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Democrats: During August recess, Obama has 'major responsibility' to promote health overhaul

As Congress prepares to leave Washington for the August recess, Democrats are worried the vacation will "kill momentum on health care reform," Politico reports.

30 Jul 2009

Baucus: New CBO score 'good news'

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Wednesday that a preliminary Congressional Budget Office score of his panel's draft health care overhaul package would cost under $900 billion over the next decade and provide health coverage to 95 percent of uninsured Americans.

30 Jul 2009

Obama defends reform to seniors worried about Medicare cuts

On Tuesday, President Obama pitched Democrats' health reform plans to senior citizens and assured them that Medicare benefits would not be cut to pay for covering the uninsured, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, members of Congress said they were "deluged" with constituent calls expressing concern over the future of their Medicare coverage.

30 Jul 2009

Finance Committee negotiators near accord on bill

The Washington Post: "Three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are expected to wrap up their arduous multi-week talks in the coming days, and Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said he expects a panel vote before the Senate recess, which will begin Aug. 7.

30 Jul 2009

Centrists steer talks away from public plan

"Senate Democrats debating how to overhaul America's healthcare system are moving toward a showdown over whether to create a government-run insurance program or set up a system of cooperatives instead," the Los Angeles Times reports.

30 Jul 2009

Health benefits tax gains support in Congress, opponents in business

"You can think of Congress's efforts to pay for health reform as being a little bit like a battle to slay a many-headed Hydra," writes the New York Times' economic columnist, David Leonhardt.

30 Jul 2009

Long-term care proposal draws opposition

The insurance industry opposes a long-term care proposal called the CLASS Act, currently included in two major health care reform measures.

30 Jul 2009

Finance committee may omit public plan, employer mandate

The Associated Press is quoting sources saying that "After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer Monday to a health care compromise that omits a requirement for businesses to offer coverage to their workers and lacks a government insurance option that President Barack Obama favors, according to numerous officials.

28 Jul 2009

AMA backs health reform plan, but not all doctors are on board

Even as Democratic leaders in Congress and President Obama tout the American Medical Association's support for the House health care overhaul proposal, eleven other medical societies are vocally rejecting the plan, American Medical News reports.

28 Jul 2009

Reform could hinge on the insured, who support reform but fear change

"Although polls have consistently shown that just over half of Americans think the health-care system is in need of reform, a substantial majority say they are satisfied with their own insurance and care," the Washington Post reports.

28 Jul 2009

Subsidies to cover uninsured critical to health overhaul

Covering the uninsured - a leading principle of health care reform - depends on the critical issue of who gets subsidies to pay for health insurance coverage and when.

28 Jul 2009

House members continue bickering over reform

Hope is fading in the House on voting on reform before the August recess as Democrats bicker over details, Roll Call reports: "Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Friday that Democratic leaders may push off the health care bill until September if they can't get it finished within the next two weeks."

28 Jul 2009

Senate Dems seek compromise on contentious health reform issues

A leading Democratic senator, Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said Sunday Democrats would need Republican support to make ambitious proposals to overhaul the health system a reality, the Associated Press reports.

28 Jul 2009

As they debate health overhaul, politicians keep eye on 2010

"Fifteen months before the midterm congressional election, health care is appearing in candidate stump speeches and interviews - particularly by Republican challengers… running in districts recently claimed by Democrats," USA Today reports.

28 Jul 2009

Health care legislation's hurdles and potential impacts

Politico reports on key issues that could derail a final bill: "Even if House and Senate leaders manage to get the health care bills through their chambers, they will still face a contentious conference committee. Those negotiations will aim to produce one final bill that must be passed anew in each chamber.

28 Jul 2009

Connecticut: small businesses struggle with soaring premiums, unintended consequences of old law

"Premiums for small employers have been rising by double-digit increases for a few years, and they don't have the negotiating power of larger employers," the Hartford (Conn.) Courant reports.

28 Jul 2009

New Hampshire officials: need for mental health services increasing

In New Hampshire, Foster's Daily Democrat reports: "As unemployment statistics increase and the economic climate deteriorates, a large group of people who would otherwise likely not need mental health services are finding themselves at an increased risk for depression, anxiety, compulsive behaviors and substance abuse, according (to) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."

28 Jul 2009

Majority of health care leaders support public health care option

By a wide margin, health care leaders believe that individuals should have a choice of public and private health plans, and strongly support other central components of health reform such as innovative provider payment reform and a national insurance health exchange with strong standard-setting authority.

28 Jul 2009