Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), private health insurance coverage will expand by 16 million people under House health insurance reform legislation. | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At The Time This Daily Dose Was Sent the Hidden Health Tax On Insured Americans Was $31,731,340,041 Under the Microscope Deliberative Democratic Process Continues Following several Caucus meetings and the conclusion of all three House Committee markups, House leadership met today to discuss moving forward. The Senate Finance Committee continued their markup with today’s focus being Coverage. Markup will go into next week following the Yom Kippur holiday. “Mom, It’s Hokum. It’s A Bunch of Malarkey.” If you haven’t seen Vice President Biden’s townhall with seniors in Silver Spring, Maryland this week, watch here. A new HHS Report, “Health Insurance Reform & Medicare: Making Medicare Stronger for Seniors” was released today showing that not only will reform protect seniors’ Medicare benefits, it will include additional elements to give seniors peace of mind: lower prescription drug prices, free preventive services, and more robust benefits. Meanwhile, 100 Days And… Where’s The GOP Health Care Alternative?
House Democrats are marking today as the 100-day anniversary of House Republicans promising to produce their own alternative health reform bill as part of their larger effort to shed the Party of No label. [Politico, 9/25/2009] INTERACTIVE & COMPARISON TOOLS: The Majority Leader’s office has created Online Quiz: Health Insurance Reform. Kaiser Family Foundation has a new Affordability Credit Calculator for the various proposals in Congress, which is a convenient supplement to their brief “What Are Health Insurance Subsidies.” It also has comparisons between Medicaid and Medicare provisions in the House and Senate Finance legislation.
Health Care Headlines Overhaul Divides Business And Its Traditional GOP Allies
Business is parting from its traditional allies in the Republican Party on health care as companies and big corporate lobbyists lend tentative support to a congressional overhaul that conservative lawmakers staunchly oppose. [Wall Street Journal, 9/25/2009] Health Reform You Can Count On
Drowning out the noise of the debate, here are 3 things that stand a good chance of passing if lawmakers wrap up reform this year. [CNN, 9/25/2009] Insurance Exec: Congress Must Rein In Healthcare Costs
The chief representative of the nation’s health insurance industry says there is still a strong possibility that Congress will pass healthcare reform this year. [Christian Science Monitor, 9/24/2009] Modified Baucus Bill Would Slightly Reduce Deficit
The health overhaul proposal offered by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus would reduce the deficit by $23 billion in its first decade after taking into account modifications made by the Montana Democrat at the start of a markup Tuesday. [CQ HealthBeat, 9/24/2009]
Read a related piece which includes calculations. Pelosi Open To Finance Committee Pay Fors
Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged publicly on Friday that House Democrats have considered including a tax on high-end insurance plans to help pay for their health care bill. [Politico, 9/25/2009]
Read how economists think ending the tax exclusion on employer health plans would bend the cost curve. Pelosi Presses For A Public Option
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped up her push for a publicly run health plan that has divided congressional Democrats, saying it could "save enormous amounts of money."
[Wall Street Journal, 9/25/2009] Senate Panel Reject Bid To Add Drug Discount
President Obama scored a big victory on Thursday as the Senate Finance Committee rejected a proposal to require pharmaceutical companies to give bigger discounts to Medicare on drugs dispensed to older Americans with low incomes. [New York Times, 9/25/2009] Read a related article. OPINION: A Health-Insurance Difference Without A Distinction
By Steven Pearlstein
My hat is off to Max Baucus. He's produced a credible plan to make health care both a right and a responsibility of all Americans while beginning to rein in health spending in a way that is politically acceptable to a majority of Americans. [Washington Post, 9/25/2009] OPINION: This Week's Mediscare
By Jonathan Cohn
The Republican grandstanding on Medicare during Finance Committee hearings this week hasn't been surprising, I suppose. But the audacity is still pretty breathtaking. [New Republic, 9/25/2009] | 