Early Word on the House Bill (The Treatment, October 29, 2009)
This bill will cover more people–and provide them with more protection–than the emerging counterpart in the Senate. The House bill will also include a stronger public insurance option, but one that is not as strong as it could be.
Senate Dem’s to Obama: Um, a Little Help Here
(The Treatment, Oct 26, 2009)
Democratic leaders in the Senate think they are close to getting the votes they need in order to pass an “opt-out” version of the public option. But they feel like President Obama could be doing more to help them, with one senior staffer telling The New Republic on Sunday that the leadership would like, but has yet to receive, a clear “signal” of support for their effort.
As Rumors Fly, a Call for a United Front on Health Care in the House (The Nation, Oct 23, 2009)
Op-ed by Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) calling for a robust public option that would pay providers Medicare rates plus 5 percent.
Paterson Administration Fears Cost of US Health Care Overhaul (NY Times, Oct, 22, 2009)
The Paterson administration is raising alarms that health care legislation taking shape in Washington could drive up deficits and punish New York and other states that have expanded Medicaid coverage on their own.
Merging the Senate Bills (NY Times, Oct 19, 2009)
Once the bills are melded, the Congressional Budget Office will be asked to develop a revised cost analysis, a task that will take several days. At that point, provided everything is in order, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, will look to start the floor debate.
Senate Panel Clears Health Bill with One GOP Vote
(NY Times, Oct 13, 2009)
The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to approve legislation that would reshape the American health care system and provide subsidies to help millions of people buy insurance, as Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, joined all 13 Democrats on the panel in support of the landmark bill.
This American Life: More is Less (NPR, October 9, 2009)
Listen in to this one hour broadcast explaining the American health care system, specifically, why it is that costs keep rising. One story looks at the doctors, one at the patients and one at the insurance industry.
House Democrats Consider Medicaid Twist
(Congressional Quarterly, Oct 7, 2009)
It’s cheaper to cover people through Medicaid than to provide them subsidies to buy health insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Let Congress Go Without Insurance (NY Times, Oct 7, 2009)
Congress fails to pass comprehensive health reform this year, its members should surrender health insurance in proportion with the American population that is uninsured.
Obama Reaches Past Congress for Health Care Support
(NY Times, Oct.6, 2009)
Opening a new front in the effort to promote its plans for an overhaul of the nation’s health care system, the Obama administration is courting support from Republicans and independents some distance from Capitol Hill, and aggressively publicizing the results.
Senate Finance Committee Delays Health Care Vote: Did Baucus Screw Wyden and lose his vote? (Firedoglake, Oct 6, 2009)
The Senate Finance Committee vote won’t happen today. It has been pushed back until later this week or even next week, ostensibly so the CBO can come up with a final score. But it may have more to do with the fact that they don’t have the votes. And now it looks like Ron Wyden might be in that no column too. Since Baucus can only lose one Democrat and still get something through a committee with 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans, he has to bring one of them back on the reservation.
In Debate on Health Care, its Coverage vs. Cost
(NY Times, Oct.6, 2009)
As Democrats prepare to take up health care legislation on the floor of the Senate and the House, they are facing tough choices about two competing priorities. They want people to pay affordable prices for health insurance policies, but they want those policies to offer comprehensive health benefits.
White Coats in the Rose Garden, as Obama Rallies Doctors on Health Overhaul (NY Times Prescriptions Blog, Oct 5, 2009)
In brief remarks to the doctors – all of whom support Mr. Obama’s plan and have vowed to fan out in their home states to advocate for it – the president sought to make the case that reforming the health care system would benefit the medical profession as much as patients.
Democrats Brace for Hardest Part of Health Care Reform
(Time, Oct 5, 2009)
With the passage of health-care-reform legislation out of the Senate Finance Committee expected this week, the debate moves into a new and delicate stage. It is one that will test the legislative and political skills of Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a scale that no congressional leadership team has had to face in at least four decades.
All Eyes on Reid (Politico Huddle, October 5, 2009)
With the Senate Finance Committee ready to pass its version of the health care bill tomorrow, all eyes will be on the Senate majority leader as he merges that bill with the more liberal Health committee bill. Reid’s got pressure from the left, the right and the middle in the Senate; the White House is lobbying hard on the public option and moderates are squirming.
The Conservative Case for Health Care Reform
(Washington Post, Oct 5, 2009)
So here are 10 ideas to increase the affordability and quality of health care. Some of these are buried within various Republican and Democratic plans that have been floated. They offer a path forward toward significant bipartisan reform.
Uninsured by Choice: A Calculated Risk (NPR News, Oct 3, 2009)
As a small business owner, sometimes it’s hard to pay the bills every month. One in particular says a reason she’s uninsured is she doesn’t particularly trust insurance companies. She thinks they interfere in the relationship between patient and doctor — driving up administrative costs and deciding what is and isn’t covered.
A Heated Debate Is Dividing Generations in AARP
(NY Times, Oct.3, 2009)
Its 40 million members are split about evenly between those who have access to Medicare, the federal government’s health program for the elderly, and those who are too young to be eligible for such benefits.
Bill Frist on Health Bill “I’d Vote for It”
(Time’s Swampland Blog, Oct.2, 2009)
Former Senate Republican Leader, a surgeon who has written a new book on health care, said were he still in the Senate, “I would end up voting for it. As leader, I would take heat for it. … That’s what leadership is all about.”
