November 27: Health Care Reform News
TOP STORIES
Dems’ Kamikaze Mission: Health Care by New Year’s
The Washington Examiner
November 27, 2009
The reason the Democratic leadership and the White House are rushing to pass the bill by New Year’s is they know it is killing them and if they pass it by year's end, perhaps voters will move on to other concerns by the November 2010 midterm elections
White House Says Health Care Bills Contain Cost-Cutting Remedies
The Washington Post
November 26, 2009
Peter Orszag told reporters the $848 billion bill pending before the Senate contains important cost-cutting tools. He added, however, that further adjustments could be made through amendments to the legislation, saying: "We're not at the end of the process."
Cost Concerns Unlikely to Sink U.S. Health Overhaul
The Washington Post
November 26, 2009
A U.S. debt that is topping $12 trillion is raising fresh questions about the cost of President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul, but those concerns are unlikely to sink the legislation.
INSURANCE
Car Insurance Scofflaws Raise Health Mandate Doubt
The Washington Post
November 27, 2009
Thousands of drivers on the nation's roads don't carry auto insurance, despite laws in all but two states requiring it. Critics of President Barack Obama's health overhaul plan ask: What are the chances scofflaws will treat a requirement to carry health insurance any differently?
WELLNESS/CHRONIC CARE
Bill Complicates Drive to Add Primary Care Docs
The Wall Street Journal
November 27, 2009
More than 30 million Americans would get health insurance under the health care overhaul that passed through the House and a similar bill moving forward in the Senate - If that does indeed happen, many previously uninsured people who haven't had a regular doctor before will need a primary-care physician. Demand would also likely increase for nurse practitioners and general surgeons.
US Diabetes Cases to Double: Costs Triple by 2034
Reuters
November 27, 2009
By 2034, nearly twice as many Americans will have diabetes and spending on the disease will triple, further straining the U.S. health system and testing the viability of Medicare and other government health insurance programs.
STATE NEWS
Insurer Aims to Alter Health Care Fee Model
The Wall Street Journal
November 27, 2009
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Inc. is expected to announce Friday a deal covering 60,000 members of the Caritas Christi Health Care system, marking one of the country's largest experiments in fundamentally changing the way doctors and hospitals are paid.
REFORM EFFORTS
Is the Senate Health Care Bill Better Off Dead?
The New York Times
November 25, 2009
There are serious flaws in this bill, but not passing it would be terrible too.
Kill the Bills: Do Health Reform Right
The Washington Post - Op-Ed
November 27, 2009
The fundamental problem with the 2,074-page Senate health-care bill is that it wildly compounds the complexity by adding hundreds of new provisions, regulations, mandates, committees and other arbitrary bureaucratic inventions.
Abortion in Health Plan Tests a Pennsylvania Senator
The New York Times
November 27, 2009
The reputation that came with Senator Bob Casey is now turning the senator into a pivotal if reluctant player in one of the most contentious debates in the health care overhaul: how to avoid using taxpayer money for abortion while extending insurance subsidies to millions of Americans.
The Washington Post
November 27, 2009
Is Congress going through the ordeal of trying to enact health care reform only to have one of the main pillars requiring individuals to obtain insurance declared unconstitutional?
Inside Washington: Stream of WH Health Care Visits
The Washington Post
November 26, 2009
President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights yesterday including George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Health Plans; Scott Serota, president and CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; Kenneth Kies, a Washington lobbyist who represents Blue Cross/Blue Shield, among other clients; Billy Tauzin, head of PhRMA, and Richard Umbdenstock, chief of the American Hospital Association.
Growing Public Backlash Over Obamacare
The Washington Examiner - Op-Ed
November 27, 2009
Two-dozen Democrats from Republican-leaning districts, who voted for the House version of President Obama's increasingly unpopular health care reform, are beginning to feel a growing public backlash.
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