health care reform – News Stories About health care reform - Page 38

Poll Numbers

Oct 28, 2009 11:21 AM CDT

Public Backs Afghan Troop Surge 47%-43%

....and majority support holding off on decision until after runoff

(Newser) - Public support for a troop surge in Afghanistan is surging, too, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll . Support for a troop increase edged out opposition 47% to 43%, after trailing opposition 44% to 51% last month. But 58% also support waiting until after the runoff election to make...

Reid's 6 Biggest Headaches

PUBLIC OPTION SHOWDOWN

Oct 28, 2009 8:14 AM CDT

Reid's 6 Biggest Headaches

Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman are two of them

(Newser) - To get the 60 votes he needs just to bring his health care bill to the floor of the Senate, Harry Reid is going to have to rein in some of his caucus' members. Politico surveys the majority leader's biggest challenges.

Joe Lieberman, Conn. The independent said yesterday he'll join

...

Afghan Surge Gains Favor; Public Sours on DC

POLL NUMBERS

Oct 27, 2009 6:20 PM CDT

Afghan Surge Gains Favor; Public Sours on DC

Support for public option also grows; GOP isn't more popular, though

(Newser) - New poll numbers out today hold good news and bad for the Obama administration. Support is rising for a troop surge in Afghanistan, the NBC/Wall Street Journal survey finds, and nearly half now favor a public option in the health-care reform measures now under consideration. The bad news: 58% said...

Lieberman Threatens Filibuster Over Public Option

Oct 27, 2009 2:08 PM CDT

Lieberman Threatens Filibuster Over Public Option

Independent's warning is bad news for Harry Reid

(Newser) - Joe Lieberman doesn't want a public option, and he warned today that he would join a Republican filibuster to try to prevent one from becoming law. The statement by the Democrat-turned-independent is bad news for Harry Reid's prospects of getting 60 votes in the Senate. Lieberman said he told Reid...

Libs to Obama: Fight for the Public Option

Oct 27, 2009 10:48 AM CDT

Libs to Obama: Fight for the Public Option

Reid wants the president to lean on 3 hold-out Dems

(Newser) - As Harry Reid labors to push through a health reform bill with a public option, albeit an opt-out one, liberals are getting more and more antsy for President Obama to step up and lead this effort. They complain that he’s being too passive in the debate, annoyed that as...

How Reid Rescued
the Public Option

Oct 27, 2009 5:29 AM CDT

How Reid Rescued the Public Option

Opt-out plan bridged divides in Dem caucus

(Newser) - The public health insurance plan was brought back from the brink of oblivion thanks to Harry Reid's swift adoption of an "opt-out" plan brought to his attention just three weeks ago. In backroom negotiations with members of the Democratic caucus, the majority leader found that the federal approach bridged...

Even Dems Say Grayson's Nuts

Oct 26, 2009 9:10 PM CDT

Even Dems Say Grayson's Nuts

'One fry short of a Happy Meal' after he calls Fed adviser 'a K Street whore'

(Newser) - Rep. Alan Grayson has irked Republicans over the past month or so with his sharp tongue—saying the GOP health plan was for Americans to “die quickly,” then, last week, comparing Dick Cheney to a vampire—but even fellow Dems are up in arms after an interview surfaced...

Public Option a Go: Reid

health care reform

Oct 26, 2009 4:07 PM CDT

Public Option a Go: Reid

Senate bill will include government health plan, with opt-out

(Newser) - Harry Reid will include a public insurance plan in the pending health care reform bill, with a provision allowing individual states to refuse to participate. The Senate majority leader’s bill is likely to include an “opt-out” version of the public plan, taken from the Senate health committee, as...

How Insurers Got Their Way With Reform

Oct 26, 2009 1:40 PM CDT

How Insurers Got Their Way With Reform

Early, sophisticated lobbying effort paid off for health care industry

(Newser) - Though the final bill is still being hammered out, health reform appears to have given the insurance industry most of its wishes. Everyone will be required to buy insurance, there won’t be any limits on premiums, and any public option will likely be weak. They pulled off these anticipated...

Dems Want Health Reform Rollout By 2010, 2012

2013 suddenly too late

Oct 26, 2009 8:40 AM CDT

Dems Want Health Reform Rollout By 2010, 2012

Everyone wants something to show by midterm elections

(Newser) - Democrats are pushing Senate leaders to rework their health care bills so that at least some benefits kick in by the 2010 and 2012 elections. As currently formulated, the bill would bring the pain immediately, in the form of $100 billion in industry fees, but its reforms mostly wouldn’t...

US Health Care
Wastes $700B a Year

Study sees huge savings

Oct 26, 2009 5:53 AM CDT

US Health Care Wastes $700B a Year

A third of spending is lost to pointless treatment, paperwork, fraud

(Newser) - A study by Thomson Reuters released today confirms President Obama's contention that the American health care system is hemorrhaging billions of dollars a year, with one-third of the cost of care wasted on inefficiency, mistakes, and fraud. The report, which cites dozens of research papers, finds that about $700 billion...

McCain:
Afghan Call
Can't Wait

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Oct 25, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

McCain: Afghan Call Can't Wait

Troops decision dominates, but everybody backs away from 'dithering' Cheney

(Newser) - The pace of President Obama's decision on troop levels in Afghanistan again dominated the Sunday dial. John McCain told Face the Nation that Obama should move regardless of the Nov. 7 runoff's outcome: "Every day we delay will be a delay in this strategy succeeding.” Orrin Hatch...

Reid Narrows In
on 60 Votes
for Public Option

Oct 24, 2009 9:25 AM CDT

Reid Narrows In on 60 Votes for Public Option

Landrieu and Lieberman agree not to block opt-out plan

(Newser) - Harry Reid closed in on the 60 votes he needs to pass a health reform bill with a public option yesterday, aided by 2 Democratic moderates who pledged not to filibuster the vote. Both Mary Landrieu and Joe Lieberman said they wouldn't block the bill, which offers a public insurance...

Michelle Pushes
for Health Reform

secret weapon

Oct 23, 2009 4:08 PM CDT

Michelle Pushes for Health Reform

First lady makes case for overhaul in personal terms

(Newser) - Michelle Obama rejoined the push for health care reform today, making the administration's case in an event at the White House and an online video message. Speaking with Jill Biden at a gathering for breast cancer survivors, Obama decried the fact that patients can’t get insurance because cancer in...

'Robust' Public Option May Be Dead in House

Oct 23, 2009 9:10 AM CDT

'Robust' Public Option May Be Dead in House

But not everyone buys report that Pelosi lacks the votes

(Newser) - The public option continues its yo-yo course. On the same day we get news that Harry Reid is leaning toward putting a version into the Senate bill, Mike Allen reports at Politico that Nancy Pelosi doesn't haven't the votes for a "robust" version in the House. Talking Points Memo...

Reid Goes for
Broke With Public
Option Bill

Oct 23, 2009 7:46 AM CDT

Reid Goes for Broke With Public Option Bill

Senate majority leader banks on 60 votes, infuriates Baucus

(Newser) - Harry Reid is preparing to bring a health reform bill that includes a public option to the floor of the Senate, gambling that his 60-member caucus will support the plan if it contains opt-out measures for individual states. The majority leader and other senators met with Barack Obama yesterday to...

Drug Makers' Big Spending Pays Off on Hill

Oct 22, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

Drug Makers' Big Spending Pays Off on Hill

Biologics debate shows how lobbyists shape health debate

(Newser) - Drugmakers could get quite a gift from the health care reform bill. Senate and House amendments passed this summer give the makers of biologics—next-generation wonder drugs derived from living matter—12 years of exclusivity on their hyperexpensive products. That’s 7 more years than normal drugs get, and critics...

Maine's Other Senator
Could Swing
Health Reform

Oct 22, 2009 7:15 AM CDT

Maine's Other Senator Could Swing Health Reform

Eyes turn to Susan Collins as Dems ramp up courtship

(Newser) - Last week Sen. Olympia Snowe was the center of attention of Capitol Hill as she bucked the GOP line to support health care reform, but now Maine's other Republican senator, Susan Collins, is the one to watch. Both women voted for President Obama's stimulus package in February, and Democrats and...

Balloon Boy
Another Blow
to Trust

OPINION

Oct 22, 2009 3:35 AM CDT

Balloon Boy Another Blow to Trust

Politicians are the ones most lost in forest of fakery

(Newser) - The Falcon Heene fiasco sums up the dilemma facing a society riddled with fake news, Photoshop fakes, and even fake Rush Limbaugh quotes, writes Daniel Henninger. "Reality TV" is the perfect metaphor for a world where you need to routinely "ask yourself whether what's in front of you...

Dems: Let's Just Call
'Public Option' Medicare

Oct 21, 2009 2:30 PM CDT

Dems: Let's Just Call 'Public Option' Medicare

House Reps suggest rebranding government-run plan

(Newser) - Some House Democrats think the public option would sound better if they renamed it “Medicare,” or maybe “Medicare Part E,” as in “Medicare for Everyone.” They think that rebranding could bridge the gap between liberals and centrists who oppose the plan. “People don’...