There were few surprises this morning from President Obama, who was in Strongsville, Ohio, to promote the health reform proposals the Democrats hope to move through the House this week. The president pointed out that (1) health costs, both public and private, are on an unsustainable More…
Among the myriad criticisms that opponents of the Democrats’ health reform bills have leveled at the legislation, perhaps none resonates as strongly as the emotionally charged claims about how the proposals approach abortion coverage. For almost 35 years, federal law has prohibited the federal funding of abortions, and the More…
With black lung disease on the rise in Appalachia, West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd (D) last year took action. As Democratic leaders were piecing together their sweeping health reform proposal, the nine-term Byrd attached language that would expand black lung benefits for coal miners and their families.
It More…
Just hours after Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced that he’d whip “aggressively” for the public option if the House includes it in its reconciliation bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) killed the idea. The Washington Post quotes Pelosi saying today that the public option won’t be a part of More…
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) caused quite a stir this week when he suggested that he’d urge liberal Democrats to vote against any amendments to the health care reform bill sent over from the House — even provisions like the public option that a vast majority of More…
Less than a week after a high-profile, bipartisan health reform summit in Washington, President Obama has said he’s open to adopting four major provisions preferred by the Republicans, The Associated Press reports. The concessions include:
1) An additional emphasis on pilot programs designed to rein in More…
As a dramatic feature, yesterday’s high-profile health care summit in Washington was a flop.
That is, for all the breathtaking headlines inspired by the partisan showdown, there was exactly zero character development. Republicans went into the building both opposed to the Democrats’ comprehensive reform plans and calling for a do-over — More…
The health care summit now underway in Washington is being packaged by both sides as a serious debate over the most pressing problems facing the nation’s dysfunctional health delivery system.
It’s hardly the case.
Republicans have entered the building dead-set in opposition to the Democrats’ reform plans, and it doesn’t More…
Senator Harry Reid’s office says that if a final decision is made to pass health reform via reconciliation, the Majority Leader would support holding a reconciliation vote on the public option.
The actual statement from Reid’s office, though, is an odd one:
Remember back in 2003 when the insurance industry said that the creation of the Medicare Advantage program — which allows Medicare patients to receive their health coverage through private plans — would save both the government and patients money?
Scratch that.
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