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2009 Daily Dose

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2009, June 02, 2009
As Congress and the President move to reform our health care system, a report released today provides context for what health care reform means for the American economy. Yesterday, six major health care organizations from across the stakeholder spectrum followed up on their promise and delivered to the President a more detailed proposal of where they could save the health care system $2 trillion over 10 years.

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2009, June 03, 2009
Analysis in a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that limiting the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance could provide significant revenues for health reform. The 161 million Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are facing substantial increases in out-of-pocket costs.

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009, June 04, 2009
A new study by Harvard University researchers shows a sizable increase over six years in bankruptcies caused in part by ever-higher medical expenses. Yesterday the White House released a letter sent by the President to Senators Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus, the Chairmen of the key committees in the Senate handling health care reform, spelling out in detail what he would like to see in this historic legislation.

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2009, June 05, 2009
Most observers see rising costs as an inexorable force, blame advancing technology, and conclude that only by rationing beneficial care or making draconian price cuts can we slow the growth of health care costs. As support grows on Capitol Hill for taxing workers’ medical benefits to pay for a health care overhaul, Democrats on the House’s tax-writing panel hold a thin line of resistance.

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2009, June 08, 2009
After months of insisting he would leave the details to Congress, President Obama has concluded that he must exert greater control over the health care debate and is preparing an intense push for legislation. The Democratic National Committee is trying to lay the groundwork across the country for broad acceptance of President Obama’s upcoming overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system.

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009, June 09, 2009
Black, Latino and Asian lawmakers want President Barack Obama to focus more on racial disparities reported in medical treatment. Despite consistent increases in spending, disparities among demographic groups persist. Low-income Americans and racial and ethnic minorities experience disproportionately higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care.

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2009, June 10, 2009
Spurred on by President Obama and an array of businesses, medical providers and consumers clamoring for change, congressional Democrats have begun to lay out specific plans for overhauling the nation's healthcare system. House Democratic leaders gave members their first glimpse of their version of President Obama’s healthcare overhaul on Tuesday.

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009, June 11, 2009
Health care reform begins to make its way through Congress at a time when 72 percent of the country thinks we’re becoming less healthy and 60 percent believes that the American health care system needs a complete overhaul or major reform. Small businesses in the United States are being undermined by our current healthcare system.

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2009, June 12, 2009
Various Democratic caucuses have come forth with what they want health care reform to include. A coalition of more than 100 moderate House Democrats is hoping to unify as they attempt to limit the size and scope of a government-sponsored health insurance option — a key sticking point as health reform enters a delicate phase of negotiations.

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2009, June 15, 2009
The President has long noted that skyrocketing health care costs will be disastrous for our long term national debt unless we pass real reform. A national health insurance exchange with competing private plans and a new public plan has the potential to provide greater choices, better benefits, and more affordable premiums.

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2009, June 16, 2009
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has come out with a series of fact sheets on various proposals being discussed to help cover the cost of health care reform. MedPAC’s June report focuses on how incentives in the Medicare payment systems could be changed to strengthen the Medicare program and promote quality care for Medicare beneficiaries.

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009, June 17, 2009
As the legislative work of health care reform begins in earnest, the Foundation’s latest tracking poll finds a fair amount of stability in Americans’ attitudes towards possible changes in policy. Even though there are over 1,000 private insurance carriers in the U.S, most states are dominated by one or two health insurance providers.

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009, June 18, 2009
Former Senators Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, and Bob Dole have come forth with a bipartisan proposal for health care reform. As lawmakers discuss comprehensive health reform legislation amidst the backdrop of a struggling national economy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released the first-ever monthly measure of consumer confidence in American health care.

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2009, June 19, 2009
Today, the House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor Committees released the discussion draft of the House health care reform bill. They are inviting instructive input to be submitted via email. Committees will be holding bi-partisan hearings next week on the discussion draft.

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009, June 22, 2009
Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering. On Saturday President Obama announced a deal between lawmakers and the nation’s pharmaceutical companies that will bring down health care costs and reduce the price of prescription drugs for millions of America’s seniors.

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2009, June 23, 2009
With each passing year, Americans are paying more for health care coverage. Skyrocketing premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs are battering family budgets, eroding U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and threatening the American standard of living. Health costs are increasing at an unsustainable rate, and the national economy will not thrive unless they are reined in.

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2009, June 24, 2009
Fundamental health reform is integral to putting the country on the path to economic recovery. Several new nonpartisan polls show strong public support for reforming health care as well as a public health insurance option.

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009, June 25, 2009
President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress on Wednesday to pass healthcare reform this year. A group that helped elect President Barack Obama is building a database of complaints from Americans about health care to help him push through an overhaul.

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2009, June 26, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2009, June 29, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009, June 30, 2009
The Obama administration's implementation of stimulus package incentives intended to spur nationwide adoption of electronic medical records will give special attention to solo practitioners and small group practices. Small medical practices provide the majority of all ambulatory care visits in the United States, yet many lack the resources to improve the quality of care delivered to a diverse population...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2009, July 01, 2009
House and Senate lawmakers working on a major overhaul of the health-care system have reached a familiar juncture in their effort to reshape one of the largest sectors of the economy. With more questions than answers arising in the debate over his healthcare proposal, President Obama is looking to pressure Congress by taking his push for reform back on the road...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2009, July 02, 2009
The United States spends more on health care than anyone "but unfortunately the quality of care is going down," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a conference call last week with regional reporters. The percentage of Americans with private health insurance has hit its lowest mark in 50 years, according to two new government reports...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009, July 06, 2009
President Barack Obama told top congressional Democrats Thursday that he was putting his political capital behind health care reform and reminded them that it was crucial for both chambers to pass legislation this month. Congress returns this week with mounting pressure on Democrats to meet President Obama’s mid-August deadline for passing health-care legislation...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2009, July 07, 2009
Comprehensive reform will likely require an investment of $1 trillion or more over the 2010–19 period to achieve coverage for all and implement critical system reforms. It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009, July 08, 2009
President Barack Obama on Tuesday welcomed progress on health care overhaul as Senate Democrats and the administration closed in on a deal with hospitals to help pay for his proposed expansion of medical coverage to the uninsured. Until recently, it looked like long-term care was not going to be a serious part of any potential health care overhaul...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2009, July 09, 2009
INTERACTIVE MAP: U.S. Hospital Death Rates In this interactive USA Today graphic, you'll find readmissions and death rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia for more than 4,400 hospitals in the nation.

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2009, July 10, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2009, July 14, 2009
On July 14, 2009, the House Tri-Committee introduced the America's Affordable Health Choice Act of 2009. The three committees with jurisdiction over health policy in the House have been working together as one committee to develop a single bill that fulfills President Obama's goals...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2009, July 15, 2009
Yesterday the House Tri-Committee dropped H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act. White House officials promise that President Barack Obama will be more engaged than ever with lawmakers and the public on health care this month and next as the legislation enters a critical phase...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2009, July 16, 2009
Praising and prodding Congress at once, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said a vast reform of the nation's health insurance system is required to head off instability to families, industry and the government itself. At the same time President Obama is asking members of Congress to take one of the most politically difficult votes of their careers...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2009, July 17, 2009
Policymakers have been considering two major proposals to help finance health care reform that represent sound tax policy: (1) limiting the tax exclusion for employer-provided health benefits, and (2) capping the value of itemized deductions at 28 percent or a somewhat higher level. Although much attention in health overhaul legislation has been given to a public plan option, employer mandates and other hotly contested proposals, most voters favor a health system overhaul focused on disease prevention, health information technology and care coordination...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009, July 20, 2009
In his weekly address to the Nation, the President called on Congress to seize this opportunity – one that may not come again for decades – and finally pass health care reform. In his most recent remarks, President Obama has stopped mentioning what had been his mantra — that the House and Senate finish their health-care bills by the August recess — and switched to a less specific call to fast action.

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2009, July 21, 2009
Trying to keep the health care debate moving on his terms, President Barack Obama on Tuesday touted the consensus reached by lawmakers so far and dismissed efforts to delay or defeat emerging legislation. Over the last three years, nearly three-quarters of people who tried to buy coverage in this market never actually purchased a plan, either because they could not find one that fit their needs or that they could afford, or because they were turned down due to a preexisting condition...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009, July 22, 2009
The United States leads all industrialized countries in the share of national health care expenditures devoted to insurance administration. President Barack Obama is significantly raising his personal stake in the effort to overhaul America's health-care system, as Democrats and the public express growing unease about the costs...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009, July 23, 2009
Wednesday night in a primetime press conference focused on health insurance reform, President Obama explained what's in reform for you and your family. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday a healthcare overhaul was central to his economic recovery effort and vowed to push reforms through this year...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009, July 24, 2009
As families increasingly struggle to balance health care costs with everyday needs, nearly all Americans are acutely aware of the urgent need for comprehensive reform of our health care system. A comprehensive overhaul of the health care system, eliminating inefficiencies and wasteful practices, will be crucial in correcting the nation’s unsustainable fiscal excesses...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009, July 27, 2009
In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama discusses a key factor that has been considered in the development of the health insurance reform proposals that are being considered: the impact of reform on small business. During the weekly address, the President asked that small business owners and employees give comments and questions on the report, such as experiences with health care of those involved in small business, and thoughts and questions on the new CEA report...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2009, July 28, 2009
President Obama and his Democratic allies, scrambling to broker a health care deal Monday, finally got an upbeat assessment from Congress' official scorekeeper when it said the plan for government-run coverage would not force out private insurers. The bipartisan healthcare overhaul proposal in the works behind closed doors in the Senate Finance Committee will not include a broad employer mandate...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2009, July 29, 2009
President Barack Obama, just days before Congress's August recess, will head to North Carolina and Virginia Wednesday to press his health-care agenda, with a new emphasis on health insurance regulation and new details on the changes he is seeking. President Obama defended his push for a new public health insurance plan Tuesday...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2009, July 30, 2009
A look at health care legislation taking shape in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate as President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the system, cover nearly 50 million uninsured Americans and contain rising costs. After weeks of infighting and negative headlines, Democrats finally found a little momentum on health care as negotiators broke a critical logjam in the House...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2009, July 31, 2009
House Democrats are taking steps to limit annual price increases for insurance policies sold under a sweeping bill to extend health care to nearly all the 50 million uninsured Americans. Nationwide, hospital emergency departments (EDs) are in crisis. The demand for ED services has increased steadily while capacity has shrunk, due largely to hospital closures...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2009, August 03, 2009
House members headed home on Friday, leaving behind the outlines of a nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul that is sure to draw fire from a variety of interests. Our broken health care system forces families and businesses to struggle with skyrocketing costs and puts millions of Americans at risk of losing the insurance they have now...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2009, August 04, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2009, August 05, 2009
President Barack Obama is wading deeper into the health care debate, hosting dozens of lawmakers at the White House since the middle of July in an outburst of personal presidential diplomacy designed to prod legislation toward a vote. The White House launched a coordinated effort Tuesday to combat what it calls a “viral whisper campaign” to torpedo health care reform...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2009, August 06, 2009
Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion. In an unusual e-mail appeal, President Barack Obama is asking millions of his campaign supporters to commit to attending at least one community event on health care this month...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2009, August 07, 2009
President Barack Obama on Thursday told a group of six Senate Finance Committee members to continue working toward a bipartisan health care bill, but stressed the urgency of getting a bill done this year. Top Obama aides promised Senate Democrats that the White House would defend them on health care if opponents attack...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2009, August 10, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009, August 11, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009, August 12, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009, August 12, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2009, August 13, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2009, August 14, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2009, August 17, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2009, August 18, 2009
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs insisted Monday that there has been no change in President Barack Obama’s desire to see a public health insurance option be part of a healthcare bill. Several leading Democrats voiced concern Monday about an apparent White House shift on health-care reform, objecting to signals from senior administration officials that they would abandon the idea of a government-run insurance plan if it lacked the backing to pass Congress...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2009, August 19, 2009
The White House Office of Health Reform released a new report showing the incredible financial burden of rising health care costs and inadequate coverage on individuals and families. The White House on Tuesday denied that comments by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were meant to signal that President Barack Obama is backing away from a public insurance option...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009, August 20, 2009
President Obama sought Wednesday to reframe the health care debate as “a core ethical and moral obligation,” imploring a coalition of religious leaders to help promote the plan to lower costs and expand insurance coverage for all Americans. The White House insisted today that it is still hoping for Republican support for health care reform...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2009, August 21, 2009
President Obama said Thursday that he “would love to have more Republicans engaged” in the health care negotiations under way in Congress, but expressed doubt that a bipartisan compromise could be reached because he suspected the party’s leadership was intent on defeating his signature domestic priority. President Barack Obama, seeking to rally his base, accused Republican leaders Thursday of trying to block a health-care overhaul from the start and again threw his weight behind a government-run insurance plan...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2009, August 24, 2009
One of the most widely accepted arguments against a government medical plan for the middle class is that it would quash competition — just what private insurers seem to be doing themselves in many parts of the U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Friday said there is no deadline for the House to vote on contentious legislation to overhaul the health-care system...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009, August 25, 2009
Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people. Costs for employer-provided health plans are expected to rise more than 10 percent within the next 12 months, a jump workers may feel in their paychecks or through changes to their insurance coverage...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2009, August 26, 2009
The Obama administration updated its economic forecast in its mid-session budget review this morning. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Tuesday that a bipartisan health care reform bill being negotiated in his committee is even more essential given the $7 trillion to $9 trillion federal budget deficit projected over the next decade...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2009, August 27, 2009
The White House is asking doctors to help promote its drive to overhaul health care, marking another effort by President Obama to regain momentum on one of his top-priority issues. Hospitals may gain as much as $16 billion over a decade from the Obama administration's proposals to overhaul the healthcare system...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009, August 28, 2009
With a virtual civil war raging over parts of President Obama's healthcare agenda, the smoke of battle has obscured a surprising fact: Democrats and Republicans actually agree on a bundle of proposals that could make medical insurance better for millions of Americans. Democrats in the Congress hope to pass President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the country's $2.5 trillion healthcare system amid mounting public skepticism and unified opposition from Republicans...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2009, August 31, 2009
President Obama's supporters hope to recapture the energy of last year's triumphant election campaign in a bid to regain control of the health-care debate, planning more than 2,000 house parties, rallies and town hall meetings across the country over the next two weeks. Medicare beneficiaries would often have to pay higher premiums for prescription drug coverage, but many would see their total drug spending decline...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2009, September 01, 2009
STUDY: Using Clinical Information To Project Federal Health Care Spending...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009, September 02, 2009
This time, the President is going to be specific. Next week, President Obama is going to give Democrats a health care plan they can begin to sell. President Obama is planning for “a new season” of more hands-on advocacy for his troubled domestic priority, an overhaul of the health care system, according to his advisers...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009, September 03, 2009
After spending weeks on the defensive in the fight over his top legislative priority, President Obama will attempt to regain the initiative in the health-care debate with an address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday night. President Obama and top aides have quietly stepped up talks with moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine on a scaled-back health care bill...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009, September 04, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009, September 08, 2009
Looking to rescue his signature domestic policy initiative with a prime-time address to Congress on Wednesday, President Obama for the first time is poised to

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009, September 09, 2009
The conventional wisdom, here and around the country, is that the centerpiece of President Obama’s domestic agenda — remaking the health care system to cut costs and cover the uninsured — is on life support and that only a political miracle could revive it. Here’s why the conventional wisdom might be wrong. President Barack Obama, in a high-stakes speech Wednesday to Congress and the nation, will press for a government-run insurance option in a proposed overhaul of the U.S. health-care system...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2009, September 10, 2009
Casting himself as a voice of reason in a bitter debate, he says the parties must come together. Congressional Democrats on Thursday began their push to unify their ranks behind President Obama's outline for health-care legislation, hours after the president laid out that plan in a speech that was met with loud protests from some Republican lawmakers...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2009, September 11, 2009
Democratic congressional leaders predicted passage of health care legislation within a few months despite undimmed Republican opposition, claiming momentum Thursday from President Barack Obama's speech and renewed commitment from lawmakers fresh from a month of meetings with constituents. President Obama’s speech on health care failed to bridge the gulf with Republicans, but Democrats said on Thursday that the president had largely succeeded in unifying his own party by making a cogent, persuasive pitch to the American public...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009, September 14, 2009
President Obama tells Steve Kroft in an interview airing Sunday on CBS News' "60 Minutes: "I intend to be president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it. ... So I have every incentive to get this right." Before a packed Target Center in Minneapolis, the president reaffirmed his plan to lower the cost of care, cover more Americans and prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2009, September 15, 2009
One more day of negotiations stands between Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus and his release of the health care plan everyone is awaiting. But finishing touches are still needed on some difficult issues, including abortion coverage, provisions regarding illegal immigrants, Medicaid funding and costs to consumers. The Congressional Budget Office will likely provide a cost estimate of health care overhaul legislation being written by the Senate Finance Committee that will go beyond the normal 10-year time frame, Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad said Monday...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009, September 16, 2009
An average family health insurance policy now costs more than some compact cars, and four in 10 companies will likely pass more of that expense on to workers, according to a closely watched survey of businesses released Tuesday. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) will release his long-awaited health care reform bill Wednesday – but without the Republican support he has sought for months...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009, September 17, 2009
The Obama administration said Medicare will help fund state pilot projects that use primary-care doctors and teams of coordinators to manage patient care and reduce costs. Pushing for health care reform didn’t turn out so well for the last first lady in a Democratic White House...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2009, September 18, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009, September 21, 2009
President Obama sought to blanket the airwaves with an impassioned defense of his health-care reform effort Sunday during back-to-back broadcasts of taped interviews on five morning news programs. President Obama on Sunday pushed back against the argument from liberal Democrats that the leading health care bill in the Senate would place a new financial burden on the middle class...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009, September 22, 2009
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched an investigation into Humana Inc.'s effort to enlist beneficiaries to fight proposed cuts to Medicare's private plans. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was asked several times on Monday about the GOP’s lack of a specific healthcare reform plan...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009, September 23, 2009
Vice President Joe Biden said new data showing health-insurance premiums rising faster in every state than wages or inflation highlight the need for health-care legislation. Vice President Biden added his voice Tuesday to the administration's efforts to reform health care, telling a meeting of state insurance commissioners that tighter regulation of the industry is needed to protect consumers and slow the spiraling cost of medical coverage...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009, September 24, 2009
House Democrats working on health care overhaul plans are ready to turn their attention fully to the floor, now that the Energy and Commerce Committee has disposed of a few remaining amendments held over from the panel’s July markup. Progress on a health care bill slowed in the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday as Democrats and Republicans sparred over both procedure and policy...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2009, September 25, 2009
Business is parting from its traditional allies in the Republican Party on health care as companies and big corporate lobbyists lend tentative support to a congressional overhaul that conservative lawmakers staunchly oppose. Drowning out the noise of the debate, here are 3 things that stand a good chance of passing if lawmakers wrap up reform this year...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009, September 28, 2009
The cost of medical benefits is projected to jump again next year with premiums and out-of-pocket expenses rising 10 percent, and that likely will mean more pain for workers, who have seen their share of the tab triple since 2001. Federally funded health centers, originally created to serve the poor, are seeing a surge of patients as more Americans struggle financially...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2009, September 29, 2009
Amid the mercurial American public, support for healthcare reform may have slid over the summer (blame it on the doldrums perhaps, if not individual performances), but now it's fall -- and the support seems to be ticking back up. So far, a proposal to allow a new Medicare Commission to curb spending growth in the program has survived in the Senate Finance Committee’s health overhaul bill...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009, September 30, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009, October 01, 2009
The Senate poses the main hurdle to President Obama’s effort to overhaul the health care system. But passing so far-reaching a bill in the House is not going to be easy either. Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009, October 02, 2009
The Senate Finance Committee wrapped up its debate on amendments to its health care overhaul early Friday, after adopting a bipartisan plan that would ease penalties for lower-income Americans who cannot afford to comply with the bill’s mandates. The Senate Finance Committee voted Thursday to soften the impact of financial penalties that would be imposed on people who did not obtain insurance under sweeping health care legislation...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009, October 05, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009, October 06, 2009
As Democrats prepare to take up health care legislation on the floor of the Senate and the House, they are facing tough choices about two competing priorities. As Congress presses forward with landmark legislation to revamp the nation's health-care system, lawmakers are grappling with a troubling question: Are Americans dying too soon? The answer is yes...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009, October 07, 2009
Some influential centrist Democrats in the Senate are warming to a compromise that envisions health-insurance plans run by state governments, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice Tuesday to a small group of Republicans expressing support for a Democratic-led overhaul plan...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2009, October 08, 2009
Congressional budget analysts gave an important political boost Wednesday to a Senate panel's health-care overhaul, projecting that the $829 billion measure would dramatically shrink the ranks of the uninsured and keep President Obama's pledge that doing so would not add "one dime" to federal budget deficits...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009, October 09, 2009
The White House and top Democrats, intensifying their push to build support for their party's health overhaul proposals, are increasingly targeting women, a politically crucial group with strong opinions on health care that polls suggest has yet to be sold on the changes...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2009, October 13, 2009
The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to approve legislation that would reshape the American health care system and provide subsidies to help millions of people buy insurance, as Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, joined all 13 Democrats on the panel in support of the landmark bill...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009, October 14, 2009
Another Republican senator says she's open to voting for a sweeping health care overhaul this year. Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday the status quo is unaccaptable and she shares the goal of passing responsible health care legislation to expand coverage and curb costs...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009, October 15, 2009
A delegation of senior White House officials met on Wednesday at the Capitol with the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the chairmen of the Finance and health committees, as Democrats turned their full attention to merging competing versions of the comprehensive health care legislation...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009, October 16, 2009
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday told fellow Democrats the time has come for all members of the party to say where they stand on the government-run health insurance program...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2009, October 19, 2009
Senate Republicans, acknowledging they lack the votes to block a health care reform bill outright, have implemented a comprehensive political strategy to delay, define and derail...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009, October 20, 2009
The number of Americans worried about losing their current health care coverage keeps rising, even as President Barack Obama and a Democrat-led Congress strive to extend society's safety net to cover the uninsured, a new poll has found...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009, October 21, 2009
Supporters of health care reform told senators Tuesday that insurance exchanges are a critical part of proposed health care legislation for small businesses, which are cutting jobs and coverage to keep up with insurance costs...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2009, October 22, 2009
Now that the shouting from August's town hall meetings has died down and Congress has made progress on a health care overhaul, there's growing agreement among policy experts about how Medicare will be affected...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2009, October 23, 2009
Speaker Nancy Pelosi made another bid to solidify support for Democrats’ ambitious health care plans on Friday, pledging to move aggressively to close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare drug coverage...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009, October 26, 2009
As Congress nears votes on legislation that would overhaul the health care system, many small businesses say they are facing the steepest rise in insurance premiums they have seen in recent years...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009, October 27, 2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid announced Monday that he will include a government-backed insurance plan in the chamber's health-care reform legislation, a key concession to liberals who have threatened to oppose a bill without such a public option...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009, October 28, 2009
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says House leaders are pleased that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is including government-sponsored insurance in the Senate's health care bill...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009, October 29, 2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will unveil a health-care reform bill on Thursday that includes a government insurance option and a historic expansion of Medicaid, although sticking points in the legislation involving abortion and immigration remain unresolved...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009, October 30, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2009, November 02, 2009
As health care reform legislation inexorably makes its way through Congress, President Barack Obama, who has the biggest stake in its success, has seemed distant from the grueling, detailed work of crafting the reform law...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2009, November 03, 2009
After months of criticizing Democratic efforts to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, House Republicans have produced a healthcare bill they will offer as an alternative when Democrats bring their health overhaul to the floor...

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2009, November 04, 2009
People with pre-existing medical conditions would pay up to 50 percent more for insurance coverage under a draft version of House Republicans’ health care plan...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009, November 05, 2009
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives hustled on Thursday to count votes and round up support for a sweeping healthcare overhaul that was headed to a close floor vote on Saturday...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009, November 06, 2009
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer predicted passage of a health care overhaul bill would come Saturday evening even as House Democrats worked Friday to corral the needed votes to pass the measure...

» THE DAILY DOSE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009, November 07, 2009
President Obama is meeting with House Democrats in the Cannon Office Building and given all the applause, it might be hard to remember that the president is on Capitol Hill to twist the arms of undecided lawmakers, and push some to cast a risky vote...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009, November 09, 2009
The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed landmark health care reform legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard won victory on his signature domestic priority...

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2009, November 10, 2009
President Obama suggested Monday that he was not comfortable with abortion restrictions inserted into the House version of major health care legislation, and he prodded Congress to revise them...

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009, November 12, 2009
The fight over the future of the U.S. health-care system is heading outside the Beltway this week, as groups on all sides take advantage of Congress's Veterans Day recess to put pressure on lawmakers...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009, November 13, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2009, November 16, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2009, November 17, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009, November 18, 2009

» THE DAILY DOSE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2009, November 19, 2009
After months of maneuvering, the Senate stands at the brink of a historic battle over health care with President Barack Obama and his allies on one side and Republicans, outnumbered but unflinching, on the other...

» THE DAILY DOSE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009, November 20, 2009
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid worked Thursday to nail down the votes needed to move to a final debate on health-care legislation, but a tepid assessment of the public insurance plan he crafted emerged as the latest potential obstacle to the passage of the far-reaching changes...

» THE DAILY DOSE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009, November 23, 2009
Anxious that Saturday’s party-line Senate vote to open debate on a health care overhaul gives them little maneuvering room, Obama administration officials and their Congressional allies are stepping up overtures to select Senate Republicans in hopes of winning their ultimate support...

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