Pro- And Anti-Health Reform Groups Wage Last Minute Attacks

Stephan Payne protested abuses by health insurance companies and pushed for health care reform during a rally Tuesday. The rally was organized by Health Care for America Now and coincided with an annual conference for health insurance executives in D.C…

Lincoln, Kucinich Weigh In On Health Bill Votes

Lawmakers weigh in on the health care overhaul debate. The Associated Press/The Washington Times: Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., “insisted Tuesday she remained opposed to pushing a health care bill through the Senate with a simple majority vote, despite saying she wanted to see what was in the legislation…

California Rescission Settlement Benefits Few Consumers

The Associated Press reports on a new California state assembly report that found fewer than 200 people out of the more than 6,000 affected have taken advantage of benefits won by a settlement between state regulators and health insurers that dropped sick policyholders…

Administration, Health Insurers Point Fingers At Each Other In Premium Hike Dust-Up

The Obama administration and insurance industry executives are continuing their battle over rate increases. Politico: “Insurance industry executives sat down with administration officials in the White House last week to justify their rising premium costs, attributing them to increasing medical costs. But it’s an answer President Barack Obama apparently wasn’t buying…

Health Overhaul Policy Tidbits

NPR: For those who have forgotten what the Senate’s bill would actually do as the debate has turned to politics and procedure, “a short refresher” may come in handy…

Obama Attacks Insurers, Rallies Public To Press Congress To Approve Health Reform

“The White House is mounting a stinging, sustained broadside against health insurance rate increases,” The Washington Post reports, adding that President Obama “and his health secretary staged a two-pronged attack Monday in a stern letter to health insurance chief executives and a speech in which the president castigated insurance companies 22 times…

Cornyn And Boehner Sharpen Criticism Of Obama Health Proposal

News outlets report on health care remarks from GOP leaders. “National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn said Monday that if some type of health care legislation is able to limp its way out of Congress, GOP candidates across the country are poised to make it the premiere issue of the fall campaign,” Politico reports…

Today’s Opinions And Editorials

The Emotion of Reform The New York Times For the Democrats, expanding health care coverage is an emotional hot spot. Over the past year, Democrats have fought passionately for universal coverage (and) there is something morally impressive in the Democrats’ passion on this issue…

Reconciliation Roundup: Process Stands Between Democrats And Legislative Victory

Politico: Process is principle in Washington right now, as parliamentary procedure attorneys “clash” over the legal designations and wording of various bills and provisions in the lead up to an attempt to pass health legislation under filibuster-avoiding reconciliation rules…

Virginia Bill May Prompt State-Federal Fight Over Insurance Mandate

A bill in the Virginia state legislature could upend a critical provision of the Democrats’ health overhaul and open the door for a fresh battle over the federal government’s power over states, The Boston Globe reports. “The Virginia Legislature this week is poised to become the first state to pass legislation that says citizens cannot be required to have medical insurance…