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June Archive
News and Responses - June, 2009
Obama announces agreement with drug companies
As published at Yahoo News on June 22, 2009
Hailed by President Barack Obama, a multi-billion-dollar promise by drug companies to narrow a Medicare drug coverage gap for seniors is valid only if Congress succeeds in passing a comprehensive health care bill encountering strong opposition from Republicans, an industry spokesman said Monday.
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Former senators pitch new plan for health-care reform
As published at Tennessean.com on June 18, 2009
They no longer broker deals in Congress, but three former Senate leaders got together Wednesday to show that bipartisan compromise is still possible, even on the politically delicate issue of health-care reform.
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Republican Howard Baker of Tennessee, Democrat Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Republican Bob Dole of Kansas unveiled "Crossing Our Lines," a blueprint for revamping the nation's health system. The report came out on the same day a key Senate committee kicked off debate on a sweeping overhaul of health care that President Barack Obama has identified as his top priority.
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Insurance exchange, subsidies could cost $1 trillion
As published at CNNMoney.com on June 16, 2009
Two key proposals to improve access to health insurance could reduce the ranks of the uninsured but cost $1 trillion over 10 years, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office.
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Obama makes case for universal coverage, end of medical red tape to American Medical Association
As published at CNNPolitics.com on June 15, 2009
Health care reform should mean all Americans can get coverage while allowing doctors to heal patients instead of being bureaucrats, President Obama told the American Medical Association on Monday.
The AMA agrees with Obama on the need for health care reform but not how to go about it.
In a speech to the 158th annual meeting of the doctors' advocacy organization, Obama called an overhaul of the ailing health care system the most important issue for the nation's long-term economic stability.
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Senate Democrats outline health care plan
As published at The Washington Times on June 10, 2009
Senate Democrats went public with their first health care reform plan Tuesday, a sweeping bill that would create a publicly funded insurance plan that would cover those without private insurance.
They saythe bill aims to reduce costs and expand coverage by banning insurance companies from excluding people with pre-existing medical conditions and promoting early screening for illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.
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Taxing Health Benefits Could Fund Reform, but Could Mean More Work for Insurers
As published in HEALTH PLAN WEEK on June 2, 2009
The latest debate over health care reform: how to pay for it. During another marathon 'roundtable discussion' on health reform, the Senate Finance Committee spent more than three hours listening to ideas about how to fund a significant reshaping of the nation's health system. Much of the discussion focused on the idea of taxing employer-based health benefits above a certain level. Proponents of such a benefits tax cap contend the increase in taxable income would help the federal government extend coverage to the uninsured and would help curtail overutilization of services. Some industry observers tell HPW that such a cap could translate to much more administrative work for employers and health insurers. But a sweeping reform bill might not pass without it.
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The Cost Conundrum
As published at The New Yorker on June 1, 2009
It is spring in McAllen, Texas. The morning sun is warm. The streets are lined with palm trees and pickup trucks. McAllen is in Hidalgo County, which has the lowest household income in the country, but it’s a border town, and a thriving foreign-trade zone has kept the unemployment rate below ten per cent. McAllen calls itself the Square Dance Capital of the World. “Lonesome Dove” was set around here.
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