Health care issues: Are insurance market changes enough to fix the health care system?October 5th, 2009 Health care issues: Insurance market overhaulA look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Are changes in the insurance industry enough to fix problems in the nation's health care system?
THE POLITICS: To help expand health coverage, President Barack Obama is seeking changes to underwriting practices that can prevent Americans from obtaining affordable insurance. His proposals would ban higher premiums, caps or denial of coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition or when a person gets sick.
Sen. Harkin says 'silent majority' back health care reform, predicts congressional approvalSeptember 14th, 2009 Harkin: 'Silent majority' back health care reformINDIANOLA, Iowa — Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin predicts Congress will approve a health care reform bill this fall that includes a public option, saying a "silent majority" of Americans favor such an overhaul.
Axelrod says public option is alive but says it's not essential to health care overhaulSeptember 13th, 2009 Axelrod says public option is aliveWASHINGTON — The top adviser to President Barack Obama says the White House is "not willing to accept" that Congress will reject a government-run public option in the health care overhaul. David Axelrod says such an option remains Obama's preference for setting up a system that would provide coverage for Americans who can't afford health insurance.
Obama pitches public option on health care overhauls, says he's open on 'how to set this up'September 12th, 2009 Obama: Public option helps health care competitionMINNEAPOLIS — President Barack Obama says he wants to see a government-run option in the health care overhaul and remains open on "how to set this up."
Speaking at a rally Saturday in Minneapolis, Obama was responding to growing concerns that the government could squeeze out private insurers and lead to a federal takeover of health care. Obama stressed that a government-run plan would be one of many options for people seeking affordable care.
Health Insurers' stocks gain ground following Obama speech on health care reformSeptember 10th, 2009 Sector Snap: Insurers gain ground after speechNEW YORK — Shares of health insurers gained some ground Thursday after President Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment to reforming the health care system in a televised speech to a joint session of Congress. The debate over specific ways to reform the system continues, and the Wednesday night speech had few surprises in that area.
Health care overhaul would include not-for-profit option, give insurance companies competitionSeptember 9th, 2009 Not-for-profit public option part of health planWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says a not-for-profit public option needs to be available as part of any health care overhaul. He says it would keep insurance companies honest.
AMA sends open letter to Obama, Congress urging agreement on health reformSeptember 9th, 2009 AMA letter a shot in the arm for Obama's effortsCHICAGO — The American Medical Association has posted a letter on its Web site, urging President Barack Obama and Congress to reach an agreement on health reform. The letter is signed by AMA President J.
Sen. Grassley hopeful less-sweeping health care reform with no public option can be negotiatedAugust 31st, 2009 Sen. Grassley hopeful on limited health reformDES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley said Monday he remains hopeful a limited health care reform measure can be negotiated but a small group working on the issue agrees a government-run public option won't be part of a package.
McCain meets a few angry men at Phoneix on health care debateAugust 27th, 2009 PHOENIX — Sen. John McCain met with an angry crowd at a town-hall meeting about health care reform Wednesday, sometimes having to fight to talk and telling one woman who wouldn't stop yelling that she had to leave.
McCain says Sen. Kennedy's absence has had a huge impact on efforts to pass health-care reformAugust 23rd, 2009 McCain: Health debate hurt by Kennedy's absenceWASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John McCain says the absence of ailing Ted Kennedy in pushing health-care reform has made a "huge, huge difference" in whether legislation gets passed.
Obama stands by position that a public option should be considered for health care overhaulAugust 20th, 2009 Obama stands by belief a public option is viableWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is standing by his position that a public option for health insurance coverage should be considered as part of legislation to overhaul the health care system. In an interview Thursday with Philadelphia-based radio talk show host Michael Smerconish, Obama said that "the press got excited and some folks on the left got a little excited" when the administration last weekend made statements indicating that a publicly-run health insurance option was just one of several alternatives.
Spokesman insists Obama not backing off public option, but willing to consider alternativesAugust 18th, 2009 Gibbs insists Obama not backing off public optionWASHINGTON — White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insists the Obama administration has not shifted its goals on health care reform or distanced itself from a government-run public insurance option. He said in a meeting with reporters Tuesday morning that news stories suggesting that the administration was ready to abandon the public option as it battles to push health care reform through were overblown.
Former Democratic Chairman Dean argues no health care overhaul likely without public optionAugust 17th, 2009 Dean: Public option a must for health care reformWASHINGTON — Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean is arguing that there can be no meaningful overhaul of the health care system without a public option for coverage. A leading player in the party's liberal wing, Dean said in a nationally broadcast interview Monday he thinks providing a government role in insurance coverage is fair.
Obama confident health care overhaul coming soon, speaks of 'about 80 agreement' in CongressAugust 16th, 2009 Obama confident health care overhaul coming soonWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he's confident his drive to overhaul health care will succeed. The president writes in Sunday's New York Times about "health insurance reform" and says his attempt to overhaul the system is closer to reality "than we have ever been."
Obama cites support from the American Nurses Association, the powerful American Medical Association and the AARP for big changes.
McCain says Obama has failed to be bipartisan even though he has been effective as presidentAugust 2nd, 2009 McCain says Obama fails to be a bipartisan leaderWASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain says President Barack Obama has failed in his effort to be a bipartisan leader.
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August 23rd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
The only people who oppose the public option are a) idiots like Flordanbach9 above, b) John McCain and the rest of the Republican party who want to make political gain at the expense of the rest of us. c) Those who get paid handsomely to say whatever they are paid to say. d) Those who think that Fox is a news station or that Rush Limbaugh is a human being. The rest of us SUPPORT THE PUBLIC OPTION.