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Confusion reigns about public option, health cooperatives

Reports that President Obama could accept a reform plan without a government-run public option have triggered a barrage of comments from administration officials and congressional leaders insisting that the public option remains on the table, as well as discussion of how health insurance cooperatives would work.

19 Aug 2009

Delay in appointing Medicare Chief baffles lawmakers

To the puzzlement of Congress and health care experts around the country, Mr. Obama has not named anyone to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services," The New York Times reports.

19 Aug 2009

Sorting out the truth in the health care debate

The New York Times reports in a "primer on the details of health reform" that Republican criticism of a government-run insurance plan to compete with private health insurance as "socialized medicine" "seems overblown," it reports. "The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, under the House bill, the number of people with employer-sponsored insurance would climb to 162 million in 2016, which is 3 million more than expected under current law. Further, it said, enrollment in the proposed public plan might total 11 million, far lower than estimates cited by Republicans."

11 Aug 2009

Governors nervous about proposed Medicaid expansion

Governors from both parties are concerned that health reform will leave them with expensive new Medicaid obligations.

7 Aug 2009

Senators move closer to centrist health reform bill

Lawmakers working on a bipartisan health care reform bill in the Senate Wednesday signed on some centrist Democrats who believe they could support the reform and sell it to constituents back home over the recess, The New York Times reports.

6 Aug 2009

Obama administration takes on opposition attacks, rallies Senate Democrats

President Obama and his Administration launched "a coordinated effort Tuesday to combat what it calls a 'viral whisper campaign' against health reform, Politico reports.

5 Aug 2009

House energy and commerce Democrats vote for public plan, Republicans balk

"The House Energy and Commerce Committee resumed work Thursday on major health care legislation, voting to establish a government-run health insurance plan, as top Republicans stepped up their criticism of the ambitious legislation," The New York Times reports.

31 Jul 2009

Abortion, end-of-life care fire up health debate, blogosphere

As the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up the health reform bill last night, "a series of amendments on both sides of the abortion debate [added] a political charge -- and a distraction -- to the progress of the legislation," Politico reports (Smith, 7/30).

31 Jul 2009

House Democrats set to move bill after accord with Blue Dogs, Liberals objecting

House Democrats on Wednesday made a deal with fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats on a health reform bill that "would reduce the overall cost of the package and ensure more funding for rural hospitals, concessions that could allow the Energy and Commerce Committee to finish its consideration of the legislation," The Washington Post reports.

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

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

Blue Dogs: We have agreement with House Dems on health bill

Work on the House health care reform bill is slowing as Rep. Henry Waxman of California and fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats have come to an agreement on Medicare payments, The New York Times reports.

22 Jul 2009

Obama readies stronger hand on health reform, plans meetings with players

The next two weeks of a health reform fight may prove pivotal for President Barack Obama's image and his ability to use his popularity to get things done, The Washington Post reports.

20 Jul 2009

Governors question Medicaid expansion while some states do more with CHIP

The New York Times reports that "The nation's governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern Sunday about the shape of the health care plan emerging from Congress, fearing that Washington was about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them.

20 Jul 2009

With pressure building, Baucus, Reid weigh in on timeline

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Thursday that it is possible his committee could have a bipartisan deal by the end of the day, Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports (Yoest, 7/16).

16 Jul 2009

Senate panel advances health-care overhaul, but battle lines sharpen

"President Obama's ambitious drive to overhaul the nation's $2.3 trillion health-care system cleared a key Senate committee yesterday. But the administration was promptly buffeted by criticism from some of the industry players and moderate Democrats it has courted for months, calling into question the prospects for a bipartisan landmark bill," The Washington Post reports.

16 Jul 2009

House Democrats' health bill would tax rich to finance insurance expansion

House Democratic leaders Tuesday unveiled their bill to reform America's health care system - and insure an additional 37 million Americans over the next 10 years - to the tune of more than $1 trillion, funded mostly through an up-to-5.4 percent surtax on income for the wealthiest Americans, The Washington Post reports.

15 Jul 2009

Obama urges lawmakers to move quickly on health bills

"After a weeklong overseas trip that pushed him to the fringes of Washington's health care debate, Mr. Obama moved aggressively to reclaim control," the New York Times reports.

15 Jul 2009

Finance Committee Senators: Reform bill trimmed to less than $1 trillion

Some senators on the Finance Committee said Thursday they've moved closer to cutting their health reform bill's cost to under $1 trillion.

29 Jun 2009

Obama, health insurers clash on public plan

"President Obama made a detailed case on Tuesday for a new government-administered health insurance plan, but he did not rule out signing a bill that lacks such an option if he cannot win enough support from Democrats in Congress," The New York Times reports.

25 Jun 2009