health care reform – News Stories About health care reform - Page 29

Finally, the Cratchits
Will Have Health
Insurance

paul krugman

Dec 25, 2009 7:41 AM CST

Finally, the Cratchits Will Have Health Insurance

But why should Tiny Tim have to wait until 2014?

(Newser) - Paul Krugman, not always the president's biggest fan, finds something to celebrate this Christmas in the passage of health Care reform bills by the House and Senate: After 2014 Dickens' Tiny Tim will no longer be denied health care because his family can't afford it or an insurance company denies...

Health Bill Passage
a Tribute to Ted Kennedy

DANA MILBANK

Dec 24, 2009 6:06 PM CST

Health Bill Passage a Tribute to Ted Kennedy

'Liberal lion' invoked by both left and right, but what would he think?

(Newser) - The memory of Ted Kennedy was a vivid presence today on both sides of the aisle as the Senate passed its version of his signature issue, health care reform. The late Massachusetts senator “remained the Democrats' spiritual floor leader,” Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post , and almost...

Dodd Rips Newbies—Ahem,
Franken—for Lacking 'Civility'

senate smackdown

Dec 24, 2009 4:22 PM CST

Dodd Rips Newbies—Ahem, Franken—for Lacking 'Civility'

Comment may be dig at Minn. freshman, who shut down Lieberman

(Newser) - Chris Dodd battled a perceived lack of decorum in the Senate yesterday with some stern language from the floor. The Connecticut Democrat did not name names but rather cryptically chastised the Senate’s “newer members” for failing “to understand how the Senate has worked for more than two...

Better Drug
Records Might
Have Saved
Brittany Murphy

OPINION

Dec 24, 2009 1:19 PM CST

Better Drug Records Might Have Saved Brittany Murphy

She may have been 'doctor shopping,' and if docs had known...

(Newser) - Brittany Murphy’s death may illustrate a grim truth: that “stars’ poison of choice is the legal and prescribed kind,” Rahul Parikh writes. Even sadder tragedies involving legal drugs might be averted if doctors embraced technology as much as, say, librarians. “Libraries are technologically integrated,” continues...

Obama to Push Cost Controls in Merging Health Bills

Dec 24, 2009 8:04 AM CST

Obama to Push Cost Controls in Merging Health Bills

Senate plan is the model, but House wants concessions

(Newser) - Barack Obama is going to take an active hand in shaping the compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. His top priority is ensuring that the final bill does enough to control costs, the Wall Street Journal reports. To that end, he favors the Senate’s tax on...

Senate Approves
Historic Health Care Bill

Dec 24, 2009 7:28 AM CST

Senate Approves Historic Health Care Bill

Harry Reid gets exactly the 60 votes he needs

(Newser) - The Senate voted to close debate and approve the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care" act today, better known as the health care reform bill, garnering exactly the 60 votes they needed to pass it, to 39 nay votes, all along partisan lines. Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold, the potential...

Health Care Victory
is Sweet But Stinks

OPINION

Dec 24, 2009 1:45 AM CST

Health Care Victory is Sweet But Stinks

Historic bill is tainted by political travesty

(Newser) - Getting a health care reform bill through the Senate is a historic victory for the Democrats but it's one you have to hold your nose to appreciate, writes David S. Broder. This should have been a proud moment for the Senate, but it instead degenerated into "a travesty of...

Own Ill Health Doesn't Keep Byrd From Voting on Reform

Dec 23, 2009 10:00 PM CST

Own Ill Health Doesn't Keep Byrd From Voting on Reform

92-year-old Dem brought to Senate floor via wheelchair

(Newser) - His own battles with ill health haven’t kept Democrat Robert Byrd from making it to the Senate for key milestones on the long road to the health-care reform vote scheduled for tomorrow morning. The 92-year-old—wheelchair-bound and with a live-in nurse after a recent hospital stay—has only added...

Health Bill Clears
Last Hurdle Before Vote

7am tomorrow

Dec 23, 2009 4:14 PM CST

Health Bill Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote

Party line roll call ends filibuster, sets stage for tomorrow

(Newser) - Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle today, setting up a final vote at 7am tomorrow to pass the legislation. Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster, with all 58 Democrats and two independents hanging together against unanimous Republican opposition. Tomorrow's...

Obama Plans Jobs Push
Amid Health Care Delays

Dec 23, 2009 2:35 PM CST

Obama Plans Jobs Push Amid Health Care Delays

President expects debate to stretch into February

(Newser) - Barack Obama wants to switch gears and focus on jobs, energy, and deficit reduction, but he’s being hamstrung by a health care debate that he expects to stretch into February. Obama’s been told that disputes, particularly over abortion, will delay the eventual health care deal between the House...

White House
Telling Me to
Zip It: Stupak

HEALTH CARE REFORM

Dec 23, 2009 1:25 PM CST

White House Telling Me to Zip It: Stupak

Rep predicts Senate abortion language won't pass House

(Newser) - The White House would really rather Bart Stupak keep his opinions about the abortion funding “compromise” in the Senate health care bill to himself, but the staunch rep isn’t playing ball. “They think I shouldn’t be expressing my views on this bill until they get a...

US Doesn't
Need More
Doctors

opinion

Dec 23, 2009 12:37 PM CST

US Doesn't Need More Doctors

That makes the problem worse; we need better primary care

(Newser) - Teaching hospitals want to increase the number of medical residencies financed by the federal government by 15,000 from the current 100,000. Seems to makes sense: More doctors makes for a healthier nation, right? Wrong, write Shannon Brownlee and David Goodman. In fact, it would only make the nation's...

How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both

health care

Dec 23, 2009 8:32 AM CST

How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both

Sacrifices in store for Pelosi and Co.—and maybe for the industry

(Newser) - The House will need to make a lot of last-minute sacrifices when combining its health care bill with the Senate’s, but if legislators play their cards right, the final bill could be a stronger beast. The Senate must stand by its strong cost control mechanisms, writes David Leonhardt of...

Bachmann Farm Reaped $252K in Gov't Subsidies

Dec 23, 2009 7:18 AM CST

Bachmann Farm Reaped $252K in Gov't Subsidies

Free-market fan is a closet welfare queen, writes Yasha Levine

(Newser) - Rep. Michelle Bachmann is one of the Capitol's most vocal opponents of socialized medicine—but she's happy to take government handouts for socialized dairy and corn, writes Yasha Levine. Records show that the Minnesota Republican's family farm raked in almost $252,000 in agricultural subsidies between 1995 and 2006, Levine...

Teabagger
Fears Prayers
Killed Wrong Senator

Dec 23, 2009 5:38 AM CST

Teabagger Fears Prayers Killed Wrong Senator

Georgian worries that plea for Byrd's death backfired

(Newser) - A self-described teabagger who apparently believes his prayers have the power to kill lawmakers cracked up C-Span viewers yesterday. The caller—alarmed by Sen. Jim Inhofe's absence from a vote—told Sen. John Barrasso over the phone that he feared his prayers for 92-year-old Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd to die...

Nebraska Senator
for Sale—Cheap!

OPINION

Dec 23, 2009 4:19 AM CST

Nebraska Senator for Sale—Cheap!

Ben Nelson was easily bribed, writes Michael Gerson

(Newser) - There's a fine line between bribery and political maneuvering and Harry Reid's brazen buyoff of Ben Nelson was nowhere near it, writes Michael Gerson. The Nebraska senator was granted an exemption on the state paying its share of Medicare expansion that will add up to $100 million over 10 years...

Blue Dog Says House Leaders Drove Him to GOP

Dec 22, 2009 5:01 PM CST

Blue Dog Says House Leaders Drove Him to GOP

Griffith has consistently voted against his party

(Newser) - Former Democrat Parker Griffith today blamed the Democratic leadership for his defection to the GOP, slamming congressional leaders for pursuing legislation "that is bad for our country and hurts our economy." Griffith, an Alabama doctor, singled out health care reform as a large part of his decision, deriding...

Obama Rejects Critics
on Health Care Bill

Dec 22, 2009 3:48 PM CST

Obama Rejects Critics on Health Care Bill

President rejects notion that legislation has been neutered

(Newser) - President Obama hit back today at critics who say he's compromised too much on health care legislation, charging that "every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill." In an interview with the Washington Post , he bemoaned how much the public option in particular had...

Senate Moves Up Final
Vote to 8am Thursday

christmas spirit

Dec 22, 2009 3:27 PM CST

Senate Moves Up Final Vote to 8am Thursday

Reid, McConnell move to get people home for Xmas Eve

(Newser) - It looks like senators and their staffs will be home for Christmas Eve after all. The final vote on health care legislation has been moved up to 8am Thursday, reports the LA Times . Harry Reid and GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced the move today after a set of procedural votes...

So Much for 'Tough' Reform: Insurance Stocks Soaring

OPINION

Dec 22, 2009 11:33 AM CST

So Much for 'Tough' Reform: Insurance Stocks Soaring

Good job standing up to the special interests, Barack

(Newser) - Barack Obama praised the Senate yesterday for “standing up to the special interests who prevented reform for decades,” which seems pretty laughable, given that health care stocks soared on the news. Evan Bayh’s wife, for example, has made up to $250,000 over the last six weeks...