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Public option expected to dominate Senate debate on health reform this week

The Associated Press: "... the all-hands-on-deck Democratic coalition that allowed the bill to advance is fracturing already. ... Some Democratic senators say they'll jump ship from the bill without tighter restrictions on abortion coverage. Others say they'll go unless a government plan to compete with private insurance companies gets tossed overboard.

29 Nov 2009

Dems face huge challenge in reconciling abortion language in House, Senate health bills

Several news outlets are following the dilemmas that Democrats are facing in the health reform bills due to abortion.

27 Nov 2009

White House advisers: Senate reform bill controls health costs

In a pre-Thanksgiving conference call with reporters, senior Obama administration officials praised cost controls in the Senate health reform bill.

26 Nov 2009

Senators away for holiday continue health debate at home

Senators away for the Thanksgiving holiday are continuing the health care reform debate with constituents and are facing far less vitriol than during the August recess.

25 Nov 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

You would be hard pressed to find any health policy expert who isn't disappointed that cost containment has fallen off the health care "reform" express (Robert Laszewski, 11/25).

25 Nov 2009

Lobbyists – including some surprise players – keep the heat on health legislation

Washington groups have lobbied Congress and the public in nearly every imaginable direction on health reform. But those groups include a few that you may not have guessed would have an interest.

25 Nov 2009

Health reform financing ideas watered down, questions remain on premiums, taxes

The New York Times reports that while the Senate health bill "includes nearly every big idea that health economists and medical researchers have for slowing cost growth — as well as for improving the patchwork quality of American health care, ... many of the ideas, like the rule on Medicare reimbursement, have been at least partly neutered. A provision to punish hospitals for infecting their patients, for example, would cut payments for the related treatments by a mere 1 percent.

25 Nov 2009

Health companies' momentum may cut right through reform savings

Health companies have done better than the rest of corporate America during the past decade, MarketWatch/Seattle Times reports. While profits at the S&P 500 companies declined slightly over 10 years, "[d]ata compiled by MarketWatch show that the 52 health-care companies in the index are about to close out the decade with average profits that nearly tripled."

25 Nov 2009

Evidence-based clinical research should not be influenced by political considerations, says ACP

The American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 129,000 internal medicine physicians and medical student members, believes that it is essential that research on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments not be influenced by political considerations.

25 Nov 2009

Congress brings oral health into conversation to improve nation's overall health

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation commends Congress for its recognition of the urgent need to comprehensively and substantially strengthen oral health care for our most vulnerable children.

25 Nov 2009

Senate personalities shape, debate health reform bill

The New York Times Prescriptions Blog reports on a ripple in "the Senate's predominant history as an old-boys' club." It notes that "to move the bill forward for full debate, the Democrats' last two crucial votes came from women: Senators Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

24 Nov 2009

Senate Democrats brace for heavy health reform work

The Hill reports that "Democratic leaders sent out a notice Monday morning alerting senators that when the chamber returns to session after the Thanksgiving holiday, 'roll call votes could occur at any time during the day and evening, with weekend sessions likely.'" The health bill is also likely to affect work on a climate change bill and some senators' plans to go to the climate summit in Copenhagen (Bolton, 11/23).

24 Nov 2009

Insurers under fire for denials of care, inadequate coverage

When people talk about revamping the health care system, among the often-mentioned reasons for change are unfair denials of care by insurance companies and medical debt, both of which are in the news today.

24 Nov 2009

Health reform bill: 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions

Consumer Watchdog released a list today of the 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions of the U.S. Senate health reform bill, HR 3590, which passed an important procedural vote this weekend.

24 Nov 2009

RetireSafe urges America's seniors to protest the massive cuts to Medicare

While the Senate Democrats moved forward to begin the debate on their health care "reform" bill this weekend, RetireSafe, a 400,000 supporter strong grassroots senior advocacy group, is calling on all of America's seniors to grab their bullhorns to protest the massive cuts to Medicare.

24 Nov 2009

Team-based care and medical homes may improve chronic disease management

Patients whose hypertension is managed by a physician-pharmacist team have lower blood pressure levels and are more likely to reach goals for blood pressure control than those treated without this collaborative approach, according to a report in the November 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

24 Nov 2009

Doctor shortage issue heats up with reform efforts

The Miami Herald reports: "Some parts of the country already lack an ample supply of general internists, pediatricians and family physicians, forcing patients to drive further or wait longer for care. If a comprehensive health reform bill passes and extends coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, many are asking if there will be enough primary-care doctors to handle the increased demand for medical services."

23 Nov 2009

KHN column: Getting the bugs out of health reform

In this Kaiser Health News column, which is a collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn, writes about health care's bugs.

23 Nov 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

But when it comes to making medical care not only cheaper but also better, reducing hospital infections is among the easiest changes to make--something reform really should be able to do, even in this political universe of such limited possibility (Jonathan Cohn, 11/23).

23 Nov 2009

Lobbying is up as health industry examines impact of reform proposals

"Companies and groups hiring lobbying firms on health issues nearly doubled this year as special interests rushed to shape the massive revamp of the nation's health care system now in its final stretch before Congress." As many as 1,000 groups "have hired lobbyists since January, compared with 505 during the same period in 2008, according to a USA TODAY analysis of congressional records compiled by the nonpartisan CQ MoneyLine."

23 Nov 2009