The continuing efforts to make progress on the nation's health overhaul are reflected in today's headlines, which highlight both politics and policies.
People Who Choose Not To Have Insurance Not all of America's 46 million uninsured people can be considered victims of a system that excludes them financially or because of pre-existing conditions. According to an unpublished Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the CDC's 2008 National Health Interview Survey, 2 percent of uninsured people said they simply didn't want health insurance. Some experts say others who could - and should - buy insurance choose not to because they perceive the costs as too high (Kaiser Health News). See related video and content, part of continuing series, Are You Covered?, done in partnership with NPR.
Dem Leader Faces Tough Job In Crafting Health Bill Forget mission accomplished. Try mission seemingly impossible. With the Senate Finance Committee on the verge of approving a sweeping health overhaul bill Tuesday, the path might appear open for action by the full Senate. Not so fast (The Associated Press).
House Leaders Prepare To Wrestle With Question Of Taxes To Pay For Healthcare House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and fellow House Democratic leaders next week are expected to wade into the treacherous waters of how to pay for the House healthcare bill as they continue to negotiate the shape of the bill behind closed doors (The Hill).
Health Care Bills Tackle Gender Gap In Coverage Women's health groups, legal organizations and some female senators are fighting for a host of little-known provisions in the health care legislation being debated in Congress that they say will dramatically improve health care and insurance coverage for women (USA Today).
States Resist Medicaid Growth The nation's governors are emerging as a formidable lobbying force as health-care reform moves through Congress and states overburdened by the recession brace for the daunting prospect of providing coverage to millions of low-income residents (The Washington Post).
San Francisco Health Care Approach Held Up As A Model For two years, three-quarters of San Francisco's uninsured adults have enrolled in a public program that guarantees access to medical services, and the effort is being touted as a national model during the rancorous health care insurance debate (The Boston Globe/Los Angeles Times).
Obama Quietly Tries To Shore Up Senate Support For Public Option Despite months of outward ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to get divided Senate Democrats to take up some version of the idea for a final vote in the coming weeks (Los Angeles Times).