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In the Big Issues special report on health care, the WSJ explores the pros and cons of proposed patient identification numbers.

A tie in the statin wars: Cholesterol fighter Crestor, considered by some doctors to be the most potent statin, didn’t fare significantly better than rival Lipitor, a new study finds. The results, presented at the American Heart Association’s meeting, will make it harder for Crestor’s maker AstraZeneca to convince payors that the drug is worth paying extra for, given that Lipitor goes generic at the end of this month.

A study out today finds that high-deductible health plans do cut down on health-care spending – but also prompt patients to get less preventative care.

The RAND Corporation, which ran the study, says it is the largest ever of its kind. The group studied more than 800,000 families and found that when they moved to plans with deductibles over $1,000, health spending dropped an average of 14%.

Rate review could get tougher for health insurers. Premium increases of more than 10% will be automatically reviewed by states starting in July, according to new preliminary guidelines from the Obama administration

Read the rest here:  Insurers Likely to Face New Reviews

About 33 million uninsured Americans are expected to enter the health-care system because of the new law.

Read the rest here:  Med Schools: Health-Care Overhaul To Accelerate Doctor Shortage

“Seven interrelated features,” including an emphasis on primary care, may help explain Grand Junction’s lower costs.

Original post: What Keeps Health-Care Costs Low in Grand Junction, Colorado?

Obama isn’t anti-business, Aetna CEO Williams said, but the administration may lack an understanding of what it takes to run a business. In the interview, Williams also talked about the company’s recent deal with CVS Caremark and reiterated that the deal was the best option for the company and its shareholders (rather than a full-out sale of Aetna’s business.) Williams made the comments to WSJ in “The Big Interview” video that can be seen in full on WSJ.com Friday morning.

Mercer analyzed data from its annual survey of employer health plans and found that only 38% of retailers don’t have potential problems under three requirements of the new law.

More:  Study: Retailers Likely to Face Big Health Overhaul Challenges

In about 10% of cases the source of the bleeding isn’t immediately apparent, usually because it’s a small aneurysm that’s hidden by some clotting, or it’s a normal blood vessel that bursts.

Read more here:  Doctors Can’t Find the Source of Bleeding in Bret Michaels’s Brain

Under health-care overhaul legislation, failure to buy the mandated insurance coverage means penalties, and now we have an official estimate of how many people might be affected. The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that about 4 million people will get dinged in 2016, according to the Associated Press.