Political dynamics, stakeholder positions clarify in the next chapter of the health debate

Just as the repeal positions of some big insurers are becoming more clear, more details on the Democrats' strategy to defend the law are emerging.    

Connecticut Mirror: Insurance Industry Says No To Repeal Of Health Care Reform, But Reticent On Details
As House Republicans make their first run at the health care reform law, Democrats say the GOP is doing the bidding of big insurance. 'Why are they engaged in this effort?' asked Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District. 'Because, quite frankly, I believe it's what the insurance companies want.' It just ain't so, comes the response from Hartford, where insurance giants such as CIGNA, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare all have major corporate offices (Shesgreen, 1/10).

MSNBC: Repeal Effort Defines GOP House Debut
Just ten months after the Democrats' reform legislation was signed into law — and before most of its major elements have been implemented — the House of Representatives has kicked off the new year and the new Congress by trying to undo what was done last year (Curry, 1/7).

Roll Call: Democrats' Hope For Unity Rests In Health Care Fight
House Democrats hope to translate their success in exploiting a series of GOP missteps in their first days of power into the foundation for a more unified front, something they have sorely lacked since taking control of the chamber in 2006 (Stanton and Hunter, 1/10).

The Boston Globe: Democrats Mount Health Plan Defense
The Obama administration has launched an all-out defense of its health care law just days before the US House is slated to vote on repeal, with US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius visiting Boston yesterday, one of many dispatched across the country to highlight benefits of the overhaul (Arsenault and Weisman, 8/10).

The Hill: Alexander: Democrats Can Block Healthcare Repeal In Senate
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) acknowledged that Democrats have the numbers in the Senate to block any attempt to repeal healthcare reform. "They've got the numbers," the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference said on CNN's "State of the Union." "If they all vote not to repeal, there won't be repeal" (Schroeder, 1/9).

Chicago Sun-Times/Pioneer Press: Lipinski Opposes Repeal Of Health-care Law
The Republican push to repeal the national health-care reform law this month won't get any support from the lone Chicago area Democrat congressman to vote against the original plan. U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Western Springs), who favors health care reform but opposed a number of specifics in the law, said he might have considered a repeal of the measure had the Republicans offered substantive specifics (Michaels, 1/8).

CQ HealthBeat: Repeal May Be Dead, But That's The Only Certainty About This Debate
Everyone seems to know exactly how this year's health care debate is going to play out — barring some surprise from the Supreme Court. ... In the end, nothing will really change about the law. There's just one problem with that analysis. The fates delight in defying the knowing predictions of mere mortals — especially when it comes to health care. It's true that a full repeal almost certainly won't move beyond the House. But the predictability of the issue may stop there (Reichard, 1/7).

MarketWatch: More Favor Health Repeal Than Oppose It: Poll
More Americans want to repeal the health-reform law that was enacted last year than those who don't, according to a new Gallup poll released Friday (Britt, 1/7).