Daily Rounds: Panel Rejects Prostate Test; Saints Bolts Steward Deal; 'Cost Is Essential'; Trading Art For Care

U.S. Panel Advises Against Routine Prostate Test - NYTimes.com "Healthy men should no longer receive a P.S.A. blood test to screen for prostate cancer because the test does not save lives and often leads to more tests and treatments that needlessly cause pain, impotence and incontinence in many, a key government health panel has decided." (nytimes.com)

Saints ends deal with Steward (bostonglobe.com) — "Saints Medical Center of Lowell, in an about-face, yesterday said it has pulled out of its deal to be bought by fast-growing hospital chain Steward Health Care System LLC and instead plans to merge with its crosstown rival, Lowell General Hospital. Some primary care doctors and specialists affiliated with Saints, a 157-bed nonprofit Catholic hospital, had objected to the alliance with Boston-based Steward, which operates 10 for-profit Catholic and nonsectarian community hospitals across Eastern Massachusetts. But it was not immediately clear how the physicians’ objections played into the Saints decision." (bostonglobe.com)

Panel says US should weigh cost when deciding on essential benefits (nytimes.com) -- WASHINGTON — "The National Academy of Sciences said Thursday that the federal government should explicitly consider cost as a factor in deciding what health benefits must be provided by insurance plans under President Obama’s health care overhaul, and it said the cost of any new benefits should be “offset by savings” elsewhere in the health care system. Moreover, it said, in defining “essential health benefits,” the government should try to guarantee that the average premium would not exceed benchmarks that would be set by the secretary of health and human services." (nytimes.com)

Trading Art For Health Care (Wall Street Journal) - "For the past week, artist Lisa Lozano has been weaving a seven-mile length of red jute through the trees of a 19th-century cemetery in Kingston, N.Y. In exchange for her art, she'll get her teeth cleaned. The 34-year-old New York artist is one of more than 100 musicians, painters and performers taking part in the second annual O+ Festival in Kingston this weekend. Named for the blood type, the festival allows artists to barter works and performances for health care in the form of back adjustments, blood work, dental fillings and eye exams." (Wall Street Journal)