Health Reform News and Research

RSS

Today's opinions and editorials

Sometimes there is a fine ethical line between legislative maneuvering and bribery. At other times, that line is crossed by a speeding, honking tractor-trailer, with outlines of shapely women on mud flaps bouncing as it rumbles past (Michael Gerson, 12/23).

23 Dec 2009

Costs of health overhaul may be felt before benefits accrue

The Associated Press reports: "The costs of health care reform being pushed through Congress by Democrats will be felt long before the benefits. Proposed taxes and fees on upper-income earners, insurers, even tanning parlors, take effect quickly.

23 Dec 2009

Bishops urge Congress and the Administration to fashion health care reform legislation

The current health care reform bill is "deficient" and should not move forward without "essential changes," the chairmen of three committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said December 22.

23 Dec 2009

Disability-related problems continue to rise among older adults

Disability rates among non-institutionalized older Americans increased between 2000 and 2005, a trend that could seriously impact the quality of life of seniors in the coming decades if it continues, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of California, Berkeley.

22 Dec 2009

Lawmakers hope to combine Senate, House health reform bills quickly

The Wall Street Journal reports that Democrats are hoping — and planning — on fast negotiations between the Senate and the House in January to come up with a merged health care reform bill.

22 Dec 2009

How health reform might affect 'Young Invincibles'

ProPublica profiles a "young invincible" and reports on what a health care overhaul might mean for him.

22 Dec 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

'Twill be the night before Christmas when the Senate delivers the top item on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's wish list: a health-care bill (William McGurn, 12/21).

22 Dec 2009

Difficult issues will remain even if Senate Democrats pass health bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made two major changes to the Senate's version of the health overhaul legislation - removing the proposed "public option" and restricting abortion coverage - that have helped ease tension enough to secure more votes for the bill, but left advocates with much to complain about.

22 Dec 2009

Lobbying set for a record year fueled in part by health care debate

USA Today: "As the health care bill moves toward a critical vote in the Senate, the five senators charged with overseeing the floor debate count health interests among their biggest campaign contributors, records show. The political action committees and employees of drugmakers Schering-Plough and Amgen have been the top two contributors in the past five years to Montana Sen. Max Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee and is one of three senators managing the bill for Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

22 Dec 2009

Political parties try to shape public opinion on health care

Politico: "Senate Democrats may not give final approval to their health care bill until Christmas Eve, but the parties have already moved on to the next fight: defining the measure in the minds of the public."

22 Dec 2009

AMA backs latest Senate bill

Senate Democrats were bolstered Monday by the endorsement of the American Medical Association as they push for a final vote this week on their health overhaul legislation, Bloomberg reports. "The bill advances many of our priority issues for achieving the vision of a health system that works for patients and physicians," the AMA's president-elect, Dr. Cecil Wilson, said in endorsing the most recent version of the Senate bill, proposed over the weekend by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (Salant and Donmoyer, 12/22).

22 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 22, 2009

The big news today follows two main themes -- the Senate's march toward Democrats' Christmas eve deadline for passing a health reform bill; and, the challenges that will be involved when the House and Senate versions of the overhaul are reconciled.

22 Dec 2009

NRF expresses disappointment at the Senate’s early morning vote on health care reform legislation

The National Retail Federation expressed disappointment at the Senate’s early morning vote today on health care reform legislation, and said the vote would be included in its annual ranking of key issues important to the retail industry.

22 Dec 2009

Prescription medication at lower costs for Oregon state agency employees

Public employees in the state of Oregon will soon have access to a wider range of prescription medication at lower costs.

22 Dec 2009

DMC launches Dental Optimizer, a free online application connected to Microsoft HealthVault

While politicians and pundits continue to arm wrestle the minutiae of health reform, more and more Americans are stepping up to take charge of their own health.

22 Dec 2009

Winners, losers examined in Senate health bill tax treatment, insurer regulations

The Associated Press reports on some winners and losers in the Senate health reform bill including cosmetic surgeons who helped defeat a proposed 5 percent tax on their services and a handful of states getting more federal aid to help them afford a proposed Medicaid expansion.

21 Dec 2009

Senate Democrats win overnight procedural vote; move one step closer to approving health bill by Christmas

The New York Times: "After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Senate Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's health care system."

21 Dec 2009

Requirement for Americans to get insurance is central to health overhaul

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in partnership with USA Today, writes about the mandate included in pending health reform proposals. "Both the House and Senate health care overhaul bills require most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty.

21 Dec 2009

Reid's fight to get 60 votes dims Liberals' hopes of compromises in conference committee

Although the liberals and union leaders once hoped that a House-Senate conference committee could undo some of the compromises and move the health overhaul bill more to their liking, the "titanic struggle to lock in Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) as the 60th senator for the first key test vote early Monday morning has changed all that," Politico reports.

21 Dec 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

We usually associate presidential leadership with the pursuit of goals that, though initially unpopular, serve America's long-term interests. Obama has reversed this (Robert Samuelson, 12/21).

21 Dec 2009