New lab: Baton Rouge General has opened a multipurpose electrophysiology lab on its Bluebonnet Boulevard campus to help patients with abnormal heart rhythms. Electrophysiology studies help doctors understand why patients’ hearts are beating too fast or too slowly, and can help providers decide whether patients need medicine, a pacemaker, a defibrillator, cardiac ablation or procedure, the hospital says in a news release. The new lab will allow for different procedures, such as atrial fibrillation ablations and atrial flutter ablations, to be performed in one area, furthering the hospital’s cardiac and vascular efforts. Electrophysiologist Dr. Robert Drennan has joined the Cardiovascular Institute of the South to manage the lab and co-manage the program with Baton Rouge Cardiology Center.
A wider gap: The U.S. budget deficit expanded in August due to weak revenue growth and a steady rise in government spending, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to a monthly Treasury Department report released today, federal spending exceeded revenues by $107 billion last month. The deficit reached $530 million during the past 12 months, a 25% increase over one year ago. The newspaper says federal spending is increasing faster than revenues. While revenues have grown 1% in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, government outlays increased 3% compared with the same period a year prior. The increase is driven largely by spending on entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs, The Wall Street Journal explains. Read the full story. A subscription may be required.
Dollars and cents: Americans finally got a raise last year after eight years of stagnant incomes, The Associated Press reports. According to a new U.S. Census Bureau report released today, the typical U.S. household’s income rose 5.2% in 2015 to $56,516, still below the 2007 median income of $57,423 when the Great Recession began. The U.S. economy is finally starting to benefit a wider range of Americans. Median incomes picked up in all regions of the United States, across all age groups, and for most ethnic and racial groups, says Trudi Renwick, assistant division chief at the Census Bureau. The proportion of Americans in poverty also fell sharply last year, to 13.5% from nearly 14.8%. That is the largest decline in poverty since 1999. Read the full story.
