Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day H.R. 3962 requires insurers and providers to use common standards for transactions such as claims payment, eligibility and enrollment, building on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At The Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $40,031,001,817 This Year In Additional Premium Costs To Cover Care For The Uninsured. Under the Microscope HEALTH REFORM REDUCES THE DEFICIT Another independent analysis is out today showing the economic benefits of health insurance reform. Released by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the report shows that reform will slow cost growth, while implementing reasonable elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse from the Medicare program, thus reducing the deficits over time. It also highlights the endurance of past Medicare savings legislation, which has extended the solvency of the program in the past without hurting benefits. House-Passed and Senate Health Bills Reduce the Deficit, Slow Health Care Costs, and Include Realistic Medicare Savings [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/4/2009] Read more reports on Medicare and Health Reform at HealthReform.gov MEDICARE and H.R. 3962 Read Tri-Committee Fact Sheets on how H.R. 3962 strengthens Medicare: Strengthening Medicare
Improving the Medicare Part D Program
H.R. 3962 Lowers Part D Cost to Seniors
Medicare and Medicare Advantage
Senior Citizens and People With Disabilities
Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Read a summary of major Medicare provisions in H.R. 3962. [Kaiser Family Foundation, 12/2/2009]
Health Care Headlines Reid's Recipe for Getting Health-Care Deal Done
Of the Democratic senators who have set out to transform the nation's health-care system, one of the least likely is Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, whose legislative priorities typically fall more toward protecting the interests of his native Nevada. [Washington Post, 12/4/2009] Dems Seeking Compromise On Public Insurance Option
On the Senate floor, Democrats are debating Republicans on health care. Behind the scenes, they're debating each other. [Associated Press, 12/4/2009] Senate Democrats Push Ahead On Health Bill
After days of delay, Senate Democrats pushed ahead Thursday with their drive to pass a healthcare bill by Christmas, approving the first amendment to their giant bill: a measure to expand women's access to preventive services such as mammograms. [LA Times, 12/4/2009] Senate Votes Down GOP Plan to Strip Medicare Cuts From Bill
Senate Republicans lost their first major challenge to a Democratic plan to overhaul the health-care system, as the chamber voted Thursday to reject a GOP proposal to strip the package of nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts, its most important source of financing. [Washington Post, 12/4/2009] ‘Doughnut Hole’ Unites Seniors Wary of Health Bill
Lawmakers have wooed seniors skeptical of the health care overhaul by emphasizing the plan would close the "doughnut hole" — a gap in Medicare drug coverage that can cost thousands of dollars a year.
[Associated Press, 11/4/2009] Nelson Amendment Expected to Fall Short Even With GOP Support
An amendment restricting abortions does not appear to have enough support to be attached to the Senate healthcare bill. [The Hill, 12/3/2009] EDITORIAL: Good News On Premiums
The health insurance industry frightened Americans — and gave Republicans a shrill talking point — when it declared in October that proposed reform legislation would drive up insurance costs for virtually everyone by as much as thousands of dollars a year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office persuasively contradicted that claim this week. [New York Times, 12/3/2009] OPINION: Reform or Else
By Paul Krugman
Health care reform hangs in the balance. Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible.
[New York Times, 12/4/2009] | 