Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day The total 2009 medical cost for a typical American family of four is $16,771, compared with the 2008 figure of $15,609. This is a 7.4% increase from 2008 to 2009.
(Milliman Medical Index) | Health Resources |
Under the Microscope STATE REPORTS: 2008 State Snapshots
The State Snapshots, based on the National Healthcare Quality Report, provide State-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The goal is to help State officials and their public- and private-sector partners better understand health care quality and disparities in their State.
[Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 6/5/2009]
STATE REPORTS: The Health Care Status Quo in Your State
The United States spends more on health care than anyone "but unfortunately the quality of care is going down," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a conference call last week with regional reporters. As part of President Obama’s push for health care reform, Secretary Sebelius released "health care status quo" reports on each of the 50 states that highlight the urgent need for health care reform in our country. [DHHS, 6/27/2009]
Health Care Headlines New Poll: Majority Supports Government-Run Health Option
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday gauging registered voters’ views of health care reform underscores the political complexity of the issue, with the results offering ammunition to both the supporters and opponents of President Barack Obama’s No. 1 legislative priority.
[Roll Call, 7/1/2009] AMA President: Group Open to Government-Funded Insurance
The new president of the American Medical Association, which represents the interests of the nation’s doctors, said Wednesday the group is open to a government-funded health insurance option for people without coverage. [CNN, 7/1/2009] Key Senate Democrats Trim Cost of Health Care Bill
Determined to advance President Barack Obama's health care agenda, key Senate Democrats are calling for a government-run insurance option to compete with private plans, as well as a $750-per-worker annual fee on larger companies that do not offer coverage to employees. [Associated Press, 7/1/2009]
Read the Senate HELP Dear Colleague here. Emboldened Schumer Revives Public Plan Pitch
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the go-to negotiator on a public insurance option for liberals, today all but abandoned other compromises and said he is asking senators to reconsider his proposal for a public option that he said would operate on a level playing field with private insurers. [Congress Daily, 7/1/2009] Obama Urges Public to Demand Healthcare Reform
With Capitol Hill lawmakers struggling to reconcile clashing views on overhauling the nation's healthcare system, President Obama on Wednesday appealed to the public not to let Congress put off action on his top legislative priority. [L.A. Times, 7/2/2009] First Lady Tours a Health Clinic
First lady Michelle Obama visited a local health clinic in Washington on Tuesday in an effort to focus attention on preventable scourges such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure that disproportionately afflict African-American and Hispanic communities. [New York Times, 6/29/2009] Health Care Reform: What Small Business Wants
As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market. [CNN, 7/2/2009] Medicare Plans to Cut Specialists’ Payments
The Obama administration said Wednesday that it plans to cut Medicare payments for imaging services and specialists, and will use the savings to increase payments to physicians providing primary care.
[Wall Street Journal, 7/2/2009] EDITORIAL: ‘Reconciliation' to Pass Health Bill Won’t Work
By Morton M. Kondracke
Liberal health reform advocates have talked about ramming a reform plan — including a Medicare-like public insurance option — through the Senate with only 51 Democratic votes. But a leading Senate player says it won’t work. [Roll Call, 7/1/2009] OPINION: A Public Insurance Plan Will Help Heal a Broken Health Care System
By New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
The principles that President Obama has outlined for national health care reform are driven by a goal that I share: universal access to affordable health care. Last week, I went to Washington to speak with members of Congress about an idea that can help make that goal a reality: a public health insurance option.
[New York Daily News, 7/2/2009] OPINION: The Patients Doctors Don’t Know
By Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
As they do every July, hospitals across America are welcoming new interns, fresh from medical school graduation. Given how much these trainees have yet to learn, common wisdom holds that it’s not a good time of year to get sick. [New York Times, 7/1/2009] OPINION: Passing Health Reform Isn’t Enough
By Ezra Klein
Over at The New Republic, Jacob Hacker and Rajul Rajkumar consider our future in a "World Without The Public Plan" (cue ominous music). [Washington Post, 7/1/2009]
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