First Edition: March 23, 2010

Mar 23 2010

Today's headlines cover a range of topics related to the newly passed health overhaul bill, from the surrounding opposition and next steps to some of its policy implications.

Most Health Industry Sectors Come Out Ahead Under Health Care Reform Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz writes: "Most health industry sectors are winners - some bigger than others -- under sweeping health care legislation that will expand coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over the next decade, analysts say" (Kaiser Health News).

Medicare Steps Up Efforts To Monitor Seniors' Prescriptions Writing for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with USA Today, Susan Jaffe reports on how Medicare is expanding a program to make sure that some older adults use the right drugs and take them correctly to prevent harmful side effects or interactions. "Irene Mooney survived four heart attacks and still copes with high cholesterol, persistent indigestion and heart problems. Recently, she developed some dangerous new symptoms — suspicious bruising all over her body and severe fatigue" (Kaiser Health News).

KHN Column: The Health Care Debate Has Just Begun In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Philip Klein writes: "For liberals, the legislation doesn't go far enough. And in the coming years, they will continue to push for tighter regulations on insurance companies, higher subsidies for purchasing coverage and for the inclusion of a government-run plan in the exchanges. Further, those who still believe the legislation is insufficient will continue to press for a single-payer system. In the meantime, conservatives will begin the immediate drive to legally overturn and/or legislatively repeal the health care bill, or at least scale back its major provisions" (Kaiser Health News).

KHN Column: Why The Vote Changes The Health Care Debate Forever In his latest Kaiser Health News column - done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "Over the last week or so, as passage seemed ever more likely, Republicans moved from denial to anger: If they couldn't stop this bill from becoming a law, they would stop the law from taking effect" (Kaiser Health News).

How Obama Revived His Health-Care Bill It was the Barack Obama the American public rarely sees -- irritated and wondering if he had arrived at the moment of defeat. Shortly after 6 p.m. on Jan. 19, with a political crisis about to explode, the president summoned the two top Democrats in Congress to the Oval Office for a strategy session. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sat alongside Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), the tension in the room acute (The Washington Post).

Lessons For The Democrats, Some Perhaps Cautionary, After A Signal Triumph Among the many lessons Democrats have learned from President Obama's 14-month slog through the nation's vitriolic health care debate is that there are two ways for a president to do business in hyperpartisan Washington. One is to go small, and partner across the aisle. The other is to go big, and go it alone (The New York Times).

Parties Joust Over Next Steps On Health As President Barack Obama prepares to sign the most far-reaching piece of social legislation in decades into law Tuesday, both political parties positioned themselves for a lengthy battle that could shape the political landscape in 2010 and perhaps beyond (The Wall Street Journal).

'Fix-It' Bill: Final Fight On Health Care Front Senate Democrats vowed to start debate today on a series of changes to President Obama's landmark health care legislation, launching the final battle in the year-long effort to revamp the nation's health insurance system (USA Today).

Health-Care Vote Looms As Big Issue For November Elections President Obama scheduled a Tuesday White House signing ceremony for landmark health-care legislation that passed the House on Sunday, as Democrats and Republicans began shifting their focus to November elections that seem certain to become a referendum on the most significant social legislation enacted in half a century (The Washington Post).

Obama Shifts From Pushing Healthcare Overhaul To Selling It Just before midnight Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel sent an e-mail to aides who had helped win passage of the historic healthcare overhaul. "Take a moment to celebrate tonight," Emanuel wrote. "It's onto the next one tomorrow" (Los Angeles Times).

Fight Rages To Define Health Care Bill To Public The vote is over. The fight is just beginning (USA Today).

In Swing Districts, Voters Take Stock A number of surveys circulated by Republicans in recent days have suggested vulnerable Democrats—such as Ms. Markey in Colorado and Rep. John Boccieri (D., Ohio), whose districts lean toward the GOP—put their jobs in jeopardy by voting with Democratic leaders to support the health overhaul. Meantime, Rep. Jason Altmire (D., Pa.) upset supporters by voting against the bill (The Wall Street Journal).

Political Memo: GOP Faces Drawback Of United Stand On Health Bill Passage of the health care legislation challenges the heart of the Republicans' strategy this year: To present a unified opposition to big Democratic ideas, in this case expressed in a stream of bristling anger and occasional mischaracterizations of what the bill would do (The New York Times).

Republicans Mobilize Healthcare Opposition Following their decisive healthcare defeat in the House, Republicans on Monday prepared a three-pronged effort to wage a continuing fight against the bill -- beginning with a drive this week to stall follow-up legislation in the Senate (Los Angeles Times).

Senate's Deliberative Process Frustrates The House
After passing historic health-care legislation Sunday and sending it to President Obama, House Democrats return to a familiar situation that has annoyed them for much of the past year: waiting for the Senate (The Washington Post).

States Opt Out, Legal Battles Brew On Health Bill Once President Obama signs the health care bill into law, look for opponents of the bill to move quickly to the next front: Attacking it as unconstitutional (NPR).

Health-Overhaul Foes Ready Court Challenges Opponents of the health-care overhaul awaiting President Barack Obama's signature said Monday they would quickly file legal challenges, potentially giving the U.S. Supreme Court a fresh opportunity to reopen questions about the limits of federal power (The Wall Street Journal).

Legal And Political Fights Loom The battle over health care is poised to move swiftly from Congress back to the country as Democrats, Republicans and a battery of interest groups race to define the legislation and dig in for long-term political and legal fights (The New York Times).

First Wave Of Health-Care Changes Will Target Insurers With New Rules In affixing his signature Tuesday to comprehensive health-care legislation, President Obama will set in motion a fundamental shift across a sprawling industry, from insurers who will face an expanding list of restrictions to hospitals and doctors confronted with new incentives to practice more-efficient care (The Washington Post).

Health Care: What You Could See Unlike most of the laws Congress passes each year, the massive health care bill President Obama will sign today is destined to affect nearly all American families (USA Today).

Small-Business Owners Unclear On Health Care Impact About as far as you can mosey from the health care reform heat of Washington, D.C., sits Avogadro's Number, a quirky sub shop in Fort Collins, Colo., where you get a free veggie sub on Mondays for each one you buy (USA Today).

Pinning Down The Benefits Of The Healthcare Overhaul As Americans delve into the healthcare blueprint approved by the House of Representatives on Sunday, they will confront a bargain not unlike those earlier generations of Americans faced with Social Security and Medicare (Los Angeles Times).

Major Health Changes Won't take Place Until 2014 Virtually every American will be affected by the health care bill that President Obama is to sign into law today (The Boston Globe).

Strict Abortion Rules Mean Fewer Insurers May Offer Coverage The health-care revamp will allow women to buy abortion coverage when they shop for insurance in government-run exchanges. But new requirements for offering such coverage may lead few insurers to offer it (The Wall Street Journal).

Casting Vote, And Now Trying To Sell It Back Home Irvin D. Newsome, a retired Greyhound bus driver, says he has been voting for Representative Allen Boyd since "as far back as I can remember." But that will change this November, Mr. Newsome vowed Monday, thanks to the decision by Mr. Boyd, a centrist Democrat, to change positions and support the health care overhaul that passed the House on Sunday night (The New York Times).

Senate Dems Brace For 'Poison Pills'
Democratic Senate leaders are fiercely lobbying their rank and file to hold the line against GOP efforts to change the final piece of their yearlong push to overhaul the nation's health care system (Politico).

Senate Democrats Get Favorable Ruling A ruling by Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin handed Democrats a major victory Monday night, beating back a GOP push to declare a key tax proposal in the health care bill out of order (Politico).

Health Headache For GOP Passage of healthcare reform poses a dilemma for Republicans, with the party debating the merits of making its repeal a major campaign theme (The Hill).

Sen. Harry Reid's Goal: Wrap Up Healthcare Package By Saturday Senate Democrats are planning to pass the final changes to landmark healthcare legislation by the end of the week but must first get past a final Republican stand (The Hill).

Obama, Democrats Gain Political Momentum With Healthcare Vote The passage of healthcare reform gives President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats significant political momentum. After months of infighting, the party is now on the brink of a huge accomplishment after the vote (The Hill). 

After Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill, Why Mess With Reconciliation? House Democrats don't like the health care reform bill they passed Sunday. They only did it because the Senate promised it would 'fix' the bill. And that's where reconciliation comes in (Christian Science Monitor).

KidsCare Repeal Said To Jeopardize Ariz. Funding A controversial decision by Arizona lawmakers to eliminate a health insurance program for poor children puts it at risk of losing billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding under the historic health care bill approved by Congress (The Associated Press).