NEWS

Obama Calls Health Plan a ‘Moral Obligation’ - New York Times

President Obama sought Wednesday to reframe the health care debate as “a core ethical and moral obligation,” imploring a coalition of religious leaders to help promote the plan to lower costs and expand insurance coverage for all Americans.

Kennedy, looking ahead, urges that Senate seat be filled quickly - Boston Globe

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts will not lack a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant.

Democrats prepare to push health care without GOP - Associated Press

Publicly, President Barack Obama is still calling for a bipartisan bill to overhaul the nation's health care system. Privately, Democrats are preparing a one-party push, which they feel is all but inevitable.

Dems recommit to bipartisan health deal - The Hill

Senate Democratic leaders and negotiators have recommitted themselves to a bipartisan healthcare deal, despite an August recess characterized by partisan sniping that prompted senior White House officials to consider a go-it-alone approach.

Senator Calls for Narrower Measure - Washington Post

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, a key Republican negotiator in the quest for bipartisan health-care reform, said Wednesday that the outpouring of anger at town hall meetings this month has fundamentally altered the nature of the debate and convinced him that lawmakers should consider drastically scaling back the scope of the effort.

Health Care Uproar Swallows Whole Foods - NPR

Whole Foods has taken pains to distance itself from founder and CEO John Mackey, but it may be too late.

House Democrats expand health insurer probe - Reuters

Top Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee are questioning dozens of health insurance companies about executive compensation and other practices.

Public Option Support Used as Fundraising Tool - Roll Call

Liberal bloggers say they have helped raise more than $160,000 in the past 24 hours for about 60 progressive House Democrats who have pledged to vote against any health care plan that does not include a public insurance option.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll—August 2009 - Kaiser Family Foundation

The August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a slim majority of Americans continues to favor moving forward on health care reform now despite an intensifying ad war and a political climate of contentious town hall meetings that coincide with rising concerns about the reform effort.

OPINION

Divide and Conquer - Jon Cohn

Well, well, well. Maybe the Democrats are ready to get tough after all.

Why The Public Health Insurance Option Is Worth Fighting For - Howard Dean

In today’s Washington Post, Steven Pearlstein argues that Democrats should just give up on the public option. “Enough already with the public option!,” he writes. Steven thinks we should drop one of the most popular and effective aspects of health care reform simply because the fight is too politically difficult in Congress. I think such an approach would ruin health care reform and devastate the Democratic party.

Insurance Company That Owns The Lewin Group Actively Opposing Reform - Media Matters

UnitedHealth Group, the insurance giant that owns the oft-cited Lewin Group, is arming its employees with anti-reform talking points.

A Town Hall Meeting 3000 Miles from Washington, DC - The Health Care Blog

Seaside, Oregon, is about as far away from Washington, DC, as you can get in the continental U.S. Not quite 3000 miles, but almost (2860 to be exact). And it seemed very far away from the sound and fury of the health care debate in the nation’s capital when I attended a Town Hall meeting last Friday. Sen. Ron Wyden was the speaker at the event, which was attended by over 400 people crowded into the Seaside High School cafeteria.

Dose of Truth: Five Facts About Health Care Reform - Huffington Post

My favorite outrageous lie about health care reform is the "gay conspiracy". According to a group called "The Pray In Jesus Name Project," which sent out a lengthy fundraising mailer on the subject, health care reform will not only put our elderly out to float on icebergs but adorn those icebergs with men in leather chaps and feather boas. Sounds like those death panels will be fabulous!

I'm for the Obama Health Plan, Are Anonymous White House Staffers? - Mike Lux

Barack Obama put together the outlines of a really solid health insurance reform plan in his 2008 campaign, and sent a similar package of ideas to Congress earlier this year. While not everything I would have wanted, I have strongly supported him in getting those basic ideas passed, as have three House committees and one Senate committee, and the overwhelming number of Democratic activists and voters. He has said he would remain flexible about specifics, but that to him, health care reform needed to achieve certain goals, including dramatically expanded coverage of the uninsured, serious cost containment, and providing enough choice and competition to keep health insurers honest. I agree 100%.