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White House retools message as GOP opposition, public opinion push back

"[T]he White House team is retooling its message and strategy, hoping a more modest approach will reinvigorate Obama's signature domestic policy initiative and give him a first-year victory for Democrats to carry into the 2010 midterm elections," the Washington Post reports.

3 Aug 2009

Health care industry increases lobbying spending

Drug companies "boosted their lobbying in Washington during the three months (that) ended June 30 amid a flurry of congressional action on health care," while overall, "Washington's lobbying business continued to slump as the economy pinched budgets at some big companies and trade associations," The Wall Street Journal reports.

3 Aug 2009

Number of uninsured California kids may double

A new deal to balance California's budget may have serious repercussions for the health of the state's children, while South Carolina grapples with health cuts of its own. Meanwhile, New Jersey may become one of the first states to publically disclose hospital errors.

3 Aug 2009

California's struggle with insurance exchanges offers lesson for national reform

California's experience with insurance exchanges could prove a valuable lesson for the nation's flirtation with such pools for covering large numbers of people, The Wall Street Journal reports.

3 Aug 2009

Democrats hone August health care message, Republicans plan counter-offensive

Democrats are finding points they agree on in a tenuous accord for the message they want to relay to constituents during the August recess: The health insurance industry is the bad guy, The Washington Post reports.

3 Aug 2009

Divisions over future Medicare spending surface in house

"A week-old agreement among House Democrats to smooth out disparities in the way Medicare reimburses rural and urban health providers is in danger of crumbling, as disputes erupted Friday over what actually was agreed to," The Wall Street Journal reports.

3 Aug 2009

Senate Finance Committee won't vote on reform bill before recess

Just one day after it appeared negotiators were on the cusp of a deal, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus said Thursday that his committee will not vote on a health reform bill before the August recess, Politico reports.

31 Jul 2009

Blue Dogs' bargain blasted as centrists' role questioned

Kaiser Health News reports that an agreement by House Democrats with fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats has a cadre of detractors, including "state officials worried about increased Medicaid costs and liberal lawmakers upset about a proposed reduction in subsidies for low-income families to buy insurance."

31 Jul 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

August health reform forecast: high probability of hot debate, crowded airwaves

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to unite her divided caucus around a common enemy - the health insurance industry - previewing an August recess line of attack by Democrats trying to maintain momentum on health care reform," Politico reports.

31 Jul 2009

Hospitals treating wealthy foreigners to assure cash flows

International patients spending $3 billion a year on care in the United States are helping fund a gap for hospitals waiting with bated breath to see how health care reform will affect them, Marketplace reports.

31 Jul 2009

Electronic health records for the U.S. difficult to do, but could pay off

"Creating an electronic health record for every American by 2014 is a big part of Obama's agenda but it may be easier said than done," CNN Money reports.

31 Jul 2009

With falling public support, Obama's health reform strategy questioned

"The White House is facing uncomfortable questions about its strategy for selling President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul to Americans, after a series of opinion polls showed eroding support for it," a Reuters analysis says.

31 Jul 2009

Lawmakers dilemma: should tax increases pay for health care overhaul?

As lawmakers disagree over which taxes to raise to pay for health care reform, they "also face another problem: They're confronting the fear that's made it hard to raise taxes for more than 30 years.

31 Jul 2009

Industry lobby wars heighten as reform efforts progress

"Healthcare companies are spending millions of dollars and marshaling armies of lobbyists to influence a landmark debate in the U.S. Congress that could dramatically change the way they do business," Reuters 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

Health care costs for small businesses considered

"Health care costs are killing small businesses. Their insurance premiums are rising dramatically and unpredictably," NPR reports.

31 Jul 2009

High costs in McAllen prompt inquiries into physician ownership, self-referral and a major lobbying campaign

Lobbying efforts by Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, in Edinburg, Texas, have steered hundreds of thousands of dollars to key lawmakers in hopes of blocking reforms that would restrict ownership of hospitals by physicians, the Associated Press/Dallas Morning News reports in a follow up to an article in yesterday's New York Times.

31 Jul 2009

No Senate finance markup of health overhaul before recess

CongressDaily: "After a day of high emotions and partisan bickering, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus announced Thursday the panel will not mark up a bipartisan healthcare overhaul bill before August recess.

31 Jul 2009

Obama’s former doctor: Not this 'bogus plan'

Dr. David Scheiner wants to make a house call to one of the most famous houses in the world. For 22 years, he was President Obama's doctor. Now, he would like to counsel his former patient and says the President should be doing more to heal the system's ills by holding out for a single-payer approach to health reform.

30 Jul 2009