A plan to slice $500 billion from Medicare over the next decade — one of the most significant sources of funding for President Obama’s health care overhaul — would not jeopardize services for Medicare patients, reform advocates argued Monday, challenging a government report suggesting that the cuts could prompt hospitals and other providers to stop participating in the program.
— Lori Montgomery — Washington Post Blog 44
By David Welna of NPR
November 17, 2009
Listen to the Story
When President Obama and congressional Democrats began their drive this year to revamp health policies, they promised to expand health care coverage and to make it more affordable.
The health bill passed by the House — and a similar measure pending in the Senate — boost the number of people [Read More →]
November 16, 2009
WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to take up legislation aimed at overhauling the nation’s health care system, President Barack Obama and the Democrats are still struggling to win the battle for public opinion. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans deeply divided over the proposals under consideration and majorities predicting higher costs ahead.
But Republican [Read More →]
By Ruy Teixeira — Center for American Progress
November 16, 2009
Conservatives are putting up a last ditch effort to stop health care reform. They’re doing their level best to scare the public, telling them that passing health care reform will take the country down the road to socialism and ruin the economy, among other things. But the public, [Read More →]
Nearly 60 percent of voters polled dislike Obama’s proposal.
By Paul Beebe, Christopher Smart And Matt Canham of The Salt Lake Tribune
November 16, 2009
If there was any doubt Utahns don’t like the health reform bills moving through Congress, a poll of registered voters commissioned by The Salt Lake Tribune should put the uncertainty to rest.
Fifty-seven percent [Read More →]
Democrats are emailing thousands of people who backed Barack Obama last year in two GOP-controlled Pennsylvania congressional districts, asking them to protest their representatives’ recent “no” votes on health care reform legislation.
— Thomas Fitzgerald — Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Expansion of coverage would come with $23.5 billion in aid
By Aaron C. Davis — Washington Post Staff Writer
November 16, 2009
Wedged in the House health-care bill is $23.5 billion that looks a lot more like new federal stimulus spending than anything to do with national health-care reform.
The barely debated pot of money would allow Congress to continue pumping billions [Read More →]
By Karyn Harlow — Dallas Morning News Letter to the Editor
November 15, 2009
I am encouraged that health care legislation passed the House. At the same time, I know that hoping for real health care reform in our state is a pipe dream, given our current representation in the House and Senate. Even if a bill is passed in the [Read More →]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an assortment of national business groups opposed to President Obama’s health-care reform effort are collecting money to finance an economic study that could be used to portray the legislation as a job killer and threat to the nation’s economy, according to an e-mail solicitation from a top Chamber official.
— Michael D. Shear — Washington Post Staff Writer
The best, most truthful studies always originate with a sponsor who dictates what the findings will be. That is why most so many consultant’s studies are worthless.
— Mike Kroll
HEALTH-CARE reform is necessary, but what is unfolding in Washington, D.C., is the wrong solution to a legitimate problem. Legislation currently on the table will result in dramatically higher premiums based on costly, above-market minimum benefits and a weak requirement that people purchase and maintain coverage. Both of these policy choices by Congress would mean more expensive premiums for consumers.
— Slade Gorton — Seattle Time Op-Ed