Finally Friday Edition

Minnesota Governor and Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty steps up his opposition to health reform by seeking to file a "friend of the court" brief in the pending Florida case. Here's more on this. He's challenging the Medicaid expansion because, he says, eventually, some day, way down the road, states MAY have to foot the bill. The federal government pays the costs to start with, but Pawlenty says there's no guarantee that the States will not have to pay for some of it down the road -- AND, of course, none of this happens until 2014. Sounds sort of speculative, but Pawlenty has vehemently opposed reform all along, and since he wants to be President, he's happy to make headlines, even if his concern is entirely speculative.

Here's a good explanation of how the insurance Exchanges will work in 2014 (if the law isn't gutted before then) -- marketplaces where you will be able to shop for insurance just like you shop for . . . travel? So says the LA Times.

But will the law make it to 2014? Politico says the GOP is recruiting conservative Democrats to oppose the law and chip away at it.

In lighter news, the Northeast tops the list in a study of well-being. In fact, Connecticut is number 1 in well-being in the country! Of course, we here already knew that. Where does your home state fall on the list?

Food nutrition labels are in for an overhaul, making them simpler to read and understand.

This is really alarming. Most girls don't get the full course of vaccination against the HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that can wreak havoc, but can be prevented by the vaccination.

Here's an article about the most difficult conversation of all -- what to do when an elderly person expresses a wish to die.

And here's a really interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about medical ethics -- how do doctors feel about assisted suicide? Romantic relationships with patients?

And finally, several important pieces on the mental health effects of war and what our veterans are going to need from us in the way of support and treatment. The stress of combat of course affects home and family life. Meditation may help.

And that's Friday's round-up. Have a great day. Jennifer