Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation, Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News and Edward Epstein, Congressional Quarterly
Over the weekend, White House officials urged the House of Representatives to vote on the Senate-passed health overhaul bill. Meanwhile, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is still working to assuage concerns from both sides of the ideological base on the issue of abortion. A vote is expected sometime this week.
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Topics: Health Reform
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation, Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News and Julie Rovner, NPR
President Obama will visit Philadelphia and St. Louis this week to continue his push to have Congress pass health overhaul legislation this month. Abortion remains a major disagreement between the House and Senate, and the chambers' measures also vary in other areas, such as cost control and financing.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation and Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News
House and Senate Democratic leaders continue to determine support in their chambers for moving health care legislation by using the budget reconciliation process, which would allow the measure to be approved in the Senate by 51 votes rather than a filibuster-proof 60 vote margin. President Obama is expected to announce some changes to the health care plan he unveiled last week that is hoped to bring more support for the package.
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A health care summit between President Obama, Republicans and Democrats ended with the president laying out some areas of consensus between the two parties but many disagreements remain. Throughout the more than six hour session, lawmakers laid out their competing priorities for the measure. While Republicans said the Democrats' proposal was too broad in its scope and the American public had rejected it, Democrats said the public wanted action now on a comprehensive health insurance proposal and they intended to pass their bill.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; and Julie Rovner, NPR News
Just days before a bipartisan White House summit on health care, President Obama unveiled a proposal that closely tracks the Senate-passed health legislation with some modifications. For example, the size of a high-cost "Cadillac" health insurance plan subject to an excise tax would be raised and the tax would not be levied on any health insurance plan until 2018. Subsidies would be increased for some low-and-middle-income individuals to help them purchase coverage, and states would receive more financial assistance from the federal government to help pay for a Medicaid expansion.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; and Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times
President Obama has scheduled a bipartisan summit for Feb. 25 to discuss ways to pass health care overhaul legislation this year. On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders in both chambers are trying to resolve differences between House and Senate-passed health care bills and make progress on the issue once lawmakers return from the President's Day recess.
President Obama's budget request for fiscal 2011 would give states an additional $25 billion in Medicaid funding to help cover rising program costs. Meanwhile, House and Senate Democratic leaders continue negotiations on how to pass health care overhaul legislation this year, although lawmakers' focus has shifted in part to finding ways to improve the economy and increase jobs.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; Julie Rovner, NPR
Congressional Democrats continue to debate their next step on health care overhaul legislation, with some urging that Congress move quickly on a scaled-back approach. President Obama and administration officials have stressed that they do not want Congress to abandon the issue and the president is expected to discuss health care during his State of the Union address.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foudation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; Drew Armstrong, Congressional Quarterly
The outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race could play a pivotal role in efforts by President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass a health care overhaul bill this year. Talks between the White House and congressional Democrats are expected to intensify this week as lawmakers push to get a health care deal through both chambers.
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Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; and Drew Armstrong, Congressional Quarterly.
With House members returning to town, negotiations continue between House and Senate Democrats over differences in the two chambers' health care bills. Key differences include financing, the level of subsidies provided to help people afford coverage and whether or not to include a tax on high-cost health insurance plans.
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House and Senate lawmakers are beginning to resolve differences between the two chambers' health care overhaul plans. Those differences include the size of the bills, language governing abortion funding and how the bills would be financed. While the House bill includes a government-run health insurance option the Senate bill does not. Negotiations are expected to continue throughout January.
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The Senate continues to debate health care reform with passage of the Democrats' health care bill expected by Christmas Eve. Key differences between the two bills -- in the areas of abortion, financing and a government-run "public plan" health insurance option -- would need to be resolved in a House-Senate conference deal, and approved by both chambers before reaching President Obama's desk.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., continues to push his party to approve health care overhaul legislation before Christmas, but concerns over many issues, including abortion funding and a possible early buy-in for the Medicare program, could cause that timetable to slip. Senate floor action may quicken once Reid receives an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office of a series of provisions -- including the Medicare buy-in proposal -- he is assembling in hopes of winning 60 votes for his health care plan.
Topics: Health Reform, Politics
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; and Carrie Budoff Brown, Politico.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., continues his efforts to find consensus on a health care package that can win 60 votes. He has asked a group of party moderates and progressives to work on several issues, including creating an alternative to the "public option" health insurance plan Reid has in his bill.
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Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times; and Drew Armstrong, Congressional Quarterly.
As the Senate begins debate on legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system, Democrats and Republicans are expected to offer an array of amendments on the public option, abortion, immigration and the financing of the bill, among other issues. Senate floor action is expected to last most of the month, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hoping to pass a bill before Christmas.
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Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News; Julie Rovner, NPR News; and Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times
Over the weekend, the Senate voted 60 to 39 to begin debate on health reform legislation, which will begin after the Thanksgiving break. Panelists discuss what's ahead.
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Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation | Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin, Kaiser Health News
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may unveil his health care overhaul plan this week and deliberations in that chamber could continue into Thanksgiving week when the Senate has been scheduled to be in recess. Meanwhile, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) analysis of the House-passed bill found that the measure would increase national health expenditures by an estimated 1.3 percent in 2019. Republicans say the analysis shows that the bill will not control health care costs but Democrats disagree.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin, Kaiser Health News
As House Democratic leaders celebrate passage of health care legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., continues to await a Congressional Budget Office analysis as he tries to craft a compromise package between bills passed by the Senate Finance and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees. President Obama has said that he wants a health care bill to his desk by Christmas but it is unclear if that timetable will be met.
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House Democrats are expected to begin floor debate this week on their health care overhaul plan and House Republicans are expected to unveil an alternative measure. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is awaiting a Congressional Budget Office analysis of Senate Democrats' health care proposals and debate could begin in that chamber as well. President Obama and Democrats are hopeful they can pass health care legislation by the end of this year.
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Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are working to finalize health care legislation with the hope of floor debate beginning in the coming weeks. Both measures are widely expected to have some form of "public option" health insurance plan that would compete with other health insurers as part of a health insurance exchange. President Obama and congressional Democrats have said they hope to pass health overhaul legislation before Christmas.
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Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Julie Rovner, NPR; Eric Pianin, Kaiser Health News
KHN's Eric Pianin and NPR's Julie Rovner discuss recent and upcoming activities on the Hill -- part of a weekly series of video reports.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News
As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on health care legislation, a key trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, released an analysis of the plan that concluded it would increase the typical family premium by $4,000 in 2019. Obama Administration and Senate Finance officials dispute that claim. If the Finance panel, as expected, approves its package, the legislation would be combined with a measure approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee with Senate action expected later this month.
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Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation ; Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin, Kaiser Health News
The Senate Finance Committee awaits a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office before voting later this week on major $900 billion health care reform legislation. The long-awaited bill, crafted by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., is expected to narrowly clear the committee, but Senate Democratic leaders then must meld it with another bill approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee before sending the package to the Senate floor. The Finance Committee version doesn't include a public insurance option, but liberal Democrats are pushing to include one. House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, are putting the finishing touches on their plan, but likely will hold back and let the Senate vote first.
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Laurie McGinley and Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News
As the Senate Finance Committee continues its deliberations the panel is expected to engage in a robust debate about whether to include a government-run public health insurance option in the package. Democrats on the panel are expected to push for changes that would make coverage more affordable for workers and increase the value of health insurance plans that would be subject to an excise tax. Finance Republicans will likely continue in their efforts to reduce or eliminate Medicare spending reductions from the package. Separately, in the House, Democratic leaders are combining bills passed by three different committees into one and obtaining the final package's cost from the Congressional Budget Office.
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As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to consider legislation sponsored by chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., panel members have introduced more than 500 amendments to the bill, dealing with the public plan option, a requirement that individuals offer health care insurance and a proposed commission to recommend changes to Medicare spending, among other provisions. Meanwhile, President Obama and administration officials continue to discuss health care at public appearances that are aimed at telling voters more about Obama's ideas on health reform and keeping the pressure on lawmakers to enact a bill this year.
Jackie Judd, Kaiser Family Foundation; Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin, Kaiser Health News; Julie Rovner, NPR News
As Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus prepares to unveil his health reform package, the Montana Democrat is continuing his discussions with Republicans on the panel in hopes of winning their support. Meanwhile, Congress and the public continue to debate the impact of President Obama's health care address on what is likely to be a lengthy debate this fall on health care reform.
In his address to Congress, President Obama signaled his flexibility on a government-run health insurance plan while stating his parameters for a deal on health care overhaul legislation. Meanwhile, new data on the number of Americans without health insurance will provide ammunition to both sides of the debate as Congress continues to examine the size and scope of possible legislation.
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Video Highlights Of The President's Speech | Article: Experts Analyze Obama's Speech | Article: Obama's Speech: A Sampling Of Reactions From Consumers
New federal deficit numbers in combination with concerns that some voters have expressed at town hall meetings this August over the size, scope and cost of health care legislation may lead lawmakers to reconsider elements of the measure Democrats want to pass this year. The death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., may create new momentum among Democrats and Republicans to resolve their differences over the bill, but the many complexities involved with any overhaul of the nation's health care system guarantee a lengthy debate this fall.
A bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee members continues its negotiations on a bipartisan health care package while some Democrats want the party to push its own package if those negotiations fail. Whether or not to include a government-run "public plan" remains a key part of the debate, as do other elements, including the level of subsidies that would be provided to help low-income people purchase coverage.
Jackie Judd talks with KHN's Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin about the growing political pressure on President Obama and congressional Democrats to scale back the cost and scope of the health care overhaul legislation this fall. Political and health care experts say there are many ways to achieve that, including by phasing in the expansion of Medicaid more slowly and reducing premiums subsidies for lower-income families.