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No Senate finance markup of health overhaul before recess

CongressDaily: "After a day of high emotions and partisan bickering, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus announced Thursday the panel will not mark up a bipartisan healthcare overhaul bill before August recess.

31 Jul 2009

Obama’s former doctor: Not this 'bogus plan'

Dr. David Scheiner wants to make a house call to one of the most famous houses in the world. For 22 years, he was President Obama's doctor. Now, he would like to counsel his former patient and says the President should be doing more to heal the system's ills by holding out for a single-payer approach to health reform.

30 Jul 2009

Finance Committee stops short of the "edge"

"After being 'on the edge of a deal' earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee has stalled in its health care negotiations, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is no longer promising that the committee will finish its work before the August recess," Politico reports.

30 Jul 2009

Pelosi defends agreement with Blue Dogs while movement continues on health overhaul efforts

Concessions made yesterday to House centrists have put Democratic leaders on edge, CQ Politics reports.

30 Jul 2009

House Democrats set to move bill after accord with Blue Dogs, Liberals objecting

House Democrats on Wednesday made a deal with fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats on a health reform bill that "would reduce the overall cost of the package and ensure more funding for rural hospitals, concessions that could allow the Energy and Commerce Committee to finish its consideration of the legislation," The Washington Post reports.

30 Jul 2009

Finance Committee gains momentum from CBO report, Dem pressure... maybe

"Congressional Democrats are determined to show progress on health care overhaul by pushing President Barack Obama's top domestic priority through two critically important committees before they head home for their August break," the Associated Press reports.

30 Jul 2009

GOP version of reform bill offers tax credits, doesn't require coverage

House Republicans Wednesday unveiled their version of health reform legislation. It offers tax credits to help people buy insurance and doesn't require individuals or businesses to carry coverage, The Associated Press reports. The plan costs $700 billion, less than current Democratic proposals in Congress.

30 Jul 2009

Obama on the road again, pitching health reform to middle class

President Barack Obama on Wednesday took his health reform pitch on the road again, with stops in Raleigh, N.C., and Bristol, Va., where he appealed to Americans who already have health insurance.

30 Jul 2009

Lobbyists continue pressing their cases on health reform

Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, advocacy groups and others with a stake in health reform continue to lobby in hopes of winning concessions in the overhaul, or at least surviving the changes unscathed.

30 Jul 2009

White House: Opponents misrepresent end-of-life issue in health reform debate

The White House says opponents of the President's health care reform effort are misrepresenting parts of the House and Senate legislation including a provision on end-of-life care. Critics say they fear health care reform could lead to excessive government intervention in end-of-life issues.

30 Jul 2009

Insurers struggle in downturn as Senators consider adding new tax

"Earnings from the nation's big health insurers show signs of a new uptick in medical costs related to the recession: As unemployment rises, people who have lost their jobs or are fearful of losing them are rushing to see doctors to get medical tests before their benefits expire," the Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Jul 2009

Recession-battered states cut funding for health services

Under economic pressure, states are slashing funding for health services from Connecticut to California. The cuts frustrate providers and lawmakers are looking for ways to limit harm.

30 Jul 2009

Health overhaul ads intensify emotional messages

"The healthcare overhaul fight in Washington is bursting into America's living rooms, and interests from many bands on the political spectrum are trying to transform an often wonky debate over 1,000-page bills into an emotional pitch that can be captured in 30 seconds," The Boston Globe reports.

30 Jul 2009

Dozens arrested in national Medicare fraud bust

The Associated Press reports: "Federal authorities arrested more than 30 suspects, including doctors, and were seeking others in a major Medicare fraud bust Wednesday in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston, targeting scams such as 'arthritis kits' - expensive braces that many patients never used.

30 Jul 2009

Polls find public support for health overhaul losing steam

Over the past five weeks, support has declined "particularly among those who already have insurance, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found, amid prolonged debate over costs and quality of care," The Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Jul 2009

"Free-rider" penalty for employers draws ire from advocates, yawns from business

A "free-rider" penalty being considered by members of the Senate Finance Committee isn't getting a free ride from advocates for low-wage workers and labor unions.

30 Jul 2009

Jubilant Democrats move ahead, but still face many obstacles on reform

After weeks of painstaking talks, Democrats celebrated breakthroughs on health care overhaul on both sides of the Capitol. Yet many lawmakers and health care experts said that yesterday's events marked only one step on the very bumpy road to a final deal that President Barack Obama might sign into law.

30 Jul 2009

Energy and commerce Blue Dogs make deal with House leaders, Liberal members rebel

Roll Call: "House leaders who have struggled for weeks to bring fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats on board announced a deal paving the way to get the bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee, but not to the floor, before the August break. But the agreement ran into a firestorm of resistance from liberal Members, forcing Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to postpone plans for a markup Wednesday afternoon.

30 Jul 2009

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