Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day Community health centers reduce emergency room visits for Medicaid beneficiaries by 35.5 percent.
(American Public Health Association) | Health Resources |
Under the Microscope REPORT: Finding Resources for Health Reform and Bending the Health Care Cost Curve
A wide range of policy options exist for achieving health system savings to help finance health reform. In this Commonwealth Fund report, the authors compared impact estimates of selected options from three different sources: 1) The Commonwealth Fund report, The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System: A 2020 Vision and the Policies to Pave the Way (Path), which included projections prepared by The Lewin Group; 2) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for the president’s budget proposal and the economic stimulus bill; and 3) the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). All estimates consider the potential impact over the 10-year period, 2010 to 2019. [Commonwealth Fund, 6/24/2009]
REPORT: Healthcare Reform: An American Values Imperative
This report by the 500,000 member U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, details how women are at special risk for abuse, lowered quality of life, and the suppression of business growth due to our American healthcare system's shortfalls and provides strong recommendations for reform from the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce.
[U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, June 2009]
Health Care Headlines Orszag Defends Health Overhaul Costs, Ten Years After
White House budget director Peter R. Orszag defended the approach the White House is taking to hold down the long term costs of a health overhaul, telling the top Republican on the House Budget Committee Thursday that the administration will only support a plan that is deficit neutral over 10 years, including in the tenth year. [CQ Today, 6/25/2009] Senate HELP Markup: It’s an Unexpected Wrap Up, For Now
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s markup of its much maligned health overhaul proposal came to an early end Thursday with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd saying the panel will reconvene the drafting session July 6 with the goal of completing it by July 10. [CQ Today, 6/25/2009] Obama Open to Health Compromise, Emanuel Says
The Obama administration remains confident it can pass a negotiated health care compromise with bipartisan support this year and is open to alternatives to a government-run health insurance plan, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Thursday. [CQ Today, 6/25/2009] Thanks But No Thanks, Lobbies Say to House Health Overhaul Draft
Doctors, insurers and business groups delivered polite objections to the government-run insurance plan in the House Democratic health care draft while stressing their commitment to major system change, as the health subcommittee of Energy and Commerce waded through 23 witnesses on four panels in a marathon third day of hearings on the draft. [CQ Today, 6/25/2009] Healthcare Advocates Rally on Capitol Hill
Thousands of union members and other advocates of overhauling the health care system rallied on Capitol Hill today to demand high quality, affordable health care for all — this year.
[Wall Street Journal, 6/26/2009] Baucus’ ‘Coalition of the Willing’
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) calls them the “coalition of the willing,” a group of four Republican and three Democratic senators, including himself, that may well determine health care reform in the Senate. [Politico, 6/25/2009] EDITORIAL: Heading for the Emergency Room
No one will be astonished to hear that health care costs more in Indiana than in India. However, a few might be surprised to learn that Americans spend more than twice as much per person on health care as Swedes do. [Economist, 6/25/2009] OPINION: Is Health Care Reform Worth $1.6 Trillion?
By Uwe Reinhardt, economics professor at Princeton University
Like Captain Renault in “Casablanca,” who found himself “shocked, shocked” to discover that there was gambling going on at Rick’s Café, moments before pocketing his cut of the evening’s gambling profits, Congress last week expressed “shock, shock” at what was already well-known in policy wonkdom — namely, that a move to genuine universal health insurance coverage might easily entail federal budget costs of $1.6 trillion over the next decade. [New York Times, 6/26/2009] OPINION: Public Option Is Key to Health Reform
By Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA)
Seventy-two percent of the American people support a robust public health insurance option that is available to everyone. A public option is good for our families, is good for the American economy and is supported by the American public. [Politico, 6/24/2009] OPINION: New Legislation Can Even Playing Field for Self-Employed
By Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT)
As America embarks on a historic debate about how to reform its health care system, one measurement of success should be the ability of self-employed entrepreneurs to access affordable coverage, regardless of prior medical condition or age. Under today’s status quo, that measurement fails miserably.
[Norwich Bulletin, 6/22/2009]
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