First Edition: November 17, 2009

Nov 17 2009

Based on today's headlines, all eyes continue to be focused on the Senate -- where Democratic leaders are still waiting for the revised Congressional Budget Office analysis of their health bill and plotting about when to hold the first procedural vote on the measure.

New Technology Helps Elderly Stay Healthy At Home Every morning at 10 a.m. sharp, Juanita Wood, 87, taps "okay" on a screen to start up a device that takes her blood pressure and transmits the information to her medical clinic. At 10:30 a.m., her husband, Arthur, 91, touch-starts his own device, neatly lined up next to hers. The machine calculates his blood pressure and weight and sends them off, along with a blood sugar count that he enters by hand (Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post).

Analyzing Democrats' Word Shift On Health Care When President Obama and congressional Democrats began their drive this year to revamp health policies, they promised to expand health care coverage and to make it more affordable (NPR).

Deep Divisions Linger On Health Care As the Senate prepares to take up legislation aimed at overhauling the nation's health-care system, President Obama and the Democrats are still struggling to win the battle for public opinion. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans deeply divided over the proposals under consideration and majorities predicting higher costs ahead (The Washington Post).

Time Crunch Looms For Health Bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pressing to advance his version of health-care legislation past a key juncture this week in a bid to avoid a timing crunch that could otherwise kick the proposed revamp into next year (The Wall Street Journal).

Test Vote May Come Before Holiday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has yet to introduce a health care reform bill, but he is still aiming to schedule a key test vote by the end of the week, Senate aides said Monday (Politico).

Reid Can't Afford Any Defections A number of centrist Democrats in the Senate are turning what normally is a simple procedural vote into a cliffhanger (The Hill).

A Centrist In Health-Care Debate, Lincoln Hears It From All Sides When the Senate begins floor debate on a health-care reform package this week, the outcome is almost certain to rest on decisions made by a handful of moderate Democrats. None of those Democrats is feeling the heat as intensely as Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), who has become emblematic of the improbable distance that health-care reform has traveled, and how far it still must go before becoming law (The Washington Post).

When The Budget Director Talks, People Will Listen Most people have never heard of Douglas W. Elmendorf. But all of official Washington is waiting to hear what he has to say. Mr. Elmendorf, a mild-mannered economist with a Harvard Ph.D., runs the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency charged with assessing how legislation, like President Obama's proposed health overhaul, would affect the federal budget (The New York Times).

White House Healthcare Accord With Drug Industry May Be Going Sour Reporting from Washington - Congressional Democrats' intensifying efforts to pay for their healthcare overhaul and provide more relief for consumers are threatening to unravel a White House deal with the pharmaceutical industry and turn one of Washington's most powerful lobbies against the legislation (Los Angeles Times).

Limited Effect Seen In Abortion Clause Restrictions on abortion coverage approved in the House version of the health-care bill likely will affect the affordability of the procedure for only a small minority of women (The Wall Street Journal).

Bishops Reprise Old Abortion Fight With Higher Stakes Thirty-three years ago this fall, a bitter, race-tinged fight over abortion matched Roman Catholic bishops and the House against the nation's first popularly elected black senator, Republican Ed Brooke of Massachusetts (Politico).

Business Foes Of Health Care Revamp Ramp Up Effort Business foes of health care overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous over a final bill (The Associated Press).

Permanent 'Doc Fix' Unlikely The American Medical Association gave Speaker Nancy Pelosi a huge boost earlier this month by endorsing her health care bill just days before the big vote. But it doesn't look as if she'll be able to return the favor (Politico).

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