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Study lawmakers' support for health reform not necessarily based on constituent needs

The Los Angeles Times reports on a new study that finds a paradox: some lawmakers, whose constituents stand to benefit most from health reform, are the ones opposing the bill while some whose consitutents will likely pay more are the biggest supporters.

12 Oct 2009

Senate finance members weigh their health bill votes

Senators are trying to get a count ahead of the Senate Finance Committee's vote on a health reform proposal Tuesday, but several members are refusing to tip their hand. Meanwhile, in the background, House lawmakers continue their work.

12 Oct 2009

DNC pulls health reform ad after Dole complains

After a group of Republicans voiced support for health reform last week, the Democratic National Committee produced an ad featuring those comments - but, withdrew it at the request of former Senate Majority leader, Bob Dole, R-Kan., The Associated Press/The Boston Globe reports. Dole and other Republicans were quoted in the commercial, with Dole saying "I want this to pass. … We've got to do something."

12 Oct 2009

Obama highlights GOP reform supporters; Capitol Hill battle grinds on

President Barack Obama praised health reform efforts in Congress in his weekly Saturday address, highlighting support from some Republicans who have spoken out recently on the issue, a scheduled vote in the Senate Finance Committee and a Congressional Budget Office report that found the Finance bill would not add to the deficit, the Wall Street Journal reports.

12 Oct 2009

Congressional -- and political -- agenda tied to outcome of health care reform

Questions abound about what may happen if health care reform does happen.

12 Oct 2009

Public option for the House bill still viable

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's record of passing all the bills she has brought forward -- despite opponents' caricature of her as inept -- mean that the health public option remains viable in the House and the House-Senate conference, says ex-White House staffer and former House Aging Committee and Health Subcommittee Chief of Staff Robert Weiner. Pelosi told Weiner, "We will not be deterred. We will pass the bill."

12 Oct 2009

President of Consumers Union calls health reform 'vital'

This week, Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, stepped into the health care debate by airing a 30-second television ad supporting an overhaul.

12 Oct 2009

First Edition: October 12, 2009

With the Senate Finance Committee scheduled to vote Tuesday on its sweeping health overhaul measure, the insurance industry is launching its attack.

12 Oct 2009

Democrats pull 'Republicans support health reform' ad after Dole objects

A Democratic commercial highlighting Republican support for health reform has some in the GOP up in arms, while others say the support won't change their minds.

12 Oct 2009

Medical liability reform to save $54 billion over 10 years

The nation’s neurosurgeons are urging lawmakers to pay close attention to the newly released findings of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which confirm that medical liability reform does indeed reduce the use of healthcare services and will save the system money. In an October 9, 2009 letter to Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf stated that a comprehensive set of tort reforms will reduce the nation’s deficit by $54 billion over 10 years.

12 Oct 2009

Public plan - or something like it - still on the table in health reform debate

Some news outlets looked beyond the Senate Finance Committee vote on health reform to what may be in the final package considered by the full Senate.

12 Oct 2009

CBO: Medical malpractice reform would save $54 billion over 10 years

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that reforming some aspects of medical malpractice law would reduce the federal deficit by $54 billion over a decade.

12 Oct 2009

Critical moments ahead for health reform legislation

News outlets looked ahead as the President and Capitol Hill lawmakers prepare for Tuesday's vote in the Senate Finance Committee on health overhaul legislation.

12 Oct 2009

Dems get boost from another Republican supporting health reform

Former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Thomas Scully is the latest Republican to throw his support behind health care reform.

12 Oct 2009

News media examine health reform roles of Snowe, Voinovich, Gregg

Newspapers focus on a few of the major players in health care reform: Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine; George Voinovich, R-Ohio; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; and Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

9 Oct 2009

House Dems seek health bill support from liberals, women, and even Republicans

House Democrats are enjoying a feeling of momentum on health care, despite divisions within their own party, and rigid partisan battle lines. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told The Hill, "I'm encouraged that we're as far along as we have come and I think we're going to make it." Another senior lawmaker said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "has held dozens of meetings to assuage the concerns of liberal and centrist Democratic colleagues" (Bolton and Young, 10/8).

9 Oct 2009

Lawmakers renew demands for public option in health bill

Senate and House Democrats are renewing their calls for a strong government-run public option in their respective chambers.

9 Oct 2009

PFCD releases the updated comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform bill

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released an updated comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform legislation to reflect the amended Senate Finance Committee proposal. The amended "Chairman's Mark" includes numerous provisions to prevent and manage chronic disease, the top cost driver in health care, as do the two other major pieces of health reform legislation under consideration in Congress.

9 Oct 2009

House leaders discuss taxing insurers to help finance health care

House Democrats have nearly completed drafting a health reform bill that consolidates versions created by three committees, Bloomberg reports. One detail remains undecided, however: How, exactly, Democrats will pay for the overhaul.

9 Oct 2009

Today's editorials and opinions

After years of struggling with costs that were eating into his bottom line, David White, a small business owner in Maine, recently dropped health insurance for himself and his employees. It was a nerve-wracking decision (Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., 10/8).

9 Oct 2009