Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day H.R. 3962 requires a face-to-face or telemedicine encounter with a patient before a physician may certify eligibility for home health services or durable medical equipment in order to tamp down on fraud and abuse in those industries. | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At The Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $42,882,697,625 This Year In Additional Premium Costs To Cover Care For The Uninsured. Under the Microscope SENATE PASSES BILL, WORK CONTINUES On December 24 at 7:00 a.m., the Senate passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by a vote of 60 to 39, after the second-longest Senate debate in history. Now begins the process of reconciling the Senate bill with the House health insurance reform bill that passed November 7. In the meantime, Members of Congress must continue to talk to their constituents about what’s in their respective reform bills. Polling has consistently shown that the American people favor the various provisions included in health insurance reform. It’s now the job of Members to show the American people those provisions are included in the health reform bills passed. Next Hurdle: Persuade Public
Congressional Democrats are poised to wrap up work on their health care bill in early 2010, but the battle over public opinion will persist for years. [Politico, 12/22/2009] Read a Memo from Mark Mellman and a related post. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION Read what’s happened to health insurance premiums, coverage, and cost since the last effort to reform the health insurance system was defeated 16 years ago. Americans cannot afford 16 more years of the status quo. Democrats have been and continue to be serious about making the health care system work better for Americas, while Republicans have chosen to oppose efforts or simply ignore the problem. As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in his statement upon Senate passage of H.R. 3590, “Our nation knows all too well what the price of failing to pass comprehensive reform has been, and would continue to be: a rising sense of insecurity for Americans who have health insurance and a growing crisis for those who don’t.”
Health Care Headlines Senate Passes Health Care Bill, Now Must Reconcile It With House
Senate Democrats approved landmark legislation just after sunrise Christmas Eve that would transform the nation's health-care system by requiring people without insurance to obtain coverage and protecting those who have it from the most unpopular private insurance practices. [Washington Post, 12/25/2009] Obama Defends Health-Bill In Pre-Vacation Media Blitz
Hours before he leaves for a Hawaiian vacation Thursday morning, President Obama said he expects a final health care deal to include taxes on wealthy individuals as well as surcharges on expensive, so-called "Cadillac" health care plans. [Washington Post, 12/23/2009] House Dems: We Won't Roll Over
House Democrats insisted Tuesday they have no plans to roll over for the Senate in upcoming negotiations on a health reform bill, even as they acknowledged it would be all but impossible to reinsert a public insurance option or force the so-called millionaire's tax on the Senate. [Politico, 12/23/2009] Health Bill Benefits For the Impatient
Some immediate benefits from the health care legislation advancing on Capitol Hill will ease the minds of parents who may have hit up against limitations of their existing health insurance.
[New York Times, 12/28/2009] Read more about the Senate bill’s Immediate Benefits. Senate Bill May Bring Breakthrough For Community Health Centers
Tales of crankiness abound on Capitol Hill as Christmas Eve approaches and the Senate remains in session, but Senate staffer David Reynolds was practically giddy with good cheer when reached by telephone Tuesday morning. [CQ HealthBeat, 12/22/2009] States With Expanded Health Coverage Fight Bill
States that have already broadly expanded health care coverage are pushing back against the Senate overhaul bill, arguing that it unfairly penalizes them in favor of states that have done little or nothing to extend benefits to the uninsured. [New York Times, 12/27/2009] Health Care: Democrats Decry GOP Inconsistency
Republican senators attacking the cost of a Democratic health care bill showed far different concerns six years ago, when they approved a major Medicare expansion that has added tens of billions of dollars to federal deficits. [USA Today, 12/26/2009] Read a related Letter to the Editor. The Not-So-Sweet Side of Closing “Doughnut Hole”
Six years after Congress added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, Democrats in the House and Senate are poised to make a central change that they and most older Americans have wanted all along: getting rid of a quirk that forces millions of elderly patients with especially high expenses for medicine to pay for much of it on their own. [Washington Post, 12/28/2009] Wielding Influence In Health Care Fight
When the White House announced a deal with hospitals on health care reform, the major hospital trade groups took the stage. Nurses had their Rose Garden moment when they pledged support for reform.
[Politico, 12/25/2009] Cosmetic Surgeons Get Reid To Tax Tanning Salons Instead
Doctors were able to surgically remove the so-called Botax from the Senate's health-care overhaul bill and replace it with a 10% tax on tanning services. [Wall Street Journal, 12/22/2009] Americans' Views of Health Care Steady This Year
The public's views on health care have stayed largely steady this year, despite dramatic swings in the political battle over President Barack Obama's drive to revamp the nation's medical system, a survey says.
[Associated Press, 12/22/2009] Medical Sales Reps Work Alongside Doctors, Even In Operating Rooms
Although patients may not be aware of their presence, sales representatives have become fixtures in operating rooms across America. [Washington Post, 12/27/2009] Both Sides Question Health Bill’s Abortion Compromise
The abortion language that was added to the Senate's health-care bill to win the vote of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has achieved a rare feat: It is drawing contempt from both sides. [Washington Post, 12/22/2009] EDITORIAL: The Next Step On Health Care Reform
The Senate’s passage of a heath care reform bill over lockstep Republican opposition required every single member of the Democratic caucus to vote to override Republican filibusters. [New York Times, 12/27/2009] EDITORIAL: A Bill Well Worth Passing
The health care reform bill that Senate Democratic leaders have cobbled together to win support from all 60 members of their fractious caucus — the filibuster-proof majority needed to ensure passage — has drawn scornful attacks from a united Republican opposition. [New York Times, 12/21/2009] EDITORIAL: Our View On Medical Care: Last-minute Deals Obscure Health Reform’s Larger Good
Starting over guarantees failure. Mix the best of both bills, nix worst. [USA Today, 12/23/2009] OPINION: Tidings Of Comfort
By Paul Krugman
But reform legislation enacted in 2010 banned insurance discrimination on the basis of medical history and also created a system of subsidies to help families pay for coverage. [New York Times, 12/24/2009] OPINION: ‘Cadillac’ Tax Isn’t A Tax – It’s A Way To Finance Real Health Reform
By Jonathan Gruber
As we prepare for the final round of debate over health reform, perhaps the most contentious issue will be financing. [Washington Post, 12/28/2009] OPINION: Don’t Kill The Bill, Cont’d
By Jonathan Cohn
In a new column posted this morning, Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher renews her call to defeat the Senate health bill--a position, I know, many of our mutual friends on the left share. [New Republic, 12/21/2009] BLOG: Making A Good Bill Even Better
By Nancy-Ann DeParle, director, White House Office on Health Reform
Congress has been working hard for months to shape health insurance reform legislation that will bring down costs, expand coverage, increase accountability for insurers, and attack our mounting deficit. We got good news today on all those fronts, as fresh statements of support from the Small Business Majority, the American Cancer Society, and the American Diabetes Association amongst others make clear.
[White House, 12/19/2009] | 