Health Care For America Now

NEWS

U.S. senators hope to have health bills by June - Reuters

The chairmen of two Senate committees drafting legislation to overhaul healthcare told President Barack Obama on Monday they were working together to have bills ready by early June.

Senators Set Timetable for Health Care Bills - NYTimes

The chairmen of two Senate committees told President Obama today that by early June they would finish writing legislation on health care to “provide coverage to all Americans.”

Divided committee to vote on health secretary - AP

President Barack Obama's health secretary nominee faces a vote in a divided Senate committee after revelations about her ties to a late-term abortion doctor turned some Republicans against her.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, was expected to win approval Tuesday from the Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee, the final step before action by the full Senate. A Senate floor vote could come within days.

WellPoint Makes Three Million Calls In Health-Reform Survey - Wall Street Journal

How would you respond if a computer called you and asked the following question?

“Would you be willing to get involved to make your voice heard so that we can improve our nation’s health care system?”

If the computer was calling you on behalf of WellPoint, the big insurer that runs Blue Cross and Blue Shield programs in 14 states, would your answer be any different?

OPINION

Where Government Spending Should be Trimmed — And Why It's Necessary to Fast-Track Universal Health Care - Robert Reich

Obama should fast-track health care and stop trying to court Republicans. Every House Republican and all but three Senate Republicans voted against the stimulus; all Republicans in both houses voted against the budget. During the recess they hosted "tea parties" claiming that Americans are over-taxed. Over the weekend, House minority leader John Boehner called the idea of carbon-induced climate change "almost comical." Republicans are already off and running toward the midterm elections of 2010, even starting to run ads against House Democrats in close districts.

Baucus and Kennedy Set the Pace - Ezra Klein

In a letter to Obama today, Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Ted Kennedy, chair of the health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, not only outlined a timeframe for health reform but also put forward a strategy for overcoming the turf warfare of years past.

Republicans: We're Clueless on Health Care - The New Republic

So far, 2009 is shaping up rather differently. And that's good news for reformers. President Obama and key congressional leaders are working hand in hand, as they have been for months, on what is– in the broad sense–a commonly shared vision for health reform. Liberal interest groups are on board, too. Led by groups like Health Care for America Now, they have money, a ground presence, plus a coordinated strategy that dovetails perfeclty with what's happening in Washington.