CQ Acquires Washington HealthBeat

Posted on July 30, 2004

Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ), a provider of news and analysis on Congress, politics and public policy, has announced the acquisition of Washington HealthBeat. Washington HealthBeat is a newsletter for the healthcare policy community targeted at Washington policy makers and opinion leaders in government, associations, lobbying organizations and law firms.

"This acquisition greatly expands CQ's reach into an important sector of policy making," said Robert W. Merry, CQ president and publisher. "We expect the healthcare issue to gain significant prominence in Washington after the election, and this acquisition positions us to provide this community with the best solution to its information needs."

Merry also said the Washington HealthBeat acquisition fits CQ's strategy of providing coverage of major issue areas for Washington insiders with an intense interest in those topics. CQ will add reporting and editing resources to HealthBeat along with legislative search tools and automatic email alerts.

Washington HealthBeat was founded in 2001 by John Reichard, whose 20-year career in Washington specialty publications included editing stints with McGraw-Hill, Thomson and other organizations. Among the publications edited by Reichard were Medicine & Health and Washington Drug Letter.

"Joining forces with CQ will allow me to expand my coverage rapidly on and off the Hill," said Reichard, who will remain Editor in Chief of the newly formed CQ HealthBeat. "In addition, by building on CQ's database technology, I will be able to give my readers unparalleled access to the substantive information they need to do their jobs."