health care reform

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MSNBC Will ID Analyst as PR Exec

(Newser) - From now on MSNBC will alert viewers that commentator Richard Wolffe also serves another boss—a high-powered Washington public relations and lobbying firm, where he works as a strategist. Executives made the decision following complaints that Wolffe may have pushed agendas for his clients under the guise of being an...

LA Plastered With Obama 'Joker' Posters

(Newser) - Posters of President Obama in Heath Ledger-like Joker makeup from The Dark Knight with a caption reading “Socialism” have sprung up in Los Angeles and Atlanta, the Daily Contributor reports. Similar posters online have the caption “why so socialist?” The guerilla art attacks, not yet claimed by any...

To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)
To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)
analysis

To Dodge Obamacare, Turn Amish (or Mennonite)

Measure based on tax laws aimed at Amish

(Newser) - Backers of health care reform on Capitol Hill want a plan that mandates insurance for all—but they appear willing to bend the rules for some religious Americans, Maura Reynolds of CQ Politics reports. Current legislation contains a religious exemption based on tax laws meant to give leeway to the...

5 Things to Watch During Critical August Break
 5 Things to Watch During 
 Critical August Break
forget the beach

5 Things to Watch During Critical August Break

Health care takes center stage in 'consequential' recess

(Newser) - With health care reform hanging in the balance, the August congressional recess is likely to be a lot less relaxing than usual, writes Glenn Thrush in Politico. What to watch:
  1. Health insurers’ response to Nancy Pelosi’s singling them out as the "bad guys" on soaring health care costs.
...

Networks Complain About Obama Hour
Networks Complain About Obama Hour

Networks Complain About Obama Hour

Broadcasters say 'overexposed' prez wastes valuable time

(Newser) - Networks are not happy about the primetime hour that President Obama's July 22 news conference took up, reports Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post. Rahm Emanuel called the top brass at all three networks to ensure they carried the event. The networks both resent the pressure and complain that they’...

Health Care Debate Readies for Road Trip

Democrats will spend recess targeting insurance companies

(Newser) - With the House already on break and the Senate readying for the August recess, the health care debate has moved to the court of public opinion, the New York Times reports. Both sides are launching campaign tours and waves of TV ads, with Democrats attacking the insurance industry and Republicans...

Health Care Works Great&mdash; for Congress
Health Care Works Great—
for Congress
ANALYSIS

Health Care Works Great— for Congress

Taxpayers spend $15B to offer 8.5M federal workers primo benefits

(Newser) - As members of Congress tear into each other over health care reform, they do so assured that a top shelf taxpayer-funded smorgasboard of health plans are there to respond to their slightest sniffle, Mark Barabak and Faye Fiore note in the Los Angeles Times. Last year, taxpayers spent about $15...

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
ANALYSIS

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker

But slim margin could vanish if bill moves left or right: Silver

(Newser) - A compromise health care bill will likely squeak through the House by about two dozen votes, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Friday night 31-28 vote is a good model, with its similar balance of Republicans, liberal and Blue Dog Democrats. The committee passed...

'Informed' Franken Wows Lawmakers
'Informed' Franken
Wows Lawmakers

'Informed' Franken Wows Lawmakers

Between Sotomayor and health care, comedian-turned-senator has been busy

(Newser) - A few weeks into his much-delayed Senate career, Al Franken is already winning plaudits from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, the AP reports. A member of two key Senate committees, the Minnesota Democrat has jumped into hot-button debates—like Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation and health care reform—and...

Health Reform Ads Already Turn Nasty

Dems' Nelson blasts liberal TV spot, warns tone will kill legislation

(Newser) - Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson is firing back against two liberal groups who are accusing him of partnering with insurance companies to “lead the charge to delay health reform” in a new TV ad, the Hill reports. “If this is an indication of the politics going into August, then...

Seniors Spooked by 'Kill Granny' Health Bill Campaign

(Newser) - Conservative radio hosts are scaring America's seniors with a campaign against an end-of-life counseling proposal in the health care reform bill, the Washington Post reports. Under the proposal doctors would be reimbursed for consulting with elderly patients about what medical interventions they would prefer as the end nears, but opponents...

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests
Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests
investigation

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests

Fishy practice highlights challenge of medical regulation

(Newser) - As Congress wrestles with health-care reform, studies show it’s tough to regulate the status quo: Doctors’ “self-referrals” for medical imaging have continued despite efforts to legislate against them, the Washington Post reports. Doctors who own the equipment that scans patients stand to make more cash—and tend to...

Health Industry Rains Cash on Blue Dog Dems

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs—the 52 fiscally conservative Democrats who have been fighting to kill health care reform proposals the industry doesn’t like—receive far more money from that industry than their non-coalition-member counterparts, the Washington Post reports. The reform push has been a boon for the lawmakers' ledgers; the...

Krugman, Noonan Agree: Just Build on Medicare
Krugman, Noonan Agree: Just Build on Medicare
OPINION

Krugman, Noonan Agree: Just Build on Medicare

We already have a fine government option

(Newser) - Everyone's suddenly allergic to letting the government into health care, but Paul Krugman has news: The government is already knee-deep in health care, he writes in the New York Times. It's called Medicare, and without it almost no one over 65 would be covered. You can also thank tax subsidies...

Our Decrepit Democracy Can't Fix Health Care: Klein

(Newser) - Powerful special interests are killing health-care reform, which is par for the course in Congress, writes Joe Klein of Time. “We’ve gotten rusty at legislating,” says one Tennessee Democrat. That’s overly kind, Klein retorts. The only bills that pass these days are essentials like budgets and...

Why Congress Won't Face the Fat Problem
 Why Congress Won't 
 Face the Fat Problem 
analysis

Why Congress Won't Face the Fat Problem

Lawmakers fear giving US 'bad news'—especially while munching Doritos

(Newser) - Congress is “in denial” on one key health issue: obesity, writes Lisa Lerer for Politico. Obesity-related illnesses reportedly cost $147 billion, or 10% of medical spending, last year—and lawmakers say they’re focused on cost-cutting. But, experts say, “no one wants to tell Americans the bad news....

Liberals Near Revolt Over Health Care Deal

(Newser) - Blue Dogs had a good day, but now liberals are howling. After the conservative Democrats managed to shift health care legislation to the center, progressive Democrats say they might mount a rebellion of their own, report Politico and the Hill. They're mostly upset that Henry Waxman agreed to water down...

Blue Dog Deal Means No Vote on Health Before Recess

Dems also agree on $100B trim: Waxman

(Newser) - The House will not vote on a health care bill before the August recess, the Hill reports. Rep. Henry Waxman agreed to the delay as part of a deal with “Blue Dog” Democrats on his Energy and Commerce Committee, who had been threatening to block the bill. Waxman now...

Obama's Health Plan Will Crack Whip on States

States mishandle Medicaid, get bullied by private firms: doctor

(Newser) - Doctors nationwide are “outraged” by President Obama’s health care plan, but “I call it progress,” writes one Missouri physician for Salon. The reform would take oversight out of the hands of states, which seemingly specialize in “lax regulation of private insurers” and poor handling of...

Why the Public Isn't Buying Obama's Health Care Plan

Because there really isn't a plan yet

(Newser) - Americans still want health care reform, polls show, but they're losing confidence in the Democrats' plan, and who can blame them, writes writes Nate Silver on FiveThirtyEight.com, because Democrats don’t actually have a plan yet. It probably would've been better if Obama had given them a plan, instead...

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