CMS Administrator Don Berwick participated in a "webchat" today to discuss Medicare's 45th anniversary and how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) presents a new opportunity to improve care for Medicare beneficiaries. AOA staff participated. The webchat will be available online.

A new Commonwealth Fund report found that the ACA will "stabilize and reverse" the growing healthcare costs faced in the past decade by 15 million women who are uninsured and 14.5 million women considered underinsured, Health Leaders reported on 7/30/10.

Growth in the U.S. economy slowed to a 2.4% annualized rate in the second quarter of this year, significantly down from the 3.7% rate we've seen over the previous few months, according to a Commerce Department report in the 7/30/10 New York Times.