First Edition: September 15, 2010

Sep 15 2010

Today's headlines include news that a Florida judge has indicated the 20-state legal challenge to the new health law is likely to advance.

A Consumer's Guide To The Health Law, Six Months In
Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports: "By Sept. 23, the six month anniversary of the enactment of the health overhaul, many of the law's provisions will be in effect. Most consumers, however, won't see any changes until after Jan. 1 when their new health plan year begins" (Kaiser Health News).

Obama, Allies Ready Health Care Blitz
The White House and its allies are plotting campaigns they hope can bolster public opinion of the health care overhaul and improve the Democrats' chances at the polls this fall (Politico).

Opponents Present Case Against Obama's Health-Care Law In 20-State Suit
A year ago, thousands of Americans were so enraged by the pending health-care overhaul bill that they packed their Congress members' summer town hall meetings, transforming the annual political rituals into emotional screaming matches (The Washington Post).

Suit On Health Care Bill Appears Likely To Advance
A federal judge indicated on Tuesday that he would give a green light to a lawsuit filed by elected officials from 20 states who are challenging the constitutionality of the new health care law and its requirement that most individuals obtain medical insurance (The New York Times).

Lawsuit On Obama Health Plan Likely Going To Trial
A federal judge said Tuesday he will likely dismiss only parts of a lawsuit by 20 states challenging the Obama administration's health care overhaul as unconstitutional, though he didn't specifically say what portions (The Associated Press).

Senate Fails To Cut Tax Provision
The Senate rejected an amendment Tuesday that would have cancelled a new requirement of the health care overhaul. And so a little-noticed provision of the law lives on: Small businesses must file a 1099 form with the Internal Revenue Service if they buy supplies or services worth more than $600 from a vendor (NPR).

Senate Fails To Cut Tax Provision In Health Law
The Senate failed Tuesday to repeal or ease an arcane tax reporting provision of the new health care law, leaving millions of businesses in the lurch for now (The Associated Press).

Bill To Aid Small Businesses Advances In Senate
The bill's fate had become entangled with a separate battle over a provision in the health-care overhaul that requires businesses to file a 1099 tax form when they pay a vendor more than $600 in a year, a source of anger and protest from small businesses and their representatives in Washington (The Wall Street Journal).

Senate Defeats Plan To Strip Filing Requirement From Health Law
The Senate on Tuesday defeated an effort to strip a controversial tax-reporting provision from the sweeping healthcare law Congress passed earlier this year (The Hill).

Survey: Cost Of Health Insurance Claims To Rise
The costs that dictate employer-provided health insurance plans will climb more than 10 percent within the next 12 months, and financially pressured companies may pass more of this increase along to their workers through next year's benefits plans, according to an Aon Consulting report (The Associated Press).

Lynch Survives, Urquhart Conquers
Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch decisively defeated former organized labor official Mac D'Alessandro, surviving a Democratic primary challenge that focused on his opposition to the health care bill (Politico).