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Myths of the public health plan

It's a critical week in Congress on the health care reform front, and members are ramping up the rhetoric for one of the sticking points -- a government-run health insurance plan that would "compete" with private insurers.

30 Jul 2009

Senate Committee's reform bill could cover 95 percent of uninsured

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Wednesday that a preliminary Congressional Budget Office score of his panel's draft health care overhaul package would cost under $900 billion over the next decade and provide health coverage to 95 percent of uninsured Americans," according to Kaiser Health News.

30 Jul 2009

Coming to a doctor's office near you: photo ID check

Elena Castro was finishing the paperwork to buy her first home when the bank called to warn her of a problem-- nearly $10,000 in unpaid hospital bills on her credit report. The charges were for several ear, nose and throat procedures done at hospitals in her region.

30 Jul 2009

Democrats: During August recess, Obama has 'major responsibility' to promote health overhaul

As Congress prepares to leave Washington for the August recess, Democrats are worried the vacation will "kill momentum on health care reform," Politico reports.

30 Jul 2009

Baucus: New CBO score 'good news'

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Wednesday that a preliminary Congressional Budget Office score of his panel's draft health care overhaul package would cost under $900 billion over the next decade and provide health coverage to 95 percent of uninsured Americans.

30 Jul 2009

Obama defends reform to seniors worried about Medicare cuts

On Tuesday, President Obama pitched Democrats' health reform plans to senior citizens and assured them that Medicare benefits would not be cut to pay for covering the uninsured, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, members of Congress said they were "deluged" with constituent calls expressing concern over the future of their Medicare coverage.

30 Jul 2009

Finance Committee negotiators near accord on bill

The Washington Post: "Three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are expected to wrap up their arduous multi-week talks in the coming days, and Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said he expects a panel vote before the Senate recess, which will begin Aug. 7.

30 Jul 2009

No Blue Dog deal in House as compromise proves elusive

House leaders and the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats group could not agree on a compromise late Tuesday after more than six hours of discussion, complicating efforts to have legislation on the House floor before the August recess.

30 Jul 2009

Centrists steer talks away from public plan

"Senate Democrats debating how to overhaul America's healthcare system are moving toward a showdown over whether to create a government-run insurance program or set up a system of cooperatives instead," the Los Angeles Times reports.

30 Jul 2009

Massachusetts to restore immigrant health care, Colorado Medicaid list grows, Obama in North Carolina

Massachusetts lawmakers will vote today to provide $40 million to restore health care coverage for legal immigrants. In Colorado, a 14 percent spike in Medicaid capped a record year for enrollment.

30 Jul 2009

Health benefits tax gains support in Congress, opponents in business

"You can think of Congress's efforts to pay for health reform as being a little bit like a battle to slay a many-headed Hydra," writes the New York Times' economic columnist, David Leonhardt.

30 Jul 2009

Long-term care proposal draws opposition

The insurance industry opposes a long-term care proposal called the CLASS Act, currently included in two major health care reform measures.

30 Jul 2009

IMPROVE Bill seeks to fight Medicare fraud

Minnesota Public Radio reports: "Sen. Amy Klobuchar, [D-Minn.] says she hopes to include legislation to prevent Medicare fraud in the health reform bill being debated in Washington.

30 Jul 2009

Primary care gets boost from stimulus money, experiment on 'medical home'

"Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that $200 million will be available for grants, loans, loan repayments and scholarships for the training of some 8,000 health professionals by the end of fiscal 2010," Congressional Quarterly reports.

30 Jul 2009

Anti-smoking initiative targets China's medical professionals

China Daily explores how a new anti-smoking initiative in China targets the country's medical professionals. According to the newspaper, "China is the world's largest tobacco producer and consumer," with "350 million smokers, plus 450 million people exposed to second-hand smoke." Annually, 1 million deaths are smoking-related, according to China's Ministry of Health.

29 Jul 2009

In a flu pandemic 1 in 6 health workers will not report for work

With hospitals around Australia struggling to cope with the added burden of swine flu cases researchers say 1 in 6 health workers will not report in for work in a flu pandemic.

28 Jul 2009

Many health won't report in during flu pandemic

A study conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicates that approximately 16 percent of public health care workers will not report for work in a pandemic flu emergency, regardless of the severity.

28 Jul 2009

Finance committee may omit public plan, employer mandate

The Associated Press is quoting sources saying that "After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer Monday to a health care compromise that omits a requirement for businesses to offer coverage to their workers and lacks a government insurance option that President Barack Obama favors, according to numerous officials.

28 Jul 2009

AMA backs health reform plan, but not all doctors are on board

Even as Democratic leaders in Congress and President Obama tout the American Medical Association's support for the House health care overhaul proposal, eleven other medical societies are vocally rejecting the plan, American Medical News reports.

28 Jul 2009

Reform could hinge on the insured, who support reform but fear change

"Although polls have consistently shown that just over half of Americans think the health-care system is in need of reform, a substantial majority say they are satisfied with their own insurance and care," the Washington Post reports.

28 Jul 2009