health care reform

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6 Steps to Reform Health Care Now: Kennedy

Senator lists needed steps for system overhaul

(Newser) - This is the year to end an “American tragedy” and overhaul health care, Sen. Ted Kennedy writes in Politico. The Census Bureau said last year that 46 million Americans had no health insurance--and the economic crisis has added another 4 million to the ranks of the uninsured. It’s...

Congress OKs Budget Plan, Advances Health Reform

(Newser) - President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health care system got a big boost today as the Senate followed the lead of the House and approved a $3.4 trillion budget plan, the Washington Post reports. The approval sets the stage for lawmakers to hammer out legislation over the summer...

Doctor Shortage Could Hurt Obama Health Care Plans

More primary care physicians are needed to serve aging population, uninsured

(Newser) - President Obama's ambitious plants to expand health care for millions of currently uninsured Americans while simultaneously meeting the needs of aging boomers, may be stymied not only by politics-as-usual but a shortage of primary care physicians, the New York Times reports. Officials are weighing several options, including increasing Medicare payments...

Dems Fast-Track Health Care Overhaul

Filibuster-proof tactic likely to enrage GOP

(Newser) - Democratic leaders in Congress have agreed to adopt a filibuster-proof tactic to get President Obama's health care bill passed before the year is out, reports the New York Times. The tactic—known as "budget reconciliation"—will let the bill pass the Senate with a simple majority instead of...

Liberals to Obama: Don't Sell Us Out on Health Care

President considering compromise on key public insurance measure

(Newser) - Progressive groups are worried that President Obama is going to go wobbly on them on health care. The Washington Post reports that the president has signaled he's open to compromise on the inclusion of a public insurance plan. Key conservatives like Sen. Charles Grassley hate the idea of a public...

GOP Lacks Focus, Leaders on Health Care
 GOP Lacks Focus, Leaders 
 on Health Care 


analysis
Apr 20, 2009 1:02 PM CDT

GOP Lacks Focus, Leaders on Health Care

Dems' organization on issue towers over Republicans'

(Newser) - While Democrats build up serious steam on health-care reform, the GOP has been left behind, with no firm message, no plan, little funding, and no clear leaders on the issue, writes Carrie Budoff Brown for Politico. Republicans fear the lag could make opposition to President Obama’s plans difficult. “...

Congress Will Likely Pass Up Climate Change for Health Care

Dems think health bill is easier to pass

(Newser) - Congress returns from recess today with both health care and climate change on its plate, and it’s looking increasingly likely that it will favor the former, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Health-care reform should be first among equals,” says one rep. Though he also expects to “...

Senate Odd Couple Crafts Health Care Compromise
Senate Odd Couple Crafts  Health Care Compromise
Analysis
Apr 10, 2009 9:49 AM CDT

Senate Odd Couple Crafts Health Care Compromise

(Newser) - One is a 59-year-old liberal who used to advocate for senior citizens. The other is a 75-year-old conservative businessman. But together senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Robert Bennett of Utah may have crafted a bipartisan health plan with legs, writes Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal. Their Healthy...

Frenetic White House Braces for Congress' Roadblocks

Long-term push for big items will go with day-to-day small initiatives

(Newser) - They knew it would happen: Despite impressive speed out of the blocks, the Obama administration now faces the inevitable slowdown to a typical congressional crawl, as its agenda meets resistance from members of both parties. Energy and global warming plans are likely to be the toughest sell, Mike Allen writes...

Many Medicare Patients Leave Hospital, Then Quickly Return

Readmissions cost US billions a year

(Newser) - One-third of all Medicare patients hospitalized each year are readmitted within 90 days of being discharged, costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually, a new study found. Meanwhile, half of patients who went back in the first month after treatment had not seen a doctor in the interim. "Given the...

Docs Foresee Trouble With Digitizing Records

For electronic records, money is there but technology isn't

(Newser) - The administration's push to digitize health records is raising red flags with an important constituency: doctors. "We have a long way to go," said the lead author of a report out today that shows only 9% of hospitals have computerized records. His article is part of a...

Insurers Offer to Stop Charging Sick People More

(Newser) - The push for health care reform got a significant boost today: Big insurers say they are willing to stop charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions, the New York Times reports. In the surprise move, industry leaders say they are willing to give up the practice if Congress...

Don't Use Budget Process for Big Reform: GOP to Obama

Procedure would allow Democrats to pass agenda with 51 votes

(Newser) - To circumvent a likely 60-vote minimum in the Senate for big-ticket bills like health reform, President Obama is considering pursuing proposals through a budgetary tactic known as reconciliation, where just 51 votes are needed and no filibustering is allowed. But Republicans are having none of it, Politico reports. Senate Republican...

Health Care Debate Turns Nastier
 Health Care 
 Debate Turns 
 Nastier 
ANALYSIS
Mar 21, 2009 12:45 PM CDT

Health Care Debate Turns Nastier

(Newser) - The claws have come out in the Capitol Hill debate on whether the government should create a public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, Politico reports. One of the first tangible signs begins today with an advocacy group's TV ad campaign against Sen. Charles Grassley in his home state...

It's Now or Never for Health Care Reform: Grassley

Election politics will only make reform more difficult, Grassley says

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s promised health care reform must happen this year—or it won't happen at all in the next four years, says a key GOP senator. Charles Grassley—he'll play a major role in any new legislation as the ranking Republican on the finance panel—warns that election politics...

Nine Senators Hold Key to Health Reform

Baucus leads 'Board of Directors' in tough bipartisan negotiations

(Newser) - If Barack Obama succeeds in overhauling America's health care system by the end of 2009, he'll have to thank a bipartisan group of nine senators charged with developing a bill that can muster 60 votes. The "Board of Directors"—named by Max Baucus, Obama's go-to figure for health...

Prez Won't Fight Tax on Health Benefits

Plan echoes McCain proposal slammed by campaigning Obama

(Newser) - Despite attacking John McCain for the idea on the campaign trail, President Obama will not oppose taxing some worker health benefits to fund health care reform, reports the New York Times reports. On the stump, Obama called a similar plan “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” While...

Report: US Gets Less Health for More $$$

Other nations in better health despite spending less

(Newser) - If the global economy were a 100-yard dash, the US would start 23 yards behind its competitors because its health care costs too much—about $2.4 trillion a year—and delivers too little, says a report out today. The authors and leading CEOs say the US funnels away resources...

Obama's Digital Records Plan No Panacea
Obama's Digital Records Plan
No Panacea
OPINION
Mar 12, 2009 9:13 AM CDT

Obama's Digital Records Plan No Panacea

President's $80B savings claim based on data-free study

(Newser) - When President Obama said last week switching the nation’s medical records to electronic data would save some $80 billion a year, Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband thought the same thing: How? It turns out the president’s claims are based on a 2005 RAND Corporation study, funded by interested...

Howard Dean: Dems Must Not Cave on Health Care

(Newser) - Howard Dean didn't get the health cabinet post he wanted, and doesn't want the job that's open—surgeon general—but is pushing President Obama's health-care plan just the same, the Washington Times reports. "Democrats can’t cave," says the former doc. Obama’s plan is "perfect,"...

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