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Today’s Opinions And Editorials
Kaiser Health News presents a sampling Of Monday’s opinions and editorials from around the United States.
News outlets report on some of the major figures in the health care overhaul debate, including Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.
News outlets report on nursing workforce issues, including a push for an expanded role for nurse practitioners, supervision of nurse anesthetists and a trend toward delayed retirement.
Meanwhile, California may be the next battle ground involving a tax on sugary soft drinks.
Insurers Rebut Criticisms Of Profits, Rates
As the Obama Administration seizes on a California insurer’s 39-percent rate hike earlier this month in order to rally new support for a health overhaul, that insurer’s top executive is preparing to go before Congress.
VA Focuses On Female Veterans’ Struggles, Disability Claims Backlog
Department of Veterans Affairs seeks to help female veterans who experience multiple struggles when they come home and address the backlog in disability claims.
States, facing strapped budgets, make trims in Medicaid that leave many in California with out dental coverage. New York, Louisiana and Virginia looking at trimming Medicaid budgets.
Public Option Again Gains Steam; Cadillac Tax Would Fall Equally On Non-Union Plans
The public option is picking up momentum, while a new study on the ‘Cadillac tax’ suggests it would fall equally on union and non-union health plans.
Senate, FDA Reports Increase Concerns About Controversial Diabetes Drug
A Senate report provokes increased scrutiny into a diabetes drug that may damage the heart.
Governors On Health Reform: ‘We Want In’
Many governors, frustrated by lingering budget shortfalls deepened by rising health costs, are taking up the mantle of Congress’s stalled health overhaul.
First Edition: February 22, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest on the upcoming health summit, a new presidential plan to curb health insurance premium rate hikes and what the nation’s governors are thinking about health reform.
McConnell: Republicans Will Attend Obama’s Health Summit
The Senate’s top Republican says GOP is “ready to participate” but criticizes Democratic “arrogance” in not scrapping health overhaul bill and starting over.
As Health Insurance Premiums Rise Sharply, Lawmakers And Consumers Face Tough Choices
Steep increases in individual health insurance premiums are sparking reactions across the country. Sen. Diane Feinstein will introduce legislation allowing the federal government to deny big increases in rates.
Democrats, GOP Plot Health Reform Strategy For Obama ‘Summit’
President Obama will release his health plan for the summit Monday and Majority Leader Reid says he’s ready to use reconciliation to pass a bill.
Obama To GOP On Health Reform: ‘Show Me What You’ve Got’
President Obama stepped up his campaign for passage of a health care reform bill, and he plans to offer policy specifics in advance of next week’s planned bipartisan summit.
U.N. Calls For $1.4B To Fund Basic Needs In Haiti Through The End Of 2010
The U.N. on Thursday launched its “largest appeal following a natural disaster,” calling for $1.4 billion “to provide food, water, shelter and sanitation to 3 million Haitians throughout 2010,” Bloomberg/BusinessWeek reports (Varner, 2/18).
A congressional delegation “met Thursday with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Finance Minister Tendai Biti to discuss progress in fully implementing the September 2008 Global Political Agreement for power sharing and on reforms by the Harare unity government,” VOA News reports (Zulu, 2/18).
Health Worker Training Program Cuts Stillbirths By 30% In 6 Developing Countries, Study Says
The rate of stillbirths was cut by more than 30 percent after health workers in rural parts of six developing countries were trained “in how to help a newborn start breathing and to keep it warm and clean,” according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports. The trainees
