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Campaign for Disability Employment launched

Last evening at the U.S. Business Leadership Network's (USBLN) Annual Conference and National Career Fair, several leading disability organizations launched the Campaign for Disability Employment, a new collaborative effort to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities.

19 Sep 2009

First edition: September 18, 2009

Today's coverage shows that all sides of the health overhaul debate are breaking down the specifics of the Baucus reform bill and developing their strategies and plans for next steps.

18 Sep 2009

Summa Health System responds to healthcare reform

As the health insurance reform debate continues in Washington, D.C. and around the country, Summa Health System provides the following response to the latest developments in the debate and the potential impact on Summa. As a system, Summa continues to inform the debate by sharing its perspective on various policy changes and urges adoption of policies that would impact its patients' health in a positive way, including efforts to expand affordable health insurance to those without coverage.

18 Sep 2009

Obama to student audience: Health reform is 'defining struggle of this generation'

"Calling health insurance reform a 'defining struggle of this generation,' President Barack Obama told thousands of college students Thursday that Congress must resist scare tactics and false accusations to do a makeover."

18 Sep 2009

TOWN HALL Los Angeles hosts panel discussion on H1N1 outbreak preparedness

"Hand Washing, Not Hand-Wringing: Preparing for H1N1" is the subject of a panel discussion hosted by TOWN HALL Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in downtown Los Angeles.

17 Sep 2009

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

Health care is a complicated and deeply personal issue; it takes time and effort to get reform right. Legislating every piece of this puzzle would be impossible and counterproductive.

17 Sep 2009

Poll finds concerns about health care reform's effect on the economy

A new poll finds President Barack Obama's job-approval rating and favorability remain high - 56 and 61 percent, respectively - despite deep divides over his health care proposal and handling of the economy, Bloomberg reports.

17 Sep 2009

Doctor shortage and malpractice insurance pose challenges to reform

The Associated Press reports: "Due to increasing medical demands from aging baby boomers, the U.S. faces a dangerous shortage of primary-care doctors whether sweeping overhaul is passed or not."

17 Sep 2009

Baucus unveils much-anticipated Senate Finance version of health overhaul legislation

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus unveiled his version of a health overhaul bill, which has no public option and requires most people to have health insurance coverage.

16 Sep 2009

Winner of LA's Best Award 2009

Los Angeles dentist, Dr. Sam Muslin, DDS, MAGD, has been awarded LA's Best Award (tm) 2009 for his leading edge, high quality dentistry.

16 Sep 2009

President Obama urges labor support for health overhaul

The Washington Post reports that President Obama "urged the nation's largest labor federation... to get behind his proposal to overhaul the U.S. health-care system, saying that reform would help revive an economy that is still struggling with high unemployment."

16 Sep 2009

New poll suggests Americans believe health reform could make problems worse

USA Today reports that a new polls suggests some Americans believe President Obama's efforts to overhaul the health care system could actually make the system's problems worse.

16 Sep 2009

House Democrats hold 'friendly' heartings in an effort to refocus health bill debate

House Democrats tried Tuesday to reframe the debate over health care legislation. Meanwhile, a key House committee chairman says that some of the president's proposals from last week's health care speech are complicating efforts to finalize House legislation.

16 Sep 2009

Insurers fail to keep up with speech technology, deny funding for devices that multi-task

Insurance companies push speech-impaired patients, like one New York woman with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, to buy expensive computers featuring text-to-speech software by refusing to pay for alternative devices, the New York Times reports. Furthermore, they insist on blocking all other capabilities of the proprietary machines they do cover.

16 Sep 2009

First edition: September 15, 2009

Today's headlines zero in on the soon-to-be unveiled Baucus health bill. Reports indicate it likely will address many GOP concerns but also raising new issues for some Democrats.

15 Sep 2009

Moderates against government-run 'public option'

Moderates from both parties backed away from a government-run public health insurance option Sunday, as they appeared on various Sunday talk shows.

14 Sep 2009

On '60 Minutes,' Obama says he is responsible for health legislation: 'I own it'

President Barack Obama Sunday night in an appearance on CBS' 60 Minutes said that some Republicans just want to "kill" health care reform and that he'll "own" the bill when it passes.

14 Sep 2009

Baucus plans last attempt at bipartisan bill, Dems acknowledge moderates' key role

This week is crucial for Sen. Max Baucus, who is trying to win bipartisan support from his Senate Finance Committee negotiators. If not, he is likely to join a Democrat-only effort to reform the health care system.

14 Sep 2009

Republicans: Malpractice reform demonstration projects insufficient

The Associated Press: "In his Wednesday speech and again in (a CBS "60 Minutes" interview), the president signaled he was open to so-called tort reform. Under current practice, doctors and hospitals must pay huge amounts to insure themselves against malpractice lawsuits by patients seeking large court-ordered settlements for poor treatment. … 'I would be willing to ... consider any ideas out there that would actually work in terms of reducing costs, improving the quality of patient care,' Obama said in the Sunday interview, which was taped Friday" (Hurst, 9/14).

14 Sep 2009

Much of the focus now turns to the conservative Blue Dog Democrats

In his address to Congress on health care last week, President Obama attempted to reassure Blue Dog Democrats, such as Georgia Reps. Jim Marshall and Sanford Bishop, that the plan would not be too expensive or intrusive for their conservative constituencies, the Columbus, Ga., Ledger-Enquirer reports.

14 Sep 2009