Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day A typical primary care physician who treats elderly Medicare patients must coordinate care with 229 other physicians working in 117 different practices.
(Center for Health System Change, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) | Health Resources |
Under the Microscope REPORT: Coverage Denied: How the Current Health Insurance System Leaves Millions Behind
Insurance discrimination based on pre-existing conditions makes adequate health insurance unavailable to millions of Americans. A new report Coverage Denied: How the Current Health Insurance System Leaves Millions Behind details how insurance companies can deny them coverage, charge higher premiums, and/or refuse to cover that particular medical condition. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 8/11/2009] HHS, Obama Target Insurance Practices
Democrats are keeping the heat on their drive for a healthcare overhaul, armed with presidential speeches, town halls, and an HHS document push. [CongressDaily, 8/11/2009]
Health Care Headlines Obama Takes Aim at Health Foes
President Barack Obama took direct aim at the vocal opponents who’ve been filling congressional town halls on health care Tuesday, saying despite all the “yelling and the shouting and the noise,” health reform will improve the lives of Americans with and without insurance now.
[Politico, 8/12/2009] Read a related article. Survey Finds High Fees Common in Medical Care
A patient in Illinois was charged $12,712 for cataract surgery. Medicare pays $675 for the same procedure.
[New York Times, 8/11/2009] Dem Healthcare Talking Points: Change Over Status Quo
Senate Democratic leaders are driving home a handful of key points during this month’s town hall forums on healthcare: Reform will be fully funded, will not jeopardize current doctor-patient relationships, and is the only alternative to the current, broken system.
[The Hill, 8/11/2009] Headed to a Health Care ‘Town Brawl’? Read This First
Two independent organizations that are widely respected for objective fact-checking on topics of political controversy are FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and PolitiFact, a Pulitzer prize winning project of the St. Petersburg Times.
[McClatchy Washington Bureau, 8/12/2009] Kill Grandma? Debunking a Health Bill Scare Tactic
The story has spread so fast even President Obama got asked about it at one of his town hall meetings.
[NPR, 8/12/2009] Community Health Centers Vital to Any Health Overhaul
While the health care debate rages on Capitol Hill, the Walker-Jones Health Center in northeast Washington is just a mile away, one of about 1,200 federally qualified community health centers across the country that provide free and reduced-cost care to millions of Americans. [Kaiser Health News, 8/11/2009] Long Lines As Free Health Care Offered In LA Area
Like hundreds of others who showed up in the pre-dawn hours for free health care at The Forum in Inglewood, the 50-year-old man was relieved that he would receive the care he needed. Eventually.
[Associated Press, 8/12/2009] Read a related article. EDITORIAL: What Ails Us? Fear of Change
One of the most intriguing phenomena of the tumultuous national debate over health-care reform is this: Many of the same people chanting slogans against "government-run" health insurance are themselves receiving government-run health insurance - Medicare. [Philadelphia Daily News, 8/12/2009] RESPONSE: He Neglected To Tell You…
By Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA)
It should come as no surprise that agents of the status quo are dispensing false and misleading information about health care reform. More than anything else, they fear the American people taking control of their health care system for the first time. [Huffington Post, 8/12/2009] OPINION: Easing the ‘Death Panel’ Fear
By Kathleen Parker
Sarah Palin was right, the second time. We do need to turn down the rhetorical heat lest we miss important issues in the proposed House health-care bill. [Washington Post, 8/12/2009] OPINION: GOP Has Health Care Ideas But Prefers Attacks On Obama
By Morton Kondracke, executive editor
There’s no question that Republican criticism has helped undermine support for President Barack Obama’s health plan. But it hasn’t done much to help Republicans. [Roll Call, 8/12/2009] |