Health Care For America Now

NEWS

Key Senate Democrats trim cost of health care bill - Associated Press

Determined to advance President Barack Obama's health care agenda, key Senate Democrats are calling for a government-run insurance option to compete with private plans, as well as a $750-per-worker annual fee on larger companies that do not offer coverage to employees.

Washington Post sells access, $25,000+ - Politico

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.

A Pitch on Health Care To Virginia And Beyond - Washington Post

President Obama offered a wonkish defense of his embattled health-care reform effort during an hour-long town hall meeting in Northern Virginia yesterday that featured seven questions, including one sent via Twitter and several from a handpicked audience of supporters.

AMA president: Group open to government-funded insurance - CNN

The new president of the American Medical Association, which represents the interests of the nation’s doctors, said Wednesday the group is open to a government-funded health insurance option for people without coverage.

OPINION

Here We Go Again: How to Read Those HELP Numbers - The New Republic

Is it possible that everybody is misinterpretating the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of the Senate HELP bill…again?

Gingrich On Private Health Insurance Companies: ‘They Have It Done Well’ - Think Progress

Newt Gingrich, one of the de facto leaders of the Republican Party, gave an interview to ABC Medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson last week to discuss health care reform. Gingrich predictably went into scare-mongering mode, making arguments against measures that aren’t even part of the debate. He said the U.S. should not adopt a “single national health system” such as in Canada or the UK. “If I have to choose between my doctor and a government bureaucrat, I have zero doubt which one I want,” he said. Of course, no such choice is being offered.

"Outside DC, This Just Isn't Controversial" - Media Matters

In a poll conducted June 23-29, 2009, Quinnipiac University surveyed more than 3,000 voters across the country with the small margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points. (By comparison, a recent CNN poll surveyed just over 1,000 voters and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.)

Lieberman's 15-Year Record of Killing Health Care Reform - My Left Nutmeg

At the time, it was easy to see that Lieberman's election-year rhetoric on health care was just as mendacious on its face as his claim that "no one wants to end the war in Iraq more than I do", or his promise to help Barack Obama "reach to the stars", or his vow that he would help "elect a Democratic president in 2008″ and that it was his primary opponent who would "frustrate and defeat our hopes of doing that".

Does Medicare Pay Below "Cost?" (Wonky!) - Ezra Klein

Over at Movin' Meat, Shadowfax has a useful reply to my post on Medicare's method of payment. In particular, he makes the important point that Medicare overpays many specialists and underpays many primary care providers. Agreed. In fact, one of the important and quiet wrinkles of health reform will be how it redresses that imbalance. If you want an affordable health-care system, you can't have your largest insurer tilting the playing field toward specialty care.