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Obama pushes reconciliation, action on health care overhaul

In his White House speech Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama outlined his updated health overhaul plan and endorsed a legislative maneuver meant to move the congressional efforts on health care reform forward.

4 Mar 2010

Obama to include GOP ideas in health proposal today

With President Barack Obama's release today of his latest health reform plan, he hopes to propel the dialogue forward as he also signals willingness to incorporate GOP ideas into his proposal.

4 Mar 2010

Some Democrats cautious as leaders line up health votes - GOP slams Dem approach

In addition to GOP resistance, the Democratic party faces internal opposition to some aspects of health reform legislation.

2 Mar 2010

Pelosi 'confident' on health overhaul vote through reconciliation process

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "confident" she will be able to get the votes needed to pass health care reform, "even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party," The New York Times reports.

2 Mar 2010

Republicans press campaign against reconciliation; Mccain seek to strip Medicare out of health bill

Republicans and Democrat hit the Sunday talk shows today to debate whether a complex congressional process called 'reconciliation' should be used to consider a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system. Reconciliation is normally used for 'taxing and spending and reducing deficits,' said Sen.

28 Feb 2010

House votes to extend COBRA benefits for a month, Bunning stalls Senate action

After the House passed a month-long extension of COBRA and other benefits for laid-off workers, the Senate Thursday did not follow suit, "jeopardizing unemployment benefits scheduled to expire over the weekend," The Associated Press reports.

26 Feb 2010

WellPoint executive defends premium increases at congressional hearing

In a congressional hearing Wednesday, an insurance company executive justified proposed premium increases and warned "that pending legislation" could make the problem of high medical costs worse. "The executive, Angela F. Braly, president of WellPoint, made the comments in testimony prepared for a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee," The New York Times reports.

25 Feb 2010

GOP, expecting little from summit, strategizes on policy alternatives; Democrats look for spark

GOP leaders Tuesday decided not to offer a "single comprehensive proposal" at Thursday's health summit and have voiced little hope regarding the meeting's outcome, but they are still planning to attend, The New York Times reports.

25 Feb 2010

Insurance execs defend rate hikes before Congress

Lawmakers said Anthem Blue Cross, the California insurer that proposed raising premium rates for some individual policyholders by as much as 39 percent, sought to boost profits at the expense of its insured, the Los Angeles Times reports. During a congressional hearing Wednesday, "Democrats said internal documents from [Anthem's parent firm] WellPoint Inc. showed that proposed rate increases of as much as 39% for California customers who buy individual policies would 'return California to a profit of 7%.'"

25 Feb 2010

Obama's health plan to target insurers' rates

President Obama will propose a regulatory crack down on insurers' rate hikes this morning, as the administration seeks to set the stage for a week-long push to reinvigorate the health care debate, The New York Times reports.

22 Feb 2010

Obama plans to offer own health bill before summit as parties stake claims

President Obama will offer "comprehensive" health reform legislation in advance of next week's planned summit with Republicans, The New York Times reports. "Democratic officials said the president's proposal was being written so that it could be attached to a budget bill as a way of averting a Republican filibuster in the Senate. The procedure, known as budget reconciliation, would let Democrats advance the bill with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote supermajority."

20 Feb 2010

Recession swells Medicaid rolls, shrivels treasuries

Nearly every state is considering or already making cuts to its Medicaid program as the recession swells rolls for the state-run health insurance program for the poor, The New York Times reports. Because of requirements for getting stimulus money to support programs, the states are not allowed to curb enrollment, and are instead cutting optional benefits and reimbursement rates. Lower rates could drive more physicians and other providers away from the program, which already pays very low fees.

19 Feb 2010

Health reform pressure points: Excise tax, individual mandate, antitrust legislation

"An agreement to tax high-cost, employer-sponsored health insurance plans, announced with fanfare by the White House and labor unions last month, is losing support from labor leaders, who say the proposal is too high a price to pay for the limited health care package they expect to emerge from Congress," The New York Times reports.

16 Feb 2010

GOP wary of talks while both sides express low expectations for health care summit

News outlets are focusing on political reaction to President Obama's Feb. 25 bipartisan summit on health care reform.

9 Feb 2010

Obama tries to bridge Democratic divide on health reform

Speaking with Senate Democrats Wednesday, President Obama "suggested that Republicans could be enlisted to play at least some role in negotiating a final bill, The Washington Post reports.

4 Feb 2010

New mental health coverage rules promise to end some discrimination

Reuters: Employer-provided group health plans must offer the same level of coverage for mental illness and drug abuse treatment as for other ailments, according to federal regulations issued on Friday.

31 Jan 2010

Pelosi, Reid search for health reform's forward path

Legislative leaders in search of momentum on health reform "conceded that they did not have an immediate strategy for advancing a health care measure and described their time frame as open-ended," The New York Times reports.

30 Jan 2010

Obama appeals for health reform despite recent setbacks

The New York Times reports that "after spending 2009 emphasizing that a health care overhaul was his top domestic priority, Mr. Obama gave it much less prominence in his [State of the Union] address. He did not mention it until more than half an hour in — a sign of how imperiled the bill has become."

29 Jan 2010

Democrats shun health reform deadlines as they await state of the union

Democrats Tuesday backed away from setting or adhering to a health overhaul timeline "saying they no longer felt pressure to move quickly on a health bill after eight months of setting deadlines and missing them," The New York Times reports.

27 Jan 2010

Democratic leaders still pondering reconciliation pros and cons for health bill

Congressional Democrats are facing a critical decision about whether to use the procedural maneuver known as budget reconciliation to pass a health care reform bill, The New York Times reports.

27 Jan 2010