Studies Explore Genetics Behind Hepatitis B and C Virus-Associated Liver Cancers

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IntegenX has appointed David Smith to serve as its new COO. Smith most recently served as CFO of Thoratec, and previous to that was CFO at Chiron. He currently is chair of the audit committee and a director of OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals and previously was chair of the audit committee and a director of Perlegen Sciences.

Vermillion said this week that President and CEO Gail Page will be leaving the company by September and the firm has begun the process to find her successor. Page also has resigned her seat on the board of directors, and effective immediately Vermillion amended its bylaws to eliminate the vacant seat, reducing its board from seven to six members.

Genomic Health has appointed Richard Tompane as president of its new subsidiary InVitae, which will focus on developing next-generation-based sequencing diagnostics for genetic diseases. Tompane was previously president and CEO of Gemfire and has also served as an independent consultant.

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Studies Explore Genetics Behind Hepatitis B and C Virus-Associated Liver Cancers

Coventry Health Care Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend

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BETHESDA, Md. (May 29, 2012) - Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE:CVH - News) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per common share payable on July 9, 2012 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 21, 2012.

Coventry Health Care (www.coventryhealthcare.com) is a diversified national managed healthcare company based in Bethesda, Maryland, operating health plans, insurance companies, network rental and workers` compensation services companies. Coventry provides a full range of risk and fee-based managed care products and services to a broad cross section of individuals, employer and government-funded groups, government agencies, and other insurance carriers and administrators.

Contact:

Randy Giles Chief Financial Officer (301) 581-5687

Drew Asher SVP, Corporate Finance (301) 581-5717

The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Coventry Health Care, Inc. via Thomson Reuters ONE HUG#1615772

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A new model of health care

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PROVIDENCE A bevy of national experts came to Rhode Island on May 22 to discuss how best to grow patient-centered medical homes, at a think tank gathering hosted by the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

In the audience were many of Rhode Islands top echelon of health care policy experts R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth H. Roberts, Rhode Island Quality Institute President and CEO Laura Adams, and Dr. Michael Fine, director of the R.I. Department of Health.

The experts presented a strong challenge to the current way of doing business within the health care delivery system, detailing examples of successful patient-centered medical homes in Alaska and Vermont that had transformed the business of health care.

Dr. Douglas Eby, the vice president of Medical Service for South-Central Foundation, Alaska Native Medical Center, talked about the importance of preparing the soil in order to grow a successful model of health care delivery. Instead of organizing around the needs of the provider, with an emphasis on tests, diagnosis and treatment, Ebys Alaska health care model changed the emphasis to a customer-owned model, defining health care as a longitudinal experience, with messy human relationships in play all the time.

The results achieved by Ebys model of health care over the last decade included a 50 percent drop in urgent care and ER utilization, a 53 percent drop in hospital admissions, a 65 percent drop in specialist utilization as well as evidence-based generational change in reducing family violence.

The shift to delivering health in a community context, rather than disease care, involved changing the workflow patterns. It began with learning to listen at least 10 different ways at all times, an investment in mentoring for all clinicians and management, and a way to re-humanize the story, defining care for a defined population.

In turn, Eby lambasted the idea that following LEAN methods or Six Sigma standards will change the delivery of health care. He saw it instead as turning health care into an industry production process.

Dr. Craig Jones, director of the Vermont Blueprint for Health, detailed the environmental factors that are necessary to support the growth of patient-centered medical homes, describing Vermonts experience of building a community-based network of teams to support an integrated health care system. As a result, Vermont has seen a drop of more than 27 percent in the projected cost avoidance across its total commercial insurer population in 2010.

Dr. Paul Grundy, global director of IBMs Healthcare Transformation, began by praising Rhode Islands leadership in developing patient-centered medical homes. The focus in Rhode Island, he continued, needs to be on reducing the health costs of employees.

In a conversation before the event, Dr. Frank Basile, an internist with University Medicine, an early adopter of patient-centered medical homes in Rhode Island, suggested that there was a need in Rhode Island to recognize that the patient-centered medical home was a small business that generates jobs.

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A new model of health care

Pelosi predicts court will uphold health care reform

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SAN FRANCISCO -- House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she expects the U.S. Supreme Court next month to uphold President Barack Obama's signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act.

"We believe that this bill constitutionally is ironclad," she told a crowd of about 550 at a Commonwealth Club event at the Fairmont Hotel. "I expect a 6-3 'aye' verdict from the Supreme Court."

Pelosi, whose discussion with the club was meant to commemorate her 25th anniversary in Congress, said the law is among her proudest legislative accomplishments. More than 80 million Americans -- young people allowed to remain on their parents' policies, children with pre-existing conditions, people availing themselves of preventive care -- already have benefited from its provisions, she said.

She said she finds it ironic that some Republican lawmakers just a few years ago were engaging in "court-stripping," writing sections into bills in an attempt to make them impervious to courts. But once the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, she said, "all of a sudden we have these newfound advocates for judicial review."

Pelosi called Obama's newfound support of same-sex marriage "all great ... so beautifully spoken, so heartfelt, so personal."

"He made a values judgment," she said, noting that it would've been a more overtly political move to remain silent.

Pelosi, a San Francisco resident, is the first woman to have served as Speaker

Asked about the deep partisan divides that have stymied significant progress on many issues, Pelosi replied, "It doesn't have to be this way, and it hasn't always been." Under President George H.W. Bush and even under President George W. Bush, she said, Democrats and Republicans still were able to find some common ground on certain key issues.

Pelosi said today's Republicans aren't obstructionists purely because of political gamesmanship. They simply don't believe in a public role in job creation, social services and so forth, she added.

"Bless their hearts, they do what they believe, and they don't believe in government," she said.

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Pelosi predicts court will uphold health care reform

Fla. prison health care privatization challenged

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TALLAHASSEE -- Public employee unions are challenging a state budget provision calling for the privatization of health care in Florida's prisons.

Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll held a hearing Tuesday in Tallahassee and said he hoped to rule next week.

Carroll, though, acknowledged the case will be appealed regardless of his decision.

It is similar to another prison privatization case set for oral argument June 27 in the 1st District Court of Appeal.

The state is appealing another Tallahassee judge's ruling that struck down a budget provision requiring privatization of prison facilities in South Florida.

Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford ruled the Republican-led Legislature violated the Florida Constitution by using the budget to make a substantive change in state law instead of passing a stand-alone bill.

Such a bill subsequently was defeated.

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Fla. prison health care privatization challenged

Four Ways to Save on Health Insurance

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Despite efforts to lower the cost of health care, small businesses are still struggling to cover the expense.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses pay premiums that are 18% higher on average than large businesses pay for the same coverage. Whats more, the SBA says small businesses have higher administrative costs to set up and maintain the plans and less bargaining power in negotiating with insurance companies.

On top of that, health-care reform, which was supposed to save small businesses money, hasnt helped, according to John Cerasani, president of insurance brokerage Northwest Comprehensive. The fact of the matter is health-care reform didnt do anything to address the rising costs small business owners have, he says.

Given these challenges, here are four ways to save on rising health-care costs.

Shop Around

A common misconception among small business owners is that once they take out health insurance they are locked in for a period of time. But according to Anthony Lopez, small business consumer specialist at eHealthInsurance, health insurance can be a month-to-month expense, which means you can change plans at any time.

Theres a lot of different options, says Lopez. He says to shop around at least once every six months to make sure you are saving as much as possible.

Offer High Deductible Plans

These plans have lower premiums, but require the plan holder to pay a higher out of pocket deductible, which could motivate your employees to take better care of themselves.

High deductible health plans put the onus more on employees to take care of themselves in terms of managing expenses and costs, says Cerasani of Northwest Comprehensive. While high deductible plans may face resistance at big companies, Cerasani says small businesses are increasingly turning to high deductible plans as a way to offset costs.

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Four Ways to Save on Health Insurance

ACOG Committee Urges Caution for Genetic Testing to Assess Disease Risk

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IntegenX has appointed David Smith to serve as its new COO. Smith most recently served as CFO of Thoratec, and previous to that was CFO at Chiron. He currently is chair of the audit committee and a director of OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals and previously was chair of the audit committee and a director of Perlegen Sciences.

Vermillion said this week that President and CEO Gail Page will be leaving the company by September and the firm has begun the process to find her successor. Page also has resigned her seat on the board of directors, and effective immediately Vermillion amended its bylaws to eliminate the vacant seat, reducing its board from seven to six members.

Genomic Health has appointed Richard Tompane as president of its new subsidiary InVitae, which will focus on developing next-generation-based sequencing diagnostics for genetic diseases. Tompane was previously president and CEO of Gemfire and has also served as an independent consultant.

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ACOG Committee Urges Caution for Genetic Testing to Assess Disease Risk

16th-century Korean mummy provides clue to hepatitis B virus genetic code

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ScienceDaily (May 29, 2012) The discovery of a mummified Korean child with relatively preserved organs enabled an Israeli-South Korean scientific team to conduct a genetic analysis on a liver biopsy which revealed a unique hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C2 sequence common in Southeast Asia.

Additional analysis of the ancient HBV genomes may be used as a model to study the evolution of chronic hepatitis B and help understand the spread of the virus, possibly from Africa to East-Asia. It also may shed further light on the migratory pathway of hepatitis B in the Far East from China and Japan to Korea as well as to other regions in Asia and Australia where it is a major cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The reconstruction of the ancient hepatitis B virus genetic code is the oldest full viral genome described in the scientific literature to date. It was reported in the May 21 edition of the scientific journal Hepathology by a research team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment; the Hebrew University's Faculty of Medicine, the Hadassah Medical Center's Liver Unit; Dankook University and Seoul National University in South Korea.

Carbon 14 tests of the clothing of the mummy suggests that the boy lived around the 16th century during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. The viral DNA sequences recovered from the liver biopsy enabled the scientists to map the entire ancient hepatitis B viral genome.

Using modern-day molecular genetic techniques, the researchers compared the ancient DNA sequences with contemporary viral genomes disclosing distinct differences. The changes in the genetic code are believed to result from spontaneous mutations and possibly environmental pressures during the virus evolutionary process. Based on the observed mutations rates over time, the analysis suggests that the reconstructed mummy's hepatitis B virus DNA had its origin between 3,000 to 100,000 years ago.

The hepatitis B virus is transmitted through the contact with infected body fluids , i.e. from carrier mothers to their babies, through sexual contact and intravenous drug abuse. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 400 million carriers of the virus worldwide, predominantly in Africa, China and South Korea, where up to 15 percent of the population are cariers of the virus. In recent years, universal immunization of newborns against hepatitis B in Israel and in South Korea has lead to a massive decline in the incidence of infection.

The findings are the result of a collaborative effort between Dr. Gila Kahila Bar-Gal of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine; Prof. Daniel Shouval of the Hadassah Medical Center's Liver Unit and Hebrew University; Dr. Myeung Ju Kim of Dankook University, Seok Ju Seon Memorial Museum; Dr. Dong Hoon Shin of Seoul National University, College of Medicine ; Prof Mark Spigelman of the Hebrew University's Dept. of Parasitology and Dr. Paul R. Grant of University College of London,Dept. of Virology.

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16th-century Korean mummy provides clue to hepatitis B virus genetic code

Safeguards Against Misuse of Genetic Data Urged

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Statement Highlights:

EMBARGOED UNTIL 3 pm CT/4 pm ET, Tuesday, May 29, 2012

DALLAS, May 29, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rapid advancements in genetic disease research necessitate innovative safeguards for patients, according to new American Heart Association policy recommendations published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.

Recent scientific progress includes the mapping of the entire human genetic code, or genome, which was completed in 2003, and new accelerated gene-sequencing techniques. These discoveries have led to cheaper, more readily available genetic tests, but regulations have lagged behind.

"The potential of the new technologies is incredible," said Euan A. Ashley, M.R.C.P., D.Phil., chair of the policy statement writing group and assistant professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division and director of the Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease at Stanford University School of Medicine, in Stanford, California.

"Genetic testing provides a tremendous opportunity but also a challenge in being responsible with that information," Ashley said. "If the information is available, how best do we use it to really improve care for individual patients?"

Focusing on heart and blood vessel diseases, the policy statement recommends:

In the modern era, gene sequencing simply involves observation of the natural world and not invention, therefore genes should not be patentable. The investigators cite a controversial case, now before the Supreme Court, of a company that patented the two primary genes -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- linked to an increased breast and ovarian cancer risk. The company has a monopoly on testing related to these genes and some believe this monopoly has reduced access to this test for women.

Establishing federal oversight of genetic tests

All genetic tests should be regulated for quality. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is well suited to this task because it has statutory authority, scientific expertise and experience in regulating genetic tests.

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Safeguards Against Misuse of Genetic Data Urged

People's Geographic Origins Traceable With New Genetic Method

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Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Genetics Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;Medical Devices / Diagnostics Article Date: 29 May 2012 - 11:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'People's Geographic Origins Traceable With New Genetic Method'

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The team, from the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Tel Aviv University, write about their work in a paper published online in Nature Genetics on 20 May.

The researchers hope their method, which they call "spatial ancestry analysis" or SPA, will increase understanding of genetic diversity among populations, which in turn helps us better understand human disease and evolution.

Research areas that may benefit from the new method include finding links between genetic variants and disease and locating parts of genomes that have been subject to positive selection.

SPA is a software tool for analyzing spatial structure in genetic data. It models genotypes in two- and three-dimensional space.

With SPA researchers can model the spatial distributon of each genetic variant. And in this study, the team showed that particular frequency patterns of spatial distribution of gene variants are tied to particular geographic locations.

For genetic variants the team used SNPs ("snips", short for single-nucleotide polymorphisms) from various parts of the genome, including "the well-characterized LCT region, as well as at loci including FOXP2, OCA2 and LRP1B".

An SNP is a DNA sequence variation where there is a single nucleotide (A, T, C or G) difference in the "spelling" of the sequence.

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People's Geographic Origins Traceable With New Genetic Method

Big Idea: Fighting Hunger With Ancient Genetic Engineering Techniques | DISCOVER

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A technician in Nigeria breeds cassava plants to maximize vitamin A.

Courtesy Harvest Plus

in 1994 Howarth Bouis stood before potential donors at a conference in Maryland and unveiled his plan for combating malnutrition in the developing world. Bouis, an economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), envisioned impoverished farmers in Africa and South Asia growing staple crops that are enriched in key nutrients like iron, zinc, and vitamin A. His presentation had the audience hookeduntil he said he would accomplish the feat via old-fashioned plant breeding techniques.

At that point Bouis might as well have been lecturing on plows and sickles. Conference attendees wanted to solve the hunger problem with high-tech science, the kind of advances that produced incredibly effective fertilizers and pesticides during the green revolution of the 1970s. Their attention had just turned to genetically modified crops, engineered with specific genes that would not only enhance nutrition, as Bouis proposed, but also boost yields and instill resistance to pests and weed killers. Bouis came away with a single $1 million granta fraction of the money needed to reach his goals.

People ignored Bouis then, but they dont anymore. While most genetically modified food projects are stuck in political purgatory, Bouiss HarvestPlus program has brought nutrient-rich crops to tens of thousands of African farmers, and they will soon be available to millions more. When you breed conventionally, Bouis says, theres no controversy.

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Bouiss passion for improving agriculture in the developing world began in the 1980s, when he went on aid expeditions throughout the Middle East and Asia. Some 65 percent of African and Southeast Asian children have iron deficiencies that can lead to anemia and fatigue. Vitamin A deficiency produces 500,000 annual cases of blindness among children under age 5 (half of whom do not survive), and lack of zinc kills 800,000 a year. They had so much strength and courage despite their poverty, he says. Thats always inspired me.

That inspiration drove Bouiss work IFPRI, where he began exploring the idea of taking native plants and mating them with similar varieties that have a desired trait. If an African species of sweet potato could attain the nutritional benefits of a North American variety naturally high in vitamin A, for instance, then perhaps malnourished African farmers could grow their own nutritious sweet potatoes. Unfortunately Bouis needed money to find out whether that would work. It was not easy selling a meticulous program dedicated solely to fighting malnutrition when geneticists said they were on their way to solving that and a slate of other problems.

In 1993 European researchers Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer began infecting rice grains with genetically modified bacteria that transmitted individual genes into the plants DNA. Seven years later, they found three genesone from a bacterium and two from a daffodilthat programmed the plant to produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. The genes also gave the grains a yellow tint, earning them the name Golden Rice. Further tinkering added genes to increase yields and ward off insects. When Potrykus and Beyer published their results in Science, many scientists and media outlets proclaimed that genetically modified crops would hasten a second green revolution.

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Big Idea: Fighting Hunger With Ancient Genetic Engineering Techniques | DISCOVER

Live: The White House's Medal of Freedom Ceremony Honors Bob Dylan

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The ceremony honoring President Obama's Medal of Freedom recipients, who will receive the nation's highest civilian honor, is going on right now. The picture above shows Madeleine Albright and Toni Morrison there in the front as well as several other honorees and their proxies. (Bob Dylan isn't pictured but he's there, wearing sunglasses of course.)

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Live: The White House's Medal of Freedom Ceremony Honors Bob Dylan

Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Bob Dylan, others

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WASHINGTON President Obama pinned the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Bob Dylan's neck as the singer stood in the White House inscrutable in black sunglasses.

"I have to say that I am a really big fan," Obama said as he introduced Dylan, one of a number of figures from the struggles and accomplishments of the 1960s, as well as other eras, whom Obama chose to honor Tuesday. Labor leader and civil rights campaigner Dolores Huerta and astronaut John Glenn also received the medal.

"I remember, you know, in college listening to Bob Dylan and my world opening up because he captured something about this country that was so vital," Obama said.

The president said many of the recipients had had a personal effect on his life. The year 1962 looms especially large in Obama's picks: That was the year Dylan put out his first album, Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Assn. and Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.

The medal is the country's highest civilian honor and the president has wide latitude in choosing recipients. It is awarded to people who have made major contributions to the security of the United States, world peace or culture, or have undertaken "other significant public or private endeavors."

Huerta founded the farmworkers group, which later became the United Farm Workers, with Cesar Chavez, who was awarded the medal in 1994, shortly after his death. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Huerta worked to extend social programs to farmworkers in California. She also, Obama noted, coined the slogan "Si, se puede" ("Yes, we can").

"Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan," he said.

It was not Dylan's first time receiving a ribbon at the White House: In 1997, President Clinton named him a Kennedy Center honoree. In 2010, Obama awarded the singer the National Medal of Arts. Dylan did not attend the ceremony then, but did perform "The Times They Are a-Changin" for the president at the White House the same year.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom hangs from a blue ribbon and is made up of a blue disk whose surface is filled with stars, layered on a white star and red pentagon surrounded by gold eagles.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was also among the 12 people presented with the medal Tuesday. Former Justice Department civil rights lawyer John Doar, epidemiologist William Foege, novelist Toni Morrison, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and college basketball coach Pat Summitt also received the award.

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Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Bob Dylan, others

Albright, Dylan among recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Juliette Gordon Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts, is another of the posthumous honorees. Along with the establishment of the American group, she is credited with creating a Girl Guides troop for girls working in factories in Scotland. The Girl Guides helped the young women set up a small business, enabling them to take money home to their families while avoiding the unhealthy working conditions of the factories. Jan Karski, the third and final posthumous recipient of the Medal of Freedom, served as an officer in the Polish Underground during World War II. Karski provided one of the first eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust to the world. Madeleine Albright served as the first female U.S. secretary of state from 1997-2001 under President Bill Clinton. While in office, she worked to expand NATO and helped lead the alliance's campaign against terror and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, pursued peace in the Middle East and Africa, sought to reduce the dangerous spread of nuclear weapons and was a champion of democracy, human rights and good governance across the globe. Bob Dylan's poetic lyrics worked considerable influence on the civil rights movement in the 1960s and is still very influential in American culture today. Dolores Huerta is a civil rights, workers and women's advocate. With Cesar Chavez, she co-founded the National Farmworkers Association in 1962, which later became the United Farm Workers of America. Huerta has served as a community activist and a political organizer and was influential in securing the passage of California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 and disability insurance for farm workers in California.

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

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Albright, Dylan among recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom

Obama honors Presidential Medal of Freedom winners: Who's eligible? (+video)

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Answer: Anybody who's accomplished anything the president of the United States likes. Obama awarded the Medal of Freedom to Bob Dylan, John Glenn, and 11 other recipients Tuesday.

What do Bob Dylan, Bob Dole, Warren Buffet, Earl Warren, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Jackie Robinson, and Jack Nicklaus have in common?

No, theyre not characters in the longest walk into a bar joke ever told. They are all recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award the United States government bestows.

President Obama handed out 13 of these coveted decorations in an East Room ceremony on May 29. The aforementioned Mr. Dylan was one of the recipients. As he and John Glenn, Toni Morrison, and other 2012 honorees bowed to have the spiffy white star hung around their necks, we got to thinking: Where does the Presidential Medal of Freedom come from, anyway? How does it compare to the Medal of Honor and other top US decorations? Why did Dylan wear sunglasses to Tuesdays East Room investiture?

That last question is unanswerable by us. As to the rest were now in position to provide a little US Medals 101 education, courtesy of the always helpful work of Congressional Research Service scholars.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by Harry S. Truman to reward World War II-connected activities. In 1945, the first awards were bestowed on four women who had shown conspicuous service and/or bravery, including Anna M. Rosenberg, a member of the War Manpower Commission, and Marie Louise Dissard, a leader of the French Resistance.

Throughout the late 1940s and early 50s the medal went to figures related to security or diplomacy. In 1963, however, President John F. Kennedy made a major change, establishing the award as we understand it today. Via an executive order, JFK expanded those eligible to include any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

In other words, pretty much anybody whos accomplished anything the president of the US likes.

Thats the second interesting part of the Medal of Freedom equation: it is something the president alone decides.

As such, recipients tend to reflect the personal and political interests of the President. The accomplishments of past recipients have been in wide-ranging fields, including public service, journalism, business, sports, and entertainment, wrote Barbara Salazar Torreon of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a 2004 report on the subject.

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Obama honors Presidential Medal of Freedom winners: Who's eligible? (+video)

Obama honors Presidential Medal of Freedom winners: Who's eligible?

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Answer: Anybody who's accomplished anything the president of the United States likes. Obama awarded the Medal of Freedom to Bob Dylan, John Glenn, and 11 other recipients Tuesday.

What do Bob Dylan, Bob Dole, Warren Buffet, Earl Warren, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Jackie Robinson, and Jack Nicklaus have in common?

No, theyre not characters in the longest walk into a bar joke ever told. They are all recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award the United States government bestows.

President Obama handed out 13 of these coveted decorations in an East Room ceremony on May 29. The aforementioned Mr. Dylan was one of the recipients. As he and John Glenn, Toni Morrison, and other 2012 honorees bowed to have the spiffy white star hung around their necks, we got to thinking: Where does the Presidential Medal of Freedom come from, anyway? How does it compare to the Medal of Honor and other top US decorations? Why did Dylan wear sunglasses to Tuesdays East Room investiture?

That last question is unanswerable by us. As to the rest were now in position to provide a little US Medals 101 education, courtesy of the always helpful work of Congressional Research Service scholars.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by Harry S. Truman to reward World War II-connected activities. In 1945, the first awards were bestowed on four women who had shown conspicuous service and/or bravery, including Anna M. Rosenberg, a member of the War Manpower Commission, and Marie Louise Dissard, a leader of the French Resistance.

Throughout the late 1940s and early 50s the medal went to figures related to security or diplomacy. In 1963, however, President John F. Kennedy made a major change, establishing the award as we understand it today. Via an executive order, JFK expanded those eligible to include any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

In other words, pretty much anybody whos accomplished anything the president of the US likes.

Thats the second interesting part of the Medal of Freedom equation: it is something the president alone decides.

As such, recipients tend to reflect the personal and political interests of the President. The accomplishments of past recipients have been in wide-ranging fields, including public service, journalism, business, sports, and entertainment, wrote Barbara Salazar Torreon of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a 2004 report on the subject.

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Obama honors Presidential Medal of Freedom winners: Who's eligible?