health care liability law in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ. [click link for full article]

Rising drug costs no surprise (Edwardsville Intelligencer)
Several groups released figures recently showing that the price of leading prescription drugs in the United States has gone up. Brand-name drugs rose by roughly 4 percent during the first three months of this year -- the largest jump since 2000, the senior-advocacy group AARP said.

EDITORIAL: Ties That Bind: With a Prohibition on Price Negotiations, Congress Tied the Medicare Drug Program's Hands. (RedNova)
By The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Jun. 25--Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, for all its complexity and coverage gaps, should help some senior citizens reduce their out-of-pocket costs for the medicines they need.