First Edition: February 1, 2010

Feb 1 2010

As President Obama's proposed budget heads to Congress, analysis of the breakdown of health reform -- and whether it may still have a chance -- continues.

KHN First Person: Escaping To England to Find A Doctor Who Listens Kaiser Health News contributor Erica Rex writes: "I moved to England in September at the age of 53, three days after my student health coverage at Columbia University ran out. Diagnosed with breast cancer last April, I knew I would not be able to buy a plan on the open market, even if I could have afforded it" (Kaiser Health News).

KHN Column: Obama's Respite Care Plan: Part Of The Problem, Not A Solution In his latest Kaiser Health News Column, Howard Gleckman writes: "President Barack Obama wants to increase funding for a government program intended to make it easier for family caregivers to get respite care. These hard-pressed families desperately need the helping hand. But the White House initiative is a symptom of all that is wrong with long-term-care policy in the U.S." (Kaiser Health News).

Obama's $3.8 Trillion Budget Heading To Congress The 2011 blueprint repeats many of Obama's grandest ambitions from his first budget, including an expensive overhaul of the nation's health care system, a dramatic expansion of the federal student loan program and far-reaching climate change legislation, congressional sources said. But with Obama's standing in the polls badly damaged by a bruising yearlong battle over health care, all three of those initiatives are stalled in Congress with no clear path forward (The Washington Post).

Medicaid Could Get Billions The White House will include an additional $25 billion in Medicaid funding for states in the federal budget to be released Monday, spending that Democrats originally hoped to include in their health overhaul (The Wall Street Journal).

Analysis: Dems' Missteps Led To Health Breakdown Democrats say they never saw it coming, but the breakdown of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was abetted by their own mistakes (The Associated Press/Washington Post).

Harkin: Health Deal Was Reached Days Before Brown's Senate Victory The latest revelation shows how agonizingly close Democrats came to passing a final healthcare bill in time for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address (The Hill).

The Caucus: Obama Notwithstanding, Democrats Defend 'Messy' Lawmaking It is not the president's continued demand for a health care overhaul, a priority the leaders share. Nor is it Mr. Obama's decision to call out liberals on the need for spending restraint in his State of the Union address (The New York Times).

Brown: Start Again With Health Bill Brown said the Democratic health care reform bill should be scrapped and lawmakers should start over (Politico).

White House Aims To Broaden Approach To Global Health The Obama administration is expected to propose in its fiscal 2011 budget Monday new funding to combat preventable and tropical diseases, malnutrition and other conditions afflicting the world's poor, as part of a strategy to broaden its approach to global health (The Wall Street Journal).

Catching Hospital Workers Dirty-Handed The standard protocol in hospitals is for doctors and nurses to wash their hands on the way in to see a patient, and on the way out. But that doesn't always happen — they get busy; they forget (NPR).

KHN also provides summaries of the weekend's major health news, including coverage of new mental health rules and reports from the Sunday talk shows (Kaiser Health News).