THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2009

Daily Dose
For Immediate Release:
2009-08-06T00:00:00
Contact Info:
Katie Grant
Stephanie Lundberg
(202) 225 - 3130
Health Reform in the House

Fact of the Day

Young adults ages 19 to 29 are one of the largest segments of the U.S. population without health insurance: 13.2 million, or 29 percent, lacked coverage in 2007.
(Commonwealth Fund)

Health Resources

Under the Microscope

REPORT: Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help
Young adults often lose coverage at age 19 or upon high school or college graduation: nearly two of five (38%) high school graduates who do not enroll in college and one-third of college graduates are uninsured for a time during the first year after graduation. Twenty-six states have passed laws to expand coverage of dependents to young adults under parents' insurance policies. Congressional proposals to reform the health system could help uninsured young adults gain coverage and prevent others from losing it. This is the seventh edition of Rite of Passage, first published in 2003.
[Commonwealth Fund, 8/6/2009]

Health Care Headlines

  • GOP Holds Back on Health Care Details
    House Republicans are finding that less is more when it comes to talking about their own proposals for reforming the health care system. [Roll Call, 8/6/2009]
  • White House Affirms Deal On Drug Cost
    Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.
    [New York Times, 8/5/2009]
  • Obama Urges Backers to Fight ‘Lies’
    In an unusual e-mail appeal, President Barack Obama is asking millions of his campaign supporters to commit to attending at least one community event on health care this month. [Politico, 8/5/2009]
  • Energy and Commerce Has Another Markup in its Future
    House members anxious to leave Washington for the August recess were content to allow House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman to end a marathon markup late last Friday and vote to report Democrats' health reform overhaul out of committee. [Congress Daily, 8/6/2009]
  • Senators Closer To Health Package
    Senate negotiators are inching toward bipartisan agreement on a health-care plan that seeks middle ground on some of the thorniest issues facing Congress, offering the fragile outlines of a legislative consensus even as the political battle over reform intensifies outside Washington.
    [Washington Post, 8/6/2009]
  • Baucus Touts ‘Medicare Preservation Commission’ – Minus the Steroids
    Count in the Senate Finance Committee negotiators when it comes to support of an independent body enforcing Medicare policy — but just don’t call it “MedPAC on steroids.” [CQ HealthBeat, 8/5/2009]
  • Senate Health Talks Turn to Medicaid
    Senate Finance Committee negotiators are focusing this week on how to expand Medicaid as part of a health care overhaul without breaking the budgets of states that fund the costly program jointly with the federal government. [CQ Today, 8/5/2009]
  • When the Doctor Calls and It’s Good News
    When President Obama and other Democrats talk about changing the health care system, one phrase that comes up is "medical home." It's an attempt to reinvent primary care medicine and reward doctors who practice preventive care. [NPR, 8/5/2009]
  • OPINION: No Free Health-Care Ride for Congress
    By Martin Frost, former Representative from Dallas-Fort Worth, 1979 to 2005
    Today’s society is beset by “urban legends” — rumors spread widely on the Internet that are not true. [Politico, 8/6/2009]
  • INTERVIEW: Health Care Deeply Personal to Americans
    Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledges that there is no more personal issue to the American people than health care. [NPR, 8/4/2009]