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$40 million made available for children's health care enrollment efforts

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that states and local organizations can apply for $40 million worth of outreach grants "to enroll more eligible children in health-insurance programs," according to the Wall Street Journal.

7 Jul 2009

TV ad wars beginning over health overhaul proposals

The Associated Press reports that ads focused on congressional efforts to overhaul the nation's system are now appearing and will heat up as the summer progresses. "Through June 27, $31 million has been spent for roughly 47,000 TV ads on health care this year, says Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, a firm that tracks issue advertising. That's double the roughly $14 million the insurance industry spent in 1993 and 1994 for the famous 'Harry and Louise' ads..., but a fraction of the $250 million Tracey guesses will ultimately be spent this year."

7 Jul 2009

Maine fights for Senators' votes, Grassley can't satisfy either side

Senators home for the Fourth of July recess found activists on each side of the health care debate waiting for them.

7 Jul 2009

Obama urges groups to stop attacks

"President Obama, strategizing... with congressional leaders about health-care reform, complained that liberal advocacy groups ought to drop their attacks on Democratic lawmakers and devote their energy to promoting passage of comprehensive legislation," The Washington Post reports.

7 Jul 2009

Lawmakers seek compromise on health overhaul proposals

Democrats and Republicans are saying that they will need to compromise on a government-run public plan if they are to meet the deadline of having a bill on the Senate floor by the August recess, The Associated Press reports.

7 Jul 2009

Minnesota clinics serving many more thanks to stimulus dollars

As Minnesota braces for some cuts to public health programs, the state's network of community health centers is being buoyed by money from the federal stimulus that will expand coverage to the un- and underinsured in that state, The Minnesota Post reports.

7 Jul 2009

'Consumer-directed' plans rise in popularity as businesses scramble to cut health costs

High-deductible health insurance plans coupled with health savings accounts (tax-advantaged funds for covering medical costs), are becoming the plan of choice for Connecticut's small businesses newly offering insurance to employees, Hartford Business reports.

7 Jul 2009

Advocates are back with real health care stories

Thousands of people are "now telling their stories on videos, ads and Web sites on both sides of the health care debate," The Associated Press reports.

7 Jul 2009

For America's aged, surgery at any price?

When doctors decide whether or not to go ahead with an expensive surgery, "age is no longer the deciding factor, even for invasive treatment such as open-heart surgery," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

7 Jul 2009

The European experience: The pluses and minuses of government-run health care

As President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul health care, many look to Europe for examples of government-run health care.

7 Jul 2009

Medicare offers lessons for possible 'public plan'

As President Barack Obama and some Democratic lawmakers push for a government-run public plan, Medicare is being scrutinized.

7 Jul 2009

Co-ops offer compromise, but could take decades to develop

"A network of health insurance plans run by the customers they serve, proposed in the U.S. Congress to offset opposition to a government-run system, may take a generation to pay off, even with $10 billion in seed money," Bloomberg reports.

7 Jul 2009

Paying for health care overhaul may fall unevenly on states

"Some of the 'bluest' states that propelled Obama into the White House are among those most likely to pay more in taxes to fund expanded health insurance coverage and make other changes to the system, analysts say," The Los Angeles Times reports.

7 Jul 2009

Lobbying draws on ranks of former government officials, health industry coffers

"The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records," the Washington Post reports.

7 Jul 2009

Physician shortage could hinder health reform

The number of new primary care doctors each year has fallen nearly 50 percent since 1997, the Dallas Morning News reports, leaving a shortage that could hinder Congress's ambition to reform health care and cover millions of uninsured Americans.

7 Jul 2009

Health care ads leave Washington, follow lawmakers home during break

Roll Call reports that "several major industry stakeholders" will be "noticeably absent from the advertising airwaves over the July Fourth recess.

30 Jun 2009

Long-term care program would provide revenue - at first

A long-term care program could produce some needed dollars, at least in the short range, CQ Politics reports: "A new insurance program for long-term care that Democrats have included in a Senate health overhaul bill would produce about $58 billion in revenue for the government over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, helping to offset the cost of the legislation.

30 Jun 2009