THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009

Health Reform in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee on Ways and Means Committee on Education and Labor

Fact of the Day In the first several years the Health Insurance Exchange is targeted to serve employees of small businesses and the uninsured.

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Health Resources Majority Leader Clearinghouse HealthReform.gov MedPAC Alliance for Health Reform National Health Policy Forum Kaiser Family Foundation Families USA Commonwealth Fund Robert Wood Johnson Foundation RAND Health Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Partnership for Prevention Trust for America’s Health Synthesis Project

At The Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $32,913,875,152 This Year In Additional Premium Costs To Cover Care For The Uninsured.

Under the Microscope

Weekly Address: Health Insurance Reform Urgent For The Economy

Last Saturday in his weekly address, President Obama discussed how the rising costs of health care are stifling America's small businesses, and how reform will strengthen these businesses and the economy.  Small businesses create roughly half of all new jobs, but they also pay up to 18 percent more for the very same insurance plans as larger businesses.  The video, transcript, and download are available here.

Health Insurance Reform: Good For Providers And Patients

Today the President was joined by dozens of doctors from across the country – at least one from each state – to talk about how health insurance reform will help clear obstacles that get between doctors and patients.  Watch a video of the event or read the transcript.  Doctors spend an average of 142 hours per year trying to deal with insurance companies.  The Center for American Progress also echoed this event in a report today Why Health Reform Is The Right Prescription for Health Professionals And Their Patients.

Poll: Americans Paying More For Less Health Care

Consumers Union, the independent, non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports has released the results of a poll today that was conducted at the end of September showing that about half of Americans – fifty-one percent – put off medical care to save money.  In addition, twenty-eight percent of respondents lost or experienced cutbacks in healthcare coverage in the last year.  Consumers Union also today released an ad – the first in their history – on the need for health insurance reform.  Read more at NPR.org.

Health Care Headlines

Obama Says Doctors Have The Right Prescription For Reform
President Barack Obama on Monday brought a cadre of doctors into the Rose Garden to promote his health care agenda, offering the message that while insurers oppose his reform, health care providers like it.
[Roll Call, 10/5/2009]

Health Care Bills Tackle Gender Gap In Coverage
Women's health groups, legal organizations and some female senators are fighting for a host of little-known provisions in the health care legislation being debated in Congress that they say will dramatically improve health care and insurance coverage for women. [USA Today, 10/5/2009]

Democrats Wyden, Rockefeller Withhold Support Of Panel’s Bill
At least two Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee have refused to pledge support for the health-care reform bill scheduled for a vote this week, underscoring the hard work ahead for President Obama as he tries to enact the most ambitious domestic policy legislation in more than a generation.
[Washington Post, 10/5/2009] Read the revised SFC Chairman’s mark.

Sen. Schumer Says Centrists Are 'Very Open' To Public Option
Centrist Democrats are "very open" to including a public option in health legislation before the Senate, an ardent supporter said Monday. [The Hill, 10/5/2009]

WellPoint Cuts Workers Health Benefits
WellPoint Inc., the largest U.S. insurer, dismissed a "small number" of workers last week and announced cuts to employee health benefits Friday, in its latest attempt to deal with the recession's toll on enrollment. [Bloomberg News, 10/3/2009]

OPINION: Dad’s Life Or Yours?  You Choose
By Nicholas D. Kristof
Because of our dysfunctional health insurance system, a disgrace that nearly half of all members of Congress seem determined to cling to, stepping up to save a loved one can ruin your own chance of ever getting health insurance. [New York Times, 10/3/2009]