Top stories
Budget Hawks Have a Buffet of Options With Health Bill
The New York Times
Nov. 25, 2009
Senators who say they’re serious about reducing health care costs have plenty of opportunities in the current bills to fulfill their goals.
For Public, Affordability A Key Issue In Health Bill
Kaiser Health News/NPR
Nov. 24, 2009
Lawmakers debating health care on Capitol Hill have spent months worrying about the potential cost. But mostly it's been the total cost of the bill, not how much individual families who could soon be required to buy insurance for the first time might have to pay.
That could be a costly miscalculation, says health economist Jonathan Gruber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Let's put it this way: It is 10 times as important as the public option and has received one one-hundredth of the coverage," he says.
A Milestone in the Health Care Journey
The Atlantic
Nov. 21, 2009
Ronald Brownstein writes that the Senate blueprint for health care reform is winning praise for its potential to “bend the curve" in the long-term growth of health care costs. Brownstein says those praising the proposal’s potential include leading health reformers like Jonathan Gruber (a leading health economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Mark McClellan (former director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services under George W. Bush) and Len Nichols (health policy director at the centrist New America Foundation).
Insurance
Health Reform's Impact on Premiums: Winners, Losers And, For Many, A Question Mark
Kaiser Health News
Nov. 25, 2009
As the health care battle rages on, one central question keeps popping up: How would legislation affect premiums paid by individuals and small businesses, two groups that currently face wildly unpredictable rate increases year to year?
State news
Minnesota: Hennepin County Medical Center Bleeding With Deep Cuts
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Nov. 25, 2009
Of all hospitals in Minnesota facing economic woes, Hennepin County Medical Center is the hardest hit.
Medicare/Medicaid
Oxygen Rules Pinching Patients
The Wall Street Journal
Nov. 25, 2009
New Medicare rules designed to reduce waste and fraud in medical-equipment reimbursements are driving some home-oxygen suppliers out of business and leaving patients scrambling to find new providers.
Reform efforts
Triggering a Victory on Health Bill
The Wall Street Journal – op ed
Nov. 25, 2009
Two bits of conventional wisdom are circulating about the health bill pending in Congress. One is that no health bill will pass unless it provides for a public option, a government-sponsored competitor to private insurers; the Democratic left demands it. The other is that no health bill will pass if it provides for a public option; the centrists needed to get to 60 votes in the Senate won't allow it.
Can a Pro-Life Dem Bridge the Health Care Divide?
Time Magazine
Nov. 24, 2009
Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is seen as key to advancing pro-life components in the health care bill.
Prescription drugs
Taxpayers May Pick Up Tab For Drug Ads
NPR
Nov. 24, 2009
Researchers suggest that drug companies passed advertising costs on to taxpayers by hiking the price they charge Medicaid programs for the drug.
Miscellaneous
From the Hospital to Bankruptcy Court
The New York Times
Nov. 24, 2009
Lawyers and court officials say that medical debt is leading to more bankruptcies.