First Edition: November 18, 2009

One theme is clear in today's headlines about the Senate Health Bill: We're Still Waiting...  

Health Overhaul Sparks Debate On Future Of Children's Health Program Mary Agnes Carey writes about what might become of the Children's Health Insurance Program. One of it's staunchest backers, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D- W.Va., isn't ready to see it swallowed up by a new health insurance marketplace designed by Congress (Kaiser Health News).

Doctors Fear Reform Angst Is Tainting Medicare Pay 'Fix' Dr. Nancy Nielsen, the immediate past president of the American Medical Association, urged lawmakers Tuesday to permanently eliminate the looming cuts to Medicare's physician payments - something her organization has demanded for years (Kaiser Health News).

How To Pass A Health Bill Fast "Ping-pong" might be too difficult. Reconciliation, too partisan. But as Democrats look for a way to speed up the health reform debate, a mini-conference modeled after the stimulus bill negotiations might be what works (Politico).

Senate Healthcare Reform Bill: What's Taking So Long? More than a week after the House passed its healthcare reform bill, members of the US Senate still have yet even to see their final bill (The Christian Science Monitor).

Reid 'Optimistic' About Getting 60 Votes On Health Bill Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid scrambled Tuesday to lock down votes behind a health-care bill that he may present as early as Wednesday (The Washington Post).

3 Democrats Could Block Health Bill In Senate Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, says he is not sure he is ready to help a Democratic health care proposal clear even the most preliminary hurdle: gaining the 60 votes his party's leaders need to open debate on the measure later this week (The New York Times).

Health Timetable Slipping Senate action on healthcare reform before Thanksgiving is in serious jeopardy as the upper chamber still doesn't have a final version of the bill (The Hill).

Coverage Mandate Under Fire
Conservatives have opened a new front in the health-care debate with the assertion that under the Democrats' plan, people who refuse to buy health insurance could spend five years in prison (The Wall Street Journal).

Long-Term Care Plan To Be In Bill
The Senate's sweeping health bill is expected to call for a new long-term-care insurance program as Democrats move closer to unveiling the legislation (The Wall Street Journal).

AP Sources: Senate Weighs Long-Term Care Program Senate health care legislation expected this week is likely to include a new long-term care insurance program to help the elderly and the disabled avoid going into nursing homes, Democratic officials say (The Associated Press).

Abortion Causes Family Feud For Dems House passage of a sweeping anti-abortion amendment has set off a wave of soul-searching and finger-pointing among abortion rights activists — many of whom thought they'd found a safe harbor when Democrats won the White House and big majorities in Congress last year (Politico).

Mammography Outcry Points To Trouble For Healthcare Reform A core tenet of the healthcare overhaul President Obama is pushing through Congress is that medical care can be improved -- and costs contained -- if the country relies more on experts to determine which procedures and treatments work best. But Monday's mammography report by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force delivered a swift and stark reminder that few ideas are more explosive in healthcare (Los Angeles Times).

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