Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day For seniors enrolled in Medicare Part B, H.R. 3962 would cover services provided by state-licensed or certified marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors. Elderly Medicare beneficiaries have the highest age-group rates of depression and suicide. | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At The Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $39,909,763,173 This Year In Additional Premium Costs To Cover Care For The Uninsured. Under the Microscope DETERMINED SENATORS The Senate moved forward today with its first votes on amendments to its health insurance reform bill. An amendment offered by Senator Mikulski to strengthen preventative care for women passed earlier today, while a Senator McCain amendment that would block efforts to weed out waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system will be taken up this afternoon. Leading seniors’ advocacy groups – including AARP, the National Committee to Preserve and Protect Social Security and Medicare, and the Alliance for Retired Americans – have rejected McCain’s cynical ploy to scare seniors, and continue to put their full support behind the changes outlined in the Senate bill. Read other amendments filed that may be considered after votes. Meanwhile, in a telling demonstration of how determined Senate Republicans are to defeat reform rather than ensuring health care security for all Americans, they are circulating a memo on how to block the legislative process through delays and procedural motions. Not surprising coming from the same Party that did nothing to address rising health care costs while they were in power. ANOTHER INDUSTRY-FUNDED STUDY Another flawed industry-sponsored analysis on the impact of health reform is out today, eliciting a firm rebuke from White House Communications Director Pfieffer: Coming Attractions: Insurance Industry Funded Study Is Wrong On the Facts… Again…
Later today, the insurance industry releases their latest in a string of flawed analyses designed to confuse the debate around health reform.
Health Care Headlines AARP Backs Democrats in Senate Health Care Fight
With a Senate showdown looming, the politically potent AARP rode to the rescue of Democrats on Wednesday, supporting $460 billion in Medicare cuts to help pay for landmark health care legislation.
[Associated Press, 12/3/2009] Read about the other groups that don’t support McCain’s amendment. Abortion Showdown Looms In Senate
Senators debating health care legislation are headed for a clash over abortion, the issue that threatened to derail the bill in the House. [Associated Press, 12/2/2009] Memo Tells How to Derail Senate Health Bill
Senate Republicans know they face an uphill battle in trying to derail the Democrats’ health care legislation. [New York Times, 12/3/2009] Read the memo. Most In U.S. Want Public Health Option
Most Americans would like to see a "public option" in health insurance reform but doubt anything Congress does will lower costs or improve care in the short term, according to a poll released on Thursday.
[Reuters, 12/3/2009] Aetna Prepares For Loss of 600,000 Members As It Raises 2010 Prices
Back when it was the largest private health plan in the country, Aetna downsized its membership by millions but boosted profits during an overhaul of its business several years ago.
[American Medical News, 11/30/2009] EDITORIAL: Our View on Medical Reform: GOP Revives ‘Scare Grandma’ Tactics to Kill Health Bill
Scaring seniors about losing their Medicare benefits is deceptive and irresponsible, but it's a political winner. Proposed Medicare cuts aren’t as big, or painful, as critics imply. [USA Today, 12/3/2009]
Read a related piece. EDITORIAL: Health Reform Must Go Forward
Afghanistan isn’t the only fight that deserves the attention of Congress. Defenders of the status quo in health care would happily let the drive for reform bog down amid a debate over President Obama’s new war strategy. Democrats can’t let this happen. [Boston Globe, 12/3/2009] OPINION: Getting the Facts Straight on Health Care Reform
By Jonathan Gruber, PhD, economist at MIT
The United States stands on the verge of the most significant change to our health care system since the 1965 introduction of Medicare. [New England Journal of Medicine, 12/2/2009] OPINION: The People Behind Health-Care Reform
By Ezra Klein
Chris Bowers explains his evolving thinking on health-care reform: In the past, I had previously defined success as increasing the power of the Progressive Block and passing a nationally-available public option tied to Medicare rates. [Washington Post, 12/3/2009]
Read how health insurance reform would affect an underinsured couple. | 