Good bye 2012, Hello 2013 health care-wise

So if you read CNN, which I do. I find it much easier than watching CNN - either HLN screaming about new 'factoids' and miracles, or regular CNN going on and on and on about something boring and political that will put me to sleep before I learn anything. I prefer my news in the low brow way - tell it like it is and keep it short. This is why I like CNN online - because I can skip through articles instead of listening to people S L O W L Y reading them. I don't have a lot of time in my life to waste on the news. I have better things to do - like have fun.

I have digressed. CNN put out their list of the top health news stories of 2012 - which I found to be exceptionally lame as several of them focus on individual people. Here's the list:

1. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act.
2. Woman from Georgia and her case of flesh eating bacteria
3. Meningitis from steroid injections that killed 39
4. The Record West Nile Virus outbreak
5. Robin Roberts bone marrow transplant
6. Hantavirus at Yosemite
7. Jesse Jackson and bi-polar disorders
8. Spike in autism cases
9. Kathy Bates double mastectomy
10. Hepatitis C from the traveling hospital worker

 I personally think numbers 2, 5, 7, and 9 are not significant as they are mostly about individuals and do not represent any breakthroughs. Nothing against the individuals but they do not reflect any real news.

But here is the list for 2013 of things to look out for:

1. Medicaid expansion
2. Medicaid provider payments will go up so more providers will take medicaid patients
3. Health insurance exchanges
4. Medicaid taxes are going up for those making over $250,000
5. Medicare reform
6. Insurance transparency - health insurance policies will need to be understandable
7. Health care spending will be a big issue

Maybe this is what I get for reading CNN but I would prefer to see stories about health care advances and research. Maybe I need to do more research. But I do like the changes for the coming year with healthcare.