Daily check up: HIPAA and social media

End-of-life economics: Health care in the last year of elders' lives accounts for about one-quarter of Medicare spending. Globe reporter Kay Lazar writes about a new poll from Suffolk University that asks people whether they think mentally-able seniors should be allowed to end their own lives in an effort to save on health care costs. Thirty-five percent said yes. Some polls show support for assisted-suicide has been on the rise. This one was unique because it tied the issue to money.

MA health law gains favor: Even as the 2006 law - and the man who signed it - comes under attack nationally, more Massachusetts people say they support the law, according to a new poll. Lazar writes about a new poll from the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe that found 63 percent of residents in favor, up 10 percent from two years ago.

More two-tiered insurance plans: Nancy Reardon Stewart of the Patriot Ledger reports that two health plans - Tufts and Harvard Pilgrim - will join Blue Cross Blue Shield in offering two-tiered health insurance plans, under which premiums are lower but enrollees pay more out of pocket when they are treated at more expensive hospitals.

The VT model: Writing for The New York Times, UMass economist Nancy Folbre looks at why Vermont is the first state to try moving its residents into a Canadian-style single-payer health care system, what it could mean for Vermonters and what it would mean for Massachusetts if such a plan were enacted here.

Face transplant patient goes home: Indianapolis Star reporter Barb Berggoetz writes about Mitch Hunter's long-awaited return home to Speedway, Indiana, and the reunion with his 1-year-old son. Hunter was the second American to receive a full face transplant, performed at Brigham and Women's Hospital.