Health Care For America Now

NEWS

Insurers Tally Up Baucus Bill Provisions - Wall Street Journal

The health-system overhaul proposed by Sen. Max Baucus would create millions of new insurance customers without subjecting health insurers to government-run competition — two key victories for the much-maligned industry.

Sen. Rockefeller seeks to extend health bill's protections - USA Today

More than 70 million people who work at large companies would not get health insurance protections sought by President Obama under a closely watched Senate health care bill, a Democratic lawmaker involved in the debate says.

Baucus health bill would let private group write rules - LA Times

The National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners is made up of state officials, but it's not subject to public rules, and members are often cozy with the industry.

Reid the Quarterback May Call on Obama to Referee - New York Times

As the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, takes on the delicate task of melding two competing versions of major health care legislation, aides say he will lean heavily on President Obama to arbitrate a number of contentious issues that still threaten to divide liberal and centrist Democrats and derail a final bill.

Revolving Door Spins Ex-Hill Aides Into Lobbyists (Update1) - Bloomberg

The army of industry lobbyists in the health-care battle is fighting on familiar terrain: More than half of them used to work for the government they’re trying to influence.

Public option debate continues to divide Democrats on healthcare - The Hill

The most controversial component of healthcare reform promises to vex Democrats the rest of the year.

OPINION

Medicare Scare-Mongering - New York Times

It has been frustrating to watch Republican leaders posture as the vigilant protectors of Medicare against health care reforms designed to make the system better and more equitable. This is the same party that in the past tried to pare back Medicare and has repeatedly denounced the kind of single-payer system that is at the heart of Medicare and its popularity.

Uninsured 22-Year-Old Boehner Constituent Dies From Swine Flu - Think Progress

A 22-year-old woman from Oxford, Ohio, died from swine flu on Wednesday. Kimberly Young graduated from Miami University in December and continued to live in Oxford, Ohio, within Minority Leader John Boehner’s congressional distrct. Reports now indicate that after initially getting sick, Young put off treatment because she was uninsured.

Health costs per employee will be $28,530 in 2019 - Health Populi

Today the cost of health for each health-insured employee in the U.S. is $10,743. In 10 years, the cost will nearly triple to $28,530, if the status quo continues.

Could Snowe Vote "No" in Committee? - Jon Cohn

Senator Kent Conrad's smack-down of Senator Jim Bunning provided one of the few entertaining episodes in this week's Finance Committee hearings. But another moment during the same debate, one involving Senator Olympia Snowe, deserves some attention, as well.

CBO Estimates for the Gazillionth Time that Public Option Saves Money - Change.org

You don't hear as much these days about how giving people the choice of enrolling in a government-administered insurance plan based on Medicare as one of many options in the Exchange marketplace will cause the end of private insurance as we know it (the Congressional Budget Office score predicting only 10-15 million people would enroll in a public option certainly put the damper on that myth). But you do hear all the time from Republicans and so-called moderate Democrats that "we can't afford a public option." They're playing on the confusion that "the public option" is the entirety of health reform, which it certainly is not. In fact, the public option is a net cost-saver. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed for the umpteenth time today that having it as part of health reform saves money for all of us.

The Final Battlegrounds For The Public Option - Think Progress

Today, the Senate Finance Committee will consider replacing the health bill’s network of cooperatives with a strong robust public health insurance option. As. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) explained yesterday, “tomorrow is the opening day in our big fight, but it is going to be a fight that goes down all the way to the wire. And I’d like to make a prediction. The health care bill that is signed into law by the President will have a good, strong, robust public option.”