The Senate Finance Committee wrapped up its debate on amendments to its health care overhaul, after adopting a bipartisan plan that would ease penalties for lower-income Americans who cannot afford to comply with the bill's mandates. Read more »
Senators, on a rare bipartisan 8–15 vote, turned down the idea of including a government-sponsored plan in the health overhaul bill, with Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., leading the majority in what could be a turning point in the push to finish the committee's work. He brought four more Democrats along with him to oppose the public option, joining all 10 Republicans.
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Efforts by the Senate Finance Committee to prepare health overhaul legislation for Senate floor action gave Democrats breathing room politically by weakening penalties for failing to buy health insurance, but fewer uninsured Americans are expected to gain coverage as a result. Read more »
Dutiful House Democrats trudged through the Capitol basement to yet another caucus on what many consider the biggest domestic policy issue they will face as legislators: overhauling the health care system. Read more »
The ongoing effort to overhaul the health system was supposed to give Congress an opportunity to fix one of its most troublesome recurring problems—what to do about a Medicare payment formula that, each year, mandates deep cuts to physicians and forces Congress to scrounge for money to temporarily undo them. Read more »
What types of medical conditions account for the highest levels of Medicare spending and spending growth? Figuring that out could help implement new payment incentives in a way that delivers better value for the Medicare dollar, laying the foundation for what health policy wonks call "episode based payment." Read more »