health care

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Health Care Debate Readies for Road Trip

Democrats will spend recess targeting insurance companies

(Newser) - With the House already on break and the Senate readying for the August recess, the health care debate has moved to the court of public opinion, the New York Times reports. Both sides are launching campaign tours and waves of TV ads, with Democrats attacking the insurance industry and Republicans...

Health Care Works Great&mdash; for Congress
Health Care Works Great—
for Congress
ANALYSIS
Aug 2, 2009 2:00 PM CDT

Health Care Works Great— for Congress

Taxpayers spend $15B to offer 8.5M federal workers primo benefits

(Newser) - As members of Congress tear into each other over health care reform, they do so assured that a top shelf taxpayer-funded smorgasboard of health plans are there to respond to their slightest sniffle, Mark Barabak and Faye Fiore note in the Los Angeles Times. Last year, taxpayers spent about $15...

Geithner Won't Rule Out Middle Class Tax Hike


 Geithner Won't 
 Rule Out 
 Middle Class 
 Tax Hike 
TALK SHOW ROUNUP
Aug 2, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

Geithner Won't Rule Out Middle Class Tax Hike

Romer says the economy hasn't bottomed yet

(Newser) - President Obama’s top economic advisers fanned out across the Sunday talk shows today, with Tim Geithner leaving open the possibility that Obama would renege on a campaign promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. “We’re going to have to do what’s necessary” to revive...

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
ANALYSIS
Aug 2, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker

But slim margin could vanish if bill moves left or right: Silver

(Newser) - A compromise health care bill will likely squeak through the House by about two dozen votes, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Friday night 31-28 vote is a good model, with its similar balance of Republicans, liberal and Blue Dog Democrats. The committee passed...

Seniors Spooked by 'Kill Granny' Health Bill Campaign

(Newser) - Conservative radio hosts are scaring America's seniors with a campaign against an end-of-life counseling proposal in the health care reform bill, the Washington Post reports. Under the proposal doctors would be reimbursed for consulting with elderly patients about what medical interventions they would prefer as the end nears, but opponents...

Health Bill Compromise Kicks Off 5-Week Battle

(Newser) - A key House committee approved a health care package tonight, kicking off a 5-week public battle on the issue and sending lawmakers home for August recess, the Washington Post reports. The 31-to-28 vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, fueled by a liberal–Blue Dog deal this morning, could...

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests
Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests
investigation
Jul 31, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests

Fishy practice highlights challenge of medical regulation

(Newser) - As Congress wrestles with health-care reform, studies show it’s tough to regulate the status quo: Doctors’ “self-referrals” for medical imaging have continued despite efforts to legislate against them, the Washington Post reports. Doctors who own the equipment that scans patients stand to make more cash—and tend to...

Health Industry Rains Cash on Blue Dog Dems

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs—the 52 fiscally conservative Democrats who have been fighting to kill health care reform proposals the industry doesn’t like—receive far more money from that industry than their non-coalition-member counterparts, the Washington Post reports. The reform push has been a boon for the lawmakers' ledgers; the...

Why Congress Won't Face the Fat Problem
 Why Congress Won't 
 Face the Fat Problem 
analysis
Jul 30, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

Why Congress Won't Face the Fat Problem

Lawmakers fear giving US 'bad news'—especially while munching Doritos

(Newser) - Congress is “in denial” on one key health issue: obesity, writes Lisa Lerer for Politico. Obesity-related illnesses reportedly cost $147 billion, or 10% of medical spending, last year—and lawmakers say they’re focused on cost-cutting. But, experts say, “no one wants to tell Americans the bad news....

Obama Slips in New Polls
 Obama Slips in New Polls 
Jul 29, 2009 6:40 PM CDT

Obama Slips in New Polls

(Newser) - Two big polls are out with the same general conclusion: President Obama is losing support for his health care overhaul among the public, and his approval rating is settling in to mere mortal levels. A Wall Street Journal/NBC survey puts his approval rating at 53%, down 3 points in a...

Blue Dog Deal Means No Vote on Health Before Recess

Dems also agree on $100B trim: Waxman

(Newser) - The House will not vote on a health care bill before the August recess, the Hill reports. Rep. Henry Waxman agreed to the delay as part of a deal with “Blue Dog” Democrats on his Energy and Commerce Committee, who had been threatening to block the bill. Waxman now...

Obama's Health Plan Will Crack Whip on States

States mishandle Medicaid, get bullied by private firms: doctor

(Newser) - Doctors nationwide are “outraged” by President Obama’s health care plan, but “I call it progress,” writes one Missouri physician for Salon. The reform would take oversight out of the hands of states, which seemingly specialize in “lax regulation of private insurers” and poor handling of...

Why the Public Isn't Buying Obama's Health Care Plan

Because there really isn't a plan yet

(Newser) - Americans still want health care reform, polls show, but they're losing confidence in the Democrats' plan, and who can blame them, writes writes Nate Silver on FiveThirtyEight.com, because Democrats don’t actually have a plan yet. It probably would've been better if Obama had given them a plan, instead...

Obama Plans 8-Point Health Pitch

Aims for clear message amid policy debate

(Newser) - President Obama is taking a repackaged health care message on the road in North Carolina and Virginia today, where he'll unveil an eight-point plan intended to cut wonkish policy to the chase for voters. While the Washington Post can't come up with a catchy moniker for the plan, it lays...

Blue Dogs Stand Firm as Dems Get Panicky

Marathon sessions fail to reach a deal as tempers fray

(Newser) - The Democratic leadership is scrambling to make progress on health care reform before Congress breaks for its August recess, but last night's marathon negotiations failed to break the stalemate—and may even have increased the number of issues up for debate.  "We're making progress," Nancy Pelosi said...

Waxman Offers Secret Health Deal to Blue Dogs

Dem: 'Don't think failure is a reasonable option'

(Newser) - Rep. Henry Waxman is optimistic he can get a health care bill out of his committee after pitching Blue Dog Democrats a compromise late last night, the Hill reports. After three hours of negotiations, the Dogs asked Waxman to get a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office before they...

Obesity Costs Swell to 10% of Health Spending

(Newser) - The medical cost of obesity has almost doubled over the last decade to $147 billion annually, a new study finds. Treating obesity-related disorders now accounts for almost 10% of the total spending on health care, reports Bloomberg. Each obese person costs the government or insurers an average of $1,429—...

Why Are Blue Dogs Derailing Health Reform?

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs are threatening to sink health care reform in the House for reasons that don't seem to add up, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. The coalition of conservative Democrats—whose support President Obama needs—is crying loudly about fiscal responsibility, Krugman writes, while at the...

Bayh's Wife in Deep With Health Industry

Senator says his vote unaffected by Susan's myriad board positions

(Newser) - As both sides of the health care debate court Sen. Evan Bayh's elusive vote, his wife's earnings from the industry are raising more than a few eyebrows. The Indianapolis Star  takes a look at Susan Bayh, who pulled down some $2.1 million between 2006 and 2008 for serving on...

Recession Is Kaput; Now for the 'Smart Economy'
Recession Is Kaput; Now
for the 'Smart Economy'
ANALYSIS
Jul 26, 2009 4:23 PM CDT

Recession Is Kaput; Now for the 'Smart Economy'

(Newser) - The Great Recession is cooling off, but Americans will feel the heat for a while—because recovery is tricky this time, Daniel Gross writes in Newsweek. Another economic bubble inflated by consumption would be a mere Band-Aid. That's why President Obama is trying to create a four-sided "smart economy"...

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