Pennsylvania lawmakers fail to renew healthcare watchdog

The Pennsylvania Senate has adjourned for the year without reauthorizing the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, an independent state agency that helped pioneer public reporting of hospital quality and costs. The agency has been operating under an executive order since July, when its reauthorization bill was entangled in an unrelated political fight between Gov. Ed Rendell and Senate Republicans over the governor's proposal to offer health insurance to many of the state's 800,000 uninsured adults. This summer, Rendell rejected a bill to reauthorize the agency that included an extension of subsidies to doctors for their medical malpractice coverage.