Topics: Health Reform
KHN's Eric Pianin talks with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., about his new book, "A Heart to Serve, The Passion to Bring Health, Hope, and Healing."
Frist offers his views on the health care debate on Capitol Hill. The former heart transplant surgeon and businessman predicts that Congress will ultimately approve a $1 trillion health care reform plan that will expand insurance coverage to millions but do very little to "bend the cost curve" of the health care industry. Frist, a member of the Kaiser Family Foundation board, also discusses the influence of his father on his career.
Podcast (mp3)
Topics: Politics, Health Reform
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., discussed his health proposal at a Capitol Hill news conference today. He acknowledged the lack of Republican support, but expressed confidence that some members of the GOP would sign on, saying: "At the end of the day, we all share a common purpose, that is to make the lives of Americans better tomorrow than they are today, and to get health-care reform done, which means the time to come for action is now."
Related Article: Baucus Unveils Much-Anticipated Senate Finance Version Of Health Overhaul Legislation
Topics: Health Reform, Politics
Highlights of the president's address to Congress include his proposals for guaranteed insurance coverage, mandates to buy insurance and insurance exchanges. He endorsed a 'public option,' but said he would remain open to other ideas to expand coverage.
Pediatrician Fitzhugh Mullan has been practicing public service medicine for more than 40 years. In a new essay in the journal Health Affairs, he calls on activists to resurrect "the fire of the Civil Rights movement" in their quest for universal health care.
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Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at a newsmaker briefing sponsored by the National Federal of Independent Business, Families USA and the Kaiser Family Foundation.