First Edition: October 30, 2009

Today's headlines have a tight focus on yesterday's unveiling by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the House health bill.

Corporate Wellness Programs: Healthier Employees, Lower Costs
Lawmakers trying to curb the rising cost of U.S. health care are eyeing the potential of wellness and prevention programs. The workplace, where Americans spend so much of their time, is seen as a natural place for some of these efforts. Dr. Fikry Isaac, executive director of global health services at Johnson & Johnson, runs the company's wellness program. He spoke recently with KHN's Jenny Gold about Johnson & Johnson's program and how corporate wellness could be incorporated into the current effort to overhaul the nation's health system (Kaiser Health News).

House Democrats Pull Together On Health Care
After six months of dealmaking, House Democratic leaders introduced a health-care reform bill Thursday that would expand coverage to almost all Americans and overhaul the insurance industry while asking the wealthiest taxpayers to pay much of the tab (The Washington Post).

Buoyant Democrats Unveil Health Care Legislation
House Democrats on Thursday unveiled their bill to remake the health care system and said they had the votes to pass it. But Republicans said gimmicks had been used to hide the measure's long-term costs (The New York Times).

Pelosi Unveils Healthcare Bill; House Moves Toward Floor Vote
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rolled out her long-awaited healthcare reform bill Thursday, but she may have some problems getting it to the House floor (The Hill).

Health Plan Gains Support In House
House Democrats on Thursday closed in on the votes they need to pass sweeping healthcare legislation, as party leaders introduced a 1,990-page bill designed to guarantee near-universal coverage for the first time in the nation's history (Los Angeles Times).

House Democrats Unveil Health Care Overhaul
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday unveiled details of a health care bill that Democrats say would extend insurance coverage to 36 million more Americans and outlaw exclusions for pre-existing conditions and that includes a public option (NPR).

House Democrats Unveil Health Care Bill
A landmark health care bill crafted by House Democratic leaders underscores the challenges lawmakers in Congress continue to face as they race to finish work on President Obama's top domestic priority by the end of the year (USA Today).

Liberals Don't Bolt From Pelosi Bill
For the past few days, the story line on the House health care bill has been simple: Nancy Pelosi couldn't deliver for the liberals. Not enough votes for the "obust" public option (Politico).

No 'Robust' Public Option In House Healthcare Reform Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced a $894 billion healthcare bill Wednesday that appears to have enough Democratic support to pass. The deal followed weeks of intense negotiation among strong factions within the Democratic majority, Democratic leaders, and the White House. In the end, compromises to limit the scope of a government run public option to compete with private insurers shifted momentum on the bill (The Christian Science Monitor).

Health Care Businesses At Risk In House Overhaul
The health care overhaul bill produced by House Democrats would impose an array of new taxes, fees and government mandates on major players in the health industry, including insurers, doctors and drugs and medical devices makers (The Associated Press/The Washington Post).

Drug Makers Face Tougher Measures
The House health-care bill presents more problems for drug makers than legislation in the Senate, but it gives the medical-device industry better breaks (The Wall Street Journal).

Business And Drug Groups Blast Bill; Doctors Are Uneasy
Business groups blasted the House healthcare bill released Thursday, and a key trade association for doctors declined to endorse it (The Hill).

Opt-In Divides Schumer And Emanuel
Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel, the architects of the Democrats' historic take-back of Congress in 2006, talk to each other nearly every day in abrupt, Morse code bursts stripped of hellos, goodbyes and thank-yous (Politico).

A Senate Naysayer, Spoiling For Health Care Fight
Senator Tom Coburn's office is the rare Capitol Hill work space without a "me wall" - the display of photographs of a lawmaker standing beside presidents, foreign leaders and other dignitaries, all illustrating How Big a Deal he is (The New York Times).

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