Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day Almost three in 10 working-age Americans with diabetes, asthma, depression or other chronic conditions lived in families with problems paying medical bills in 2007.
(Center for Health System Change) | Health Resources |
Under the Microscope REPORT BRIEF: Health Care Cost Growth & the Economic Performance of U.S. Industries
How do increasing health care costs affect the U.S. economy? RAND analysts estimated that, economy wide across all 38 industries surveyed, a 10 percent increase in excess health care cost growth would result in about 120,800 fewer jobs, $28 billion in lost revenues, and about $14 billion in lost value added. The analysis includes data from 38 industries over the 19-year period 1987–2005. [RAND, August 2009]
Health Care Headlines Health Care Claim Costs Expected to Rise 10.5 Percent
Costs for employer-provided health plans are expected to rise more than 10 percent within the next 12 months, a jump workers may feel in their paychecks or through changes to their insurance coverage. [Associated Press, 8/25/2009] Dems Plan Hundreds of Reform Rallies
Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people. [Politico, 8/25/2009] Obama Supporters Plan Pro-Health Overhaul Push
"We want to send members of Congress back to D.C. with the real message, which is that the majority of the public want comprehensive health care reform and we want it now," said Jacki Schechner, spokeswoman for Health Care for America Now, an umbrella organization of groups pushing for a comprehensive health care overhaul.
[Associated Press, 8/25/2009] Weekend Wrap: Lawmakers Talk Health Care With Friendly Audiences
Halfway through the August recess, Members of Congress still seemed to be focused on nothing but health care when they met with constituents over the weekend. On Saturday at Los Angeles Southwest College, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) urged President Barack Obama to stand firm in support of the public insurance option and criticized Senate Democrats for their willingness to compromise. [Roll Call, 8/24/2009] For Health Care Bill’s Writers, Immigration Debate Is About Legal Residents
When the health care debate in town hall meetings this summer turned to immigration issues, the focus usually was on how the bill would treat those in the country illegally. Neither Congress nor the White House wants to write a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to buy health insurance the same way anybody else would. [CQ, 8/25/2009] Policy Experts Call Fear of Medical Rationing Unfounded
Policy experts say people are rightly concerned about the nation’s health care costs. But they also say there is nothing in the current proposals in Washington to suggest that the country is likely to embark on a system of medical rationing anytime soon. [New York Times, 7/24/2009] Getting Cheaper, Better Healthcare at Home?
Fanning out through this city's old neighborhoods, doctors and nurses from a local medical center have adopted a practice that harks back to a bygone era: They're making house calls. [L.A. Times, 8/25/2009] EDITORIAL: Public Option Is Critical To Reform
Without strong competition for the insurance industry, the health care overhaul we need will fall far short of the mark. [Denver Post, 8/23/2009] OPINION: Don’t Pass On the ‘Next New Deal’
By Anne Kim, Jim Kessler, and Jon Cowan of Third Way
As we move into the final make-or-break months of the health care debate, every progressive should, in the James Carville tradition, put a simple warning on the wall: Do not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
[Roll Call, 8/24/2009] Read a related piece. COMMENTARY: The Republican Party’s “No” Line On Health Care
It is easy to imagine Rahm Emanuel chuckling when he read the Republican Party's new statement of principles for health care reform, which were released Monday. [Time, 8/24/2009] OPINION: Don’t Want A Public Plan? Well, What Do You Think Of Medicare?
By Simon Johnson and James Kwak
Opponents of health-care reform should be chanting "No more Medicare!" [Washington Post, 8/25/2009] |