The big healthcare news this week was the scheduled 10% cut to Medicare physician fees, which Congress almost managed to avert. Instead, implementation of the cuts has been put on hold for two more weeks. Bloggers have more:

• Sarah Rubenstein at WSJ’s Health Blog gives a quick summary of the situation and explains the implications of a two-week freeze on Medicare claims processing.
• Robert Laszewski at Health Affairs explores the political forces at work in this “game of chicken.”
• Jacob Goldstein at WSJ’s Health Blog warns that we can expect to be bombarded with issue ads from both doctors and insurers.

Elsewhere:

Matt Madia at Reg Watch alerts us to a deadline extension for NHTSA’s roof-strength rule, which is terrible in its current form (see Celeste’s thoughts), and a Congressional move to block implementation an even-more-terrible Bush administration executive order.

At Gristmill, Kate Sheppard explores McCain’s aversion to Amtrak and David Roberts has the latest on bike politics.

Sameem at Enviroblog explains why so many public transit systems are underfunded, despite a surge in rider interest.

Angry Toxicologist likens the American Chemistry Council to a cranky toddler.

Andrew Plemmons Pratt at Science Progress speaks with filmmaker Joanna Rudnick, who made a film about how she and others grapple with the knowledge that they’ve inherited a genetic mutation giving them an 85-90% chance of developing breast cancer.

Jennifer Jacquet at Gristmill has the numbers on how much of the global fish catch gets fed to pigs and chickens.

Kevin Ummel at Global Development: Views from the Center is disappointed with India’s energy strategy plan, which fails to account for the country’s recent solar-power advances; he calculates that India’s current potential for low-cost, solar thermal power is at least six times greater than current power production.