Health Care For America Now

NEWS

House Leaders Trying to Give All Democrats a Say - New York Times

The Senate poses the main hurdle to President Obama’s effort to overhaul the health care system. But passing so far-reaching a bill in the House is not going to be easy either.

Carper quietly devises third option - Politico

Sen. Tom Carper bided his time on health care reform.

Caucuses counting their votes on chances for public option for healthcare - The Hill

A debate among House Democrats over whether to include a government-run health insurance option in the broader healthcare legislation now comes down to a counting exercise.

Public option remains a flash point - Philadelphia Inquirer

No one's ready to bury the public option - not the health-care activists planning yet another protest tomorrow against Cigna Corp., the national health insurer with headquarters in Philadelphia, and certainly not insurance executives who stay resolutely on message about how the plan is a "distraction" to changing health care.

Senate Egos to Do Battle - Roll Call

Newly minted Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is poised to assert himself in the health care debate and work aggressively to protect liberal reform goals, setting up a possible Senate showdown with Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and leading moderate Democrats.

PhRMA, allies broadcast Obama - Politico

The coalition of industry and liberal groups known as the Alliance for Stable Quality Care — that is, PhRMA, the American Medical Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and FamiliesUSA — have more or less dropped the pretense of being something beyond a checking account for the White House political operation.

Reid cancels October recess to focus lawmakers on healthcare - The Hill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has cancelled the Senate’s Columbus Day recess so that lawmakers can focus on passing healthcare reform legislation during the week of Oct. 12.

OPINION

Abortion and Health Care Reform - New York Times

Critics of pending health care reforms claim they want to ensure that the government does not thrust itself between patients and doctors to dictate what medical procedures can be performed. Yet many are trying to do just that when it comes to one legal and medically valid service: abortion.

Rep. Grayson and the Face of Uncompromising Reform - Change.org

If you’ve been watching C-SPAN 3, you’ve seen a Senate Finance Committee compromising away affordability, compromising away shared responsibility, compromising away the public option, even compromising the notion that we should only heavily invest in peer reviewed and evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs. But Rep. Alan Grayson’s back-to-back impassioned speeches from the House floor on health care reform gave me a reason to flip back to C-SPAN 1.

Questions on the Senate's health care procedure - Congress Matters

I'm getting a lot of email questions about the particulars of the process for the health insurance reform legislation, especially on the Senate side, from this point forward.

Socialized Medicine is Good Enough for Congress - Matt Yglesias

Formally called the Office of the Attending Physician, the clinic — and at least six satellite offices — bills its mission as one of emergency preparedness and public health. Each day, it stands ready to handle medical emergencies, biological attacks and the occasional fainting tourist visiting Capitol Hill.

What Rockefeller Understands - Jon Cohn

Over the last few weeks Jay Rockefeller has emerged as the Senate's most visible spokesman for a public insurance option. And, purely from a public relations standpoint, this is something of a mixed blessing. He comes from West Virginia and is pretty popular there, so that certainly helps bring non-coastal credibility to the cause. But Rockefeller speaks in a plodding, rambling style that doesn't always make for great television. He's also pretty stubborn, which makes him a loud advocate but not necessarily an effective one, at least given the way the U.S. Senate works.