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As House Democratic leaders celebrate passage of health care legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., continues to await a Congressional Budget Office analysis as he tries to craft a compromise package between bills passed by the Senate Finance and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees.
Democrats get new momentum from House passage of a health care bill, but face new tests in bridging differences within the party — and between the chambers — on cost, financing and coverage.
Health policy experts hold different views on Saturday’s House overhaul vote. KHN asked Karen Pollitz, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Jonathan Cohn, Robert Laszewski, Robert Blendon and John Goodman to respond.
Democrats are still savoring the the narrow passage of their historic heath care overhaul in the House of Representatives and turning their attention to the deeply divided Senate. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Neither fiscal conservatives nor liberals are left with much reason to believe the House-passed bill has much chance of bending any cost curves.
The House vote signals that we may be ready to listen to our better angels, and include all Americans in our coverage system.
With the right leadership, a bi-partisan merger of the Republican alternative and the coverage expansions in the bill itself could have been augmented with real delivery system reforms.
The House health overhaul bill is a great start. It should just be faster, stronger and–really–bigger.
The health care legislation in the House has John Dingell’s name on it. The Democrat from Michigan is the longest-serving member in the history of the House, and he was there when Medicare was passed. Dingell’s father first introduced a bill calling for universal health coverage in the 1930s. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
With the pressure of a severe budget crisis, California officials have made tough cuts to health services once deemed vital. Funds for dental clinics, foot and eye care, hearing aids, mental health care and other services long covered under the state’s Medicaid program have been slashed.
House Republicans are questioning whether the lobbying group is putting its potential for profit ahead of its members’ interests. It seems that whenever health care changes are debated, one party or the other seeks to undermine the organization’s clout. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
If the president and his aides continue to signal that House bill is acceptable, they will never be able to deliver the real reform the president has promised.
Those who want a health reform bill passed by Christmas fear that if that doesn’t happen, there could be a repeat of the brutal August town hall meetings. Others don’t think the situation is so dire and say that Democrats could deliver the bill to Obama by the spring.
House Democrats late Tuesday released a 42-page “manager’s amendment” to accompany their health care legislation.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have legislation they say is a less expensive alternative to the Democrats’ health overhaul bill. They plan to introduce it as an amendment in the next week.
Successful demonstration projects are often derailed by objections from hospitals, doctors and other providers —
Lawmakers thought they had crafted “abortion-neutral language,” essentially maintaining the status quo, but neither side of the debate is happy. And the issue is causing headaches for the Catholic Church, where opposition to abortion is running headlong into support for a health overhaul.
House Democrats are expected to begin floor debate this week on their health care overhaul plan and House Republicans are expected to unveil an alternative measure.
House Democrats are expected to begin floor debate this week on their health care overhaul plan and House Republicans are expected to unveil an alternative measure.
Despite all the controversy, a new Congressional Budget Office estimate indicates that relatively few people would be helped by a public health insurance plan. Any “opt-out” provision means at least some states are likely to bar a government-backed plan within their borders.
