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Health costs to almost double in decade
WASHINGTON - In a report released today, economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said health care is expected to account for $1 of every $5 spent in the United States by the end of the decade.
That means a rise in out-of-pocket expenses, such as the co-pays for medicine, from about $850 this year to about $1,400 in 2016, a 5.3 percent annual increase.
The cost of health insurance is projected to rise even more quickly during that time - 6.4 percent annually.
In the coming decade, health care spending will continue to outpace the overall economy. By the year 2016, it will total close to $4 trillion, the report found.
Today, the number is closer to $1 out of every $6, or $2 trillion.
Court upholds time limit
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court today refused to allow a man wrongly imprisoned for more than eight years to sue the police officers who arrested him.
The court ruled 7-2 that Andre Wallace, whose Chicago murder conviction was overturned in 2002, waited too long to file his false arrest lawsuit.
He had two years in which to file.
The issue before the court was when the two-year clock began to run. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said the correct starting point is when a judge reviews the criminal charges against a defendant and bounds him over for trial. In Wallace's case, this hearing occurred in 1994. He was 15 at the time.
Wallace was freed from prison in 2002 and filed his lawsuit in 2003.
Warning on asthma drug
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration today ordered stronger label warnings for the injected asthma medication Xolair because of reports some patients had suffered a delayed and potentially life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis.
A patient experiencing anaphylaxis might have trouble breathing; feel tight in the chest; have swelling in the mouth and throat; suffer dizziness or feel faint; or have itching and hives.
Xolair, also called omalizumab, was approved as an asthma treatment in 2003.
Libby case goes to jury
WASHINGTON - Five weeks and 19 witnesses into the CIA leak trial, jurors are set to begin deciding the fate of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Jurors heard a full day of closing arguments in Libby's perjury and obstruction trial Tuesday and are scheduled to begin deliberations today.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton will instruct the jury about legal issues before sending them off to deliberate.
Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is charged with lying and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
Court upholds curbing habeas corpus
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has upheld the constitutionality of a new law stripping federal judges of authority to review foreign prisoners' challenges to their detention at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
In its ruling Tuesday, the court found the habeas corpus restrictions in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 do not violate the constitutional provision that bars the government from suspending habeas corpus except in "cases of rebellion or invasion." Two of the three appeals court judges, citing Supreme Court precedent, held that the right of habeas corpus did not extend to foreign citizens detained outside the United States.
The decision sets the stage for an appeal to the Supreme Court for the detainees.
Report: Health fees rising
WASHINGTON - In a report released today, economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said health care is expected to account for $1 of every $5 spent in the United States by the end of the decade.
That means a rise in out-of-pocket expenses, such as the co-pays for medicine, from about $850 this year to about $1,400 in 2016, a 5.3 percent annual increase.
The cost of health insurance is projected to rise even more quickly during that same time - 6.4 percent annually.
During the coming decade, spending on health care will continue to outpace the overall economy. By the year 2016, it will total close to $4 trillion, the report found.
Today, the number is closer to $1 out of every $6, or $2 trillion.
Feds plan religion project
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Justice Department is launching a program to enforce protections against religious discrimination, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced Tuesday.
The First Freedom Project would increase education about religious discrimination by holding a series of training seminars throughout the country during coming months, Gonzales told leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Gonzales said he also plans to create a Religious Freedom Task Force, which will review policies and religious discrimination cases.
Spears flees rehab
MALIBU, Calif. - Britney Spears left a live-in rehabilitation facility early today, less than a day after checking in, according to several reports.
It was the second time in a week Spears entered a rehab facility and checked out before her first day was finished.
The TV newsmagazine "The Insider" initially reported Spears called a car service, walked out of the Promises Malibu Treatment Center and left the facility early today.
Later, the TV show "Extra" and the celebrity Web site TMZ.com said the 25-year-old pop star had left the center far short of the usual 45-day stay. TMZ said Spears couldn't handle rehab and went home.
