Health Care For America Now

NEWS

Family Research Council Ad: Fear, Not Facts - Media Matters

One of the several emerging misleading arguments against health insurance reform is that the reform legislation will allow taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. Now, the Family Research Council has released an ad that implies that Planned Parenthood's funding of reproductive services will somehow prevent another individual from undergoing surgery.

A look at health care plans in Congress - Associated Press

A look at health care legislation taking shape in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate as President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the system, cover nearly 50 million uninsured Americans and contain rising costs. Many of the details are still being negotiated and any final health care bill would have to meld proposals from the House and Senate.

House Democrats End Impasse on Health Bill - New York Times

Efforts to pass sweeping health care legislation took a big step forward on Wednesday as House Democratic leaders reached an agreement with fiscally conservative party members that would cut the bill’s cost and exempt many small businesses from having to provide health benefits to workers.

Health deal sparks fury on the left - The Hill

A House leadership deal with Blue Dogs and an aggressive marketing push by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) shifted the healthcare debate sharply toward centrist positions Wednesday, sparking threats of rebellion from the left.

OPINION

Health Care Reform Coming Out of Senate Finance? - The Health Care Blog

And, as I have posted here before, I am concerned that in their efforts to find compromise they are headed for a health care bill that is based on a formula of cost containment “lite,” minor paring of Medicare and Medicaid provider payments, and at least $500 billion in new taxes. I don’t see much changing fiscally if that is the final result in a health care system that is already unsustainable and on the way to spending upwards of $35 trillion to $40 trillion over the next ten years as it goes to 22% of GDP by 2018.

What Does The Blue Dog Compromise On Health Care Say About The Blue Dogs? - Think Progress

After arguing that the House health care bill did not do enough to lower long term health care spending, Blue Dog Democrats hijacked the House Energy and Commerce Committee and promised to vote down the bill unless Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) heeded their concerns.

The Deal With the Blue Dogs - The New Republic

The big news on health reform is a deal that will allow the House Energy and Commerce Committee to pass legislation. As you may recall, nearly identical bills have already moved through two other House committees, Education and Labor along with Ways and Means. But it's gotten hung up in Energy and Commerce, where the Blue Dog Democrats have kicked up a fuss, protesting everything from the bill's size to the inclusion of a public insurance option.

The Public Plan You Won’t Have Access To - Matt Yglesias

Ezra Klein defends his longstanding contention that the public plan isn’t the most important aspect of the health care debate by noting that as currently envisioned in even the liberal House version of legislation the public plan is available only to people in the Exchange and most people aren’t in the Exchange.