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When Mitt Romney vigorously defended Massachusetts’ decision to require that nearly every resident either have health insurance or pay a tax penalty Thursday night, some said it was the best support of the individual mandate made by any candidate so far this election cycle.
Some Florida lawmakers want to allow pharmacists to administer shingles and pneumonia vaccines to seniors. Physicians are pushing back.
Health care, especially the individual mandate, was the focus of a tense and angry exchange in Thursday night’s last debate before the crucial GOP Florida primary. In answering a question from the audience, all four candidates
Cuts in government payments for patient care and less construction of new nursing homes are taking a toll, and as baby boomers start to retire in great numbers, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Six in 10 people think that the justices’ decision on the individual mandate will be based on their own ideological views rather than legal analysis.
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about President Obama’s State of the Union speech. Obama talked little about health care, reflecting maybe the hard sell they’re having getting the public to buy into the health law’s benefits. Republicans talked about reforming Medicare in their response.
The president was brief but resolute on health reform in his State of the Union speech. In the GOP response, Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind., said Medicare dollars should be devoted to “those who need them most.”
Video: Health care came up in a variety of ways in Monday’s debate in Tampa, sponsored by NBC, National Journal and the Tampa Bay Times. Mitt Romney accused Newt Gingrich of influence-peddling on Medicare and also defended the Massachusetts health care reform. Rick Santorum tried to distinguish himself from both men, claiming their support of the individual mandate in the past undermines their conservative credentials. And he defended his behavior during the 1995 controversy about Terri Schiavo, who was in the center of a right-to-die dispute.
