Health Care Reform in the News

It seems that Health Care is a major political issue at the moment with the two houses passing their versions of the Health Care Bill. However there will be plenty of political maneuvering still to happen before this bill will be passed. Here are the latest news items and a Q&A to keep you updated with all the Health Care Reform issues. 



Health spending in U.S. grows at slowest rate ever in 2008

Health spending in the United States in 2008 grew at the slowest rate ever recorded since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started officially tracking expenditures in 1960.
The CMS reported Tuesday that national health spending increased 4.4 percent in 2008, to $2.3 trillion or $7,681 a person.

However, the agency reported that health care spending continued to outpace overall economic growth, as measured by the 2.6 percent increase in the gross domestic product.
The CMS Region 7 office has its headquarters in Kansas City, with oversight of operations in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The office has 126 employees.

According to a news release, the recession “significantly impacted health spending as more Americans could not afford to spend their limited resources on health care and instead went without care.”

For instance, according to the release, many Americans couldn’t afford private health insurance, leading to lower growth in private health insurance benefit spending….. Read More

Q+A: What happens next on U.S. healthcare reform?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Now that the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have passed their versions of healthcare reform, the two chambers must work out their differences before legislation can be delivered to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Here are some questions and answers about what to expect.

HOW WILL THE BILLS BE MERGED?

Senate and House Democratic leaders, the chairmen of the five congressional committees that wrote the legislation and top White House officials will negotiate the final bill. Most of the discussions are likely to be held behind closed doors whether or not the two chambers appoint a formal conference committee to negotiate the legislation.

Republicans solidly oppose the bill, so the talks will focus on settling differences among liberal and moderate Democrats in a way that wins the needed 60 votes in the Senate and at least 218 in the House…. Read More

Obama wants to fast track a final health care bill

The White House didn't say much about last night's health care talks between President Obama and congressional Democrats, but officials made it clear they're cool with fast-tracking the final phase of legislation, with no public hearings and no Republican involvement.

"The president is anxious to get the differences worked out and get a bill to both houses and passed out of them," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs…. Read More

Editorial: Open the debate

One of the most momentous House-Senate negotiations in history shouldn't take place behind closed doors.

Yet that's what could happen when lawmakers meet with the Obama administration to reconcile different versions of the landmark $871 billion health-care reform bill, approved by the Senate on Christmas Eve.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), and President Obama should keep talks open. After all, during his campaign, Obama did pledge that the health-care negotiations would be televised on C-SPAN… Read More

Pelosi says US Congress close to health deal

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday congressional Democrats were close to agreement on merging their healthcare bills but still faced challenges in blending the two approaches.

For the second consecutive day, Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss ways to reconcile the House's healthcare overhaul with a version passed by the Senate.

"We've had a very intense couple of days," Pelosi told reporters after the White House meeting. "I think we are very close to reconciliation, respectful of the challenges." …. Read More

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