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Health Care News

Latest Health Care News

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

WSJ: Under Pressure, Obama Defends Health Care Plan President Barack Obama, confronting protests out on the street and serious questions about his health plan inside a high school, slammed talk of euthanasia "death panels" and Medicare cuts, urging supporters to confront the opposition that has forced him onto his political heels.

Politico: The Democrats’ Senior Problem Democrats have a senior citizen problem. Frustrated older Americans are packing the town halls on health care. They are incredibly passionate about their Medicare benefits. Polls show senior citizens largely disapprove of health care reform ideas so far.

The Hill: Dem Talking Points – Change over Status Quo Senate Democratic leaders are driving home a handful of key points during this month’s town hall forums on healthcare: Reform will be fully funded, will not jeopardize current doctor-patient relationships, and is the only alternative to the current, broken system.

WSJ Editorial: The Truth About Health Insurance The White House is priming the defibrillator paddles to revive ObamaCare, and its new strategy is to talk about "health-insurance reform," rather than "health-care reform." The point is to make its proposals seem less radical than they are, while portraying private insurers as villains for supposedly denying coverage to the sick.

CEO of Whole Foods: The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare At Whole Foods we allow our team members to vote on what benefits they most want the company to fund. Our Canadian and British employees express their benefit preferences very clearly—they want supplemental health-care dollars that they can control and spend themselves without permission from their governments. Why would they want such additional health-care benefit dollars if they already have an "intrinsic right to health care"? The answer is clear—no such right truly exists in either Canada or the U.K.—or in any other country.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

WSJ: Health Debate Isn’t About Health The health debate, which now has moved beyond the Beltway and into raucous town halls across the land, is so intense in part because it's not really about health care at all. On a deeper level, it's about the role of government in America's economy.

Politico: Obama Distances Himself From Pelosi, Hits the Campaign Trail Ahead of his own town hall Tuesday, President Barack Obama sought to distance himself from charges by Democratic congressional leaders that boisterous health care dissent is "un-American," with his spokesman saying that the protests are a part of American life. Yet Obama could be in for similar disruptions as he takes the health care road-show to Portsmouth, N.H., where both sides are gearing up for a vigorous session.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Pelosi & Hoyer: Dissent Is No Longer Patriotic It is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.

The Hill: House Dems Set Up Health Care ‘War Room’ House Democratic leaders have set up a healthcare “war room” to help their rank-and-file members navigate a tumultuous August in which they find themselves on the defensive on their signature issue.

Washington Post: Key Democrat Feels the Heat at Home The war's on," says  Rep. Baron P. Hill, and he's not talking about a conflict overseas, but a battle over health care in his own back yard, where thousands of people are trying to tell him what to do, some not so nicely.

Politico: Obama Astroturfs Organizing for America, President Obama's political organization, is urging supporters to visit the district offices of their local member of Congress to urge support for healthcare reform -- another move by Democrats to counter the loud opposition being voiced by conservatives at town halls.

Peggy Noonan: ‘You Are Terrifying Us’ We have entered uncharted territory in the fight over national health care. There’s a new tone in the debate, and it’s ugly. At the moment the Democrats are looking like something they haven’t looked like in years, and that is: desperate.

Robert Samuelson: Obama’s Health Care Will Make it Worse One of the bewildering ironies of the health care debate is that President Obama claims to be attacking the status quo when he's actually embracing it. Ever since Congress created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, health politics has followed a simple logic: Expand benefits and talk about controlling costs. That's the status quo, and Obama faithfully adheres to it.

NYT: Drug Industry OKs $150 Million Ad Blitz Supporting Obamacare The drug industry has authorized its lobbyists to spend as much as $150 million on television commercials supporting President Obama’s health care overhaul, beginning over the August Congressional recess, people briefed on the plans said Saturday.

Washington Post: U.S. Prepares for Swine Flu’s Return As the first influenza pandemic in 41 years has spread during the Southern Hemisphere's winter over the past few months, the United States and other northern countries have been racing to prepare for a second wave of swine flu virus.

Friday, August 7, 2009

AP: Top Democrat Denounces Health Care Protests The Senate's most powerful Democrat on Thursday scolded health care protesters dogging his party's lawmakers at local meetings, arguing that some critics on the political right have run out of ideas—and ditched their civic manners. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused the protesters of trying to "sabotage" the democratic process. Energized conservative activists said they'll keep up their fight against Obama's effort.

Andrew Ross: DNC Accuses Insurance Companies for Health Care Backlash A DNC operation accuses insurance companies, along with special interests, and partisan attack organizations of spreading smears about the president’s plan for reform, trying to incite constituents into lashing out at their representatives and disrupting their events. My question to the DNC is, who is smearing who?

Charles Krauthammer: Health Care Reform: A Better Plan In 1986, Ronald Reagan and Bill Bradley created a legislative miracle. They fashioned a tax reform that stripped loopholes, political favors, payoffs, patronage and other corruptions out of the tax system. With the resulting savings, they lowered tax rates across the board. Those reductions, combined with the elimination of the enormous inefficiencies and perverse incentives that go into tax sheltering, helped propel a 20-year economic boom.

Washington Post: Democrats Weigh the Calculus of Public Option As Congress breaks for its August recess, the debate back home will center on Democratic proposals to create a government-run insurance option, which insurers and Republicans are casting as a step toward socialized medicine. Most Republicans in Congress are dead set against a public option, saying it would drive insurers out of business.

Peggy Noonan: Voters Send a Message to Washington, and Get an Ugly Response We have entered uncharted territory in the fight over national health care. There’s a new tone in the debate, and it’s ugly. At the moment the Democrats are looking like something they haven’t looked like in years, and that is: desperate. They must know at this point they should not have pushed a national health-care plan.

Politico: White House Tells Democrats to ‘Punch Back Twice as Hard’ Top White House aides gave Senate Democrats a recess battle plan on Thursday, arming the lawmakers with tips for avoiding disastrous town hall meetings while showing them polling on popular aspects of the reform effort.

AP: Activists Say No Letup for Health Care Protests Conservative activists are vowing to keep up their fight against President Barack Obama's health care plans, even as the Democratic Party pushes back hard, accusing Republicans of organizing angry mobs.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Karl Rove: Obama Resorting to Tricks and Evasion Americans are now seeing the damage that polls and focus groups can inflict on White House decision-making. President Barack Obama is no longer shaping the public dialogue on health-care reform. Instead, he is losing control of his agenda and resorting to rhetorical tricks and evasions.

Washington Post: Protests at Democrats’ Health-Care Events Spark Political Tug of War Hectoring protesters at a handful of Democratic town hall forums became a flash point Wednesday in the health-care debate, as party leaders cast the critics as "angry mobs" trying to "destroy President Obama" while Republicans accused Democrats of dismissing public opposition to their proposals.

Michael Barone: Obama Would Stifle Military and Medical Creativity We Americans tend to take the great strengths of our country for granted. In the hubbub of political debate, we concentrate on things that are allegedly wrong with America and lose sight of our great achievements. We make up only 4 percent of the world's population. Yet we lead the world in many ways, and the rest of the world -- or that part of it not in the thrall of evil regimes -- depends on us for many of the things necessary to the good life.

AP: Arkansas Crowd Mocks Lawmakers Over Obama Health Plan An unruly Little Rock crowd heckled and shouted at two Arkansas Democratic congressmen Wednesday, accusing them of supporting a government-backed health plan that would take away Americans' personal choice and freedom. At one point, U.S. Rep. Mike Ross sat with his head in his hands while the crowd shouted. He and fellow Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder told audience members at a forum at Arkansas Children's Hospital that they wouldn't support a completely government-run, single-payer health insurance plan. plan.

AP: Government Insurance Would Allow Coverage for Abortion Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

WSJ: As Congress Goes on Break, Health Lobbying Heats Up The health-insurance industry said Tuesday it is launching an effort to send insurance-company employees to public meetings nationwide this month to rebut increasing criticism of the industry from the White House and top Democrats. In the lobbying frenzy, many longtime allies are divided, often pitting hospital against hospital, retailer against retailer and doctor against doctor.

Washington Post: Groups Take Health-Reform Debate to Airwaves The increasingly heated fight over health-care legislation is saturating the summer airwaves, with groups on all sides of the debate pouring tens of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns designed to push the cause of reform forward, slow it down or stop it in its tracks.

Washington Times: Dems Attack, Create Grass-Roots Effort on Health The White House tried to diminish the opposition as both sides were gearing up for the most crucial and potentially perilous leg of the journey of the president's signature legislative initiative. Mr. Obama had hoped to reach a resolution before a long August lull, during which advocacy groups could chip away at the support of the measure and members of Congress would have prolonged exposure to feedback from their constituents.

John Stossel: Impossible Promises I keep reading about health-care "reform," but I have yet to see anyone explain how the government can make it easier for more people to obtain medical services, control the already exploding cost of those services and not interfere with people's most intimate decisions. You don't need to be a Ph.D. in economics to understand that government cannot do all three things.

Jay Cost: Five Political Blunders As Congress heads into recess, it is a good time to evaluate its efforts in enacting health care reform. My opinion is that the leadership and the President have committed some significant blunders. While a bill is still quite possible, they have to stop making unforced errors. Here are five big mistakes they have made.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Politico: Democrats’ Break Looking Like a Bad Trip Angry protesters shouted down Democrats at public events from Texas to Pennsylvania over the weekend, leaving the party only one real hope for getting its message out over recess: a backlash.

Los Angeles Times: Obama Gives Powerful Drug Lobby a Seat at Healthcare Table As a candidate for president, Barack Obama lambasted drug companies and the influence they wielded in Washington. He even ran a television ad targeting the industry's chief lobbyist, former Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin, and the role Tauzin played in preventing Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. Since the election, Tauzin has morphed into the president's partner.

The Hill: Left is Miffed at Pelosi Over Her Comment House liberals are offended that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mocked their threats to oppose a Democratic healthcare bill, saying leaders are underestimating their frustration over a deal cut with centrist Blue Dogs.

AP: Dems Vow Bill With or Without Republicans Frustrated with the pace of bipartisan talks, Democratic leaders on Monday promised to push a sweeping health care bill through the Senate whether they get Republican support or not. Schumer said Democratic leaders continue to look at invoking a procedural maneuver that would allow them to pass the health bill with 51 instead of 60 votes. That route is viewed as a last resort since it limits what legislative measures would be allowed and any broad policy initiatives would probably have to be limited.

The Hill: Senate Dems at Odds Over Health Deadline A bipartisan group of senators has yet to establish a deadline for completing healthcare legislation, according to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), contradicting a party leader. Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who is leading closed-door negotiations, downplayed reports the he had until Sept. 15 to complete work on the bill.

Monday, August 03, 2009

LA Times: Democrats Walk a Careful Line on Healthcare Many lawmakers head home for their August recess to face constituents skeptical of Congress' overhaul plans. For Democrats in conservative districts, this could be a tough sell.

Politico: Senate Dems Spar Over Public Plan Internal clashes about the government insurance option have begun to spill into the open — as Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has gone public with his case against consumer-owned health care cooperatives, which are viewed as a compromise between progressives who want a public competitor to private insurers and Republicans who don’t want a new government plan.

Washington Post: Obama Trims Sails on Health Reform From the start of his presidency, Barack Obama made clear that his plan for enacting comprehensive health-care reform came down to three words: fast, broad and bipartisan. That was then. Now, as lawmakers begin to flee Washington for a month-long recess, the White House team is retooling its message and strategy, hoping a more modest approach will reinvigorate Obama's signature domestic policy initiative and give him a first-year victory for Democrats to carry into the 2010 midterm elections.

Lanny Davis: Obama’s Health Plans Confusing I am guessing that in the early days of the Obama administration, probably shortly after the arrival of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the "strategic decision" on health care was made, one that we are now watching unfold in recent days in Washington.

LA Times: Debating Prevention’s Place in Healthcare Bill As Congress struggles to decide how America should take care of its sick, another controversy is simmering over whether the healthcare legislation should include billions of dollars aimed at keeping people well. A draft Senate bill would provide up to $10 billion annually for a "prevention and public health investment fund" -- a portion of which could be used for infrastructure projects, such as bike paths and farmers markets meant to curb chronic and costly conditions like obesity.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Washington Times: Reform School Confused by health care reform? Rep. Tom Price has a little prescription for the Obamacare-challenged. Mr. Price is both a physician and chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, which introduced "The Empower Patients First Act" on Thursday. It equates increased patient control over personal health decisions with better care.

Politico: Blue Dogs Pulled In Two Directions Color it blue, this latest House deal to keep health care reform moving: Blue Dogs, Blue Cross-Blue Shield and all the blues sung by rural, middle-income and working-class families if no relief comes on medical insurance. Battered in the polls, a desperate White House is hailing the bargain as a way to preserve momentum before the August recess.

Fox News: Liberals Protest Health Care Deal Party leaders are quickly finding out that you can't please all Democrats all the time, as they try to reach an accord on health care reform. One day after House Democratic leaders struck what was seen as a breakthrough deal with a handful of key moderates, the liberal wing of the party lined up Thursday against the compromise. 

The Hill: Democrats Launch August Health Care Defense House Democrats have started to pick up the pieces on healthcare reform, but they face a difficult month at home defending their legislation to skeptical constituents. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday laid the groundwork for their defense. She blamed the health insurance industry and urged her members to do the same during their four-week break.

Charles Krauthammer: Obama Will Settle For Less on Health Care Yesterday, Barack Obama was God. Today, he's fallen from grace, the magic gone, his health-care reform dead. If you believed the first idiocy -- and half the mainstream media did -- you'll believe the second. Don't believe either. Conventional wisdom always makes straight-line projections. They are always wrong. Yes, Obama's aura has diminished, in part because of overweening overexposure.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

AP: RSC to Introduce Budget Neutral Health Reform Solution House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a $700 billion health care plan that would offer tax credits to help people buy insurance, yet unlike Democratic proposals, wouldn't require either individuals or employers to get coverage.  The plan would offer tax deductions and tax credits to help make the purchase of health insurance more affordable for individuals. It would provide grants to states to help set up high-risk pools for people with medical problems who are denied coverage by commercial insurers.

WSJ: Support Slips for Obama Health Plan Support for President Barack Obama's health-care effort has declined over the past five weeks, particularly among those who already have insurance, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found, amid prolonged debate over costs and quality of care.  In mid-June, respondents were evenly divided when asked whether they thought Mr. Obama's health plan was a good or bad idea. In the new poll, conducted July 24-27, 42% called it a bad idea while 36% said it was a good idea.

Politico: Liberal’s Gag Over Health Deal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent half of Wednesday finalizing a deal with the Blue Dogs — and the other half quelling a brewing rebellion among progressives who think conservatives have hijacked health care reform. Liberals, Hispanics and African-American members — Pelosi’s most loyal base of support — are feeling betrayed after House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) reached an agreement with four of seven Blue Dogs on his committee who had been bottling up the bill over concerns about cost.

Roll Call: Democratic Health Care Deal Far From Sealed Congressional Democrats steered their landmark health care overhaul back from the brink Wednesday by notching breakthroughs in both chambers, but the package still faces a long and bumpy ride to passage.  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.

WSJ Editorial: Pelosi’s Job Tax Even many Democrats are revolting against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 5.4% income surtax to finance ObamaCare, but another tax in her House bill isn’t getting enough attention. To wit, the up to 10-percentage point payroll tax increase on workers and businesses that don’t provide health insurance. This should put to rest the illusion that no one making more than $250,000 in income will pay higher taxes.

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