Health Wonk Review: October surprise edition

Welcome to the Health Wonk Review!Many submitters had something to say about the first Presidential debate. The October surprise is that Romney really did decide to take on the mantle of Massachusetts Moderate while Obama became a shrinking violet.The Cleveland Clinic came in for praise from both sides, which was weird. The Clinic itself was certainly happy, and took out follow-up full page ads in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to build on the free publicity. California Healthline drills into the details.Managed Care Matters reviews the differences between Obama and Romney on health care, and points out that Romney's "Day 1" plan to issue waivers to states isn't as straightforward as it sounds.Healthinsurance.org presents explains voters' "clear choice" on election day, with a focus on the so-called Medicare premium support plan offered up by the GOP ticket.Colorado Health Insurance Insider would like to see fact-checkers given a more central role at the debates. Maybe even allowing fact-checkers to hold up "pants on fire" signs at ringside.Meaningful HIT News doesn't like it when politicians perpetuate the myth that the US has the best health care system in the world. He offers up some ideas on the IT and quality aspects of health care reform as well.In other campaign-related news, Health Access Blog really disdains the Chamber of Commerce's ads against the Affordable Care Act, which are "the opposite of true."Other bloggers provided CMS-related postsHealth Affairs Blog examines the claim that physicians lose money on Medicare patients and finds that such complaints are exaggerated.The Affordable Care Act tries to reduce the rate of hospital readmissions for Medicare patients. ScienceBlogs digs in to see how it might really work out.Disease Management Care Blog looks at how one media organization transformed a consumer survey question on how government sponsored insurers use committees to review coverage decisions into a rehash of the “death panel” controversy.The fiscal cliff nears. Health Reform Explained has a graphical illustration of the role of health care spending in all this.Some hard-to-group posts came through as wellHealthcare Economist examines the September jobs report for clues as to how health insurance plays into employer decisions.Health care academics are unhappy. Why? Health Care Renewal points the finger at lousy leadership.The contaminated steroid injections crisis is a terrible scandal, which has drawn calls for more FDA regulation. Workers' Comp Insider covers an overlooked element --the workers compensation implications.The uplifting ending: a few optimistic posts to concludeThere's legislation afoot to reward innovation in HIV drug development. A cure would be nice, no? Market Access Analysts explains.The little (research) engine that could. Western Connecticut Health Network does a lot with a little in the field of health services research, reports Wing of Zock.Corporate Wellness Insights notes that Humana and Wal-Mart are teaming up to promote healthy eating and prevent chronic disease.And InsureBlog has an exclusive interview with medblogger Dr Rob Lamberts about his new venture, Direct Primary Care, and what it means to the future of health care delivery and financing.---Maggie Mahar of Health Beat is our next host.