Health Care For America Now

NEWS

House expected to vote on health bill Saturday - Washington Post

House leaders put in motion the machinery to hold a rare Saturday vote on the most far-reaching expansion of the health-care system in more than 40 years.

Budget analysts say GOP bill would do little to expand health insurance coverage - Washington Post

The long-awaited Republican entry in the health care debate received its assessment late Wednesday from congressional budget analysts, who concluded that the proposal would barely dent the ranks of the uninsured.

Dems want to seize historic moment - Politico

Health care is big for House Democrats: big like Social Security in the ’30s and civil rights in the ’60s, big like the war stories retold now in party caucuses as lawmakers grapple with the floor vote that is just days away.

AP sources: Dem Health bill to get AARP backing - Washington Post

In a coup for House Democrats, AARP will endorse sweeping health care overhaul legislation headed for a history-making floor vote, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Michele Bachmann to protesters: 'Scare' Congress - Politico

In a conference call Wednesday night with bloggers and activists for the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called on protesters to “scare” members of Congress into killing the proposed health care reform bill.

60 Plus Ad Uses The Greatest Generation's Achievements To Scare People Into Opposing Reform - Media Matters

The right-wing seniors' group 60 Plus has put together a new ad opposing health care reform.  Instead of providing seniors with the correct information that health care reform will benefit them and their families, 60 Plus chose to use scare tactics to inspire America's seniors to fight progressive health care reform.

OPINION

Countdown to Health Care: Crossing the Finish Line on the Public Option - Rep. Anthony Weiner

In just a few short weeks, the public option has moved from afterthought to center stage. This happened because the American people made their voices heard and overwhelmed the insurance companies and special interests.

Unhealthy America - Nicholas Kristof

The moment of truth for health care is at hand, and the distortion that perhaps gets the most traction is this:

GOP Plan: Even Worse Than You Are Hearing - Jon Cohn

From the moment the the Republican leadership released its alternative approach to health care reform, critics (including me) pointed out that it was unlikely to make a dent in the number of people without insurance. On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office came out with its preliminary estimates of what the bill will do. And, sure enough, the critics were right. Overall, ten years into implementation, the plan would not significantly change the number of people with health insurance. In all, 17 percent of the legal, non-elderly pouplation–or about 52 million children and working-age people–would still have no coverage.

Congressional Budget Office Thrashes Republican Health-Care Plan - Ezra Klein

Republicans are learning an unpleasant lesson this morning: The only thing worse than having no health-care reform plan is releasing a bad one, getting thrashed by CBO and making the House Democrats look good in comparison.