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So much is happening that the news can't wait until our regular Friday issue of Health Policy Matters. Here is a special interim report with links below: The biggest news is the letter sent to Congress by 13 of the nation's leading health care delivery systems, including the Mayo Clinic. President Obama has traveled throughout the country extolling the virtues of these integrated care … [Read more...] about Rapid Fire

Highlights "No, Mr. Chairman" Mining the details Talk about special interest Frustrations on Capitol Hill A note of praise Featured Articles The White House and Democratic leaders appear undaunted in their efforts to push sweeping health reform legislation through Congress in record time, even as the head of the Congressional Budget Office told Congress yesterday that the bills … [Read more...] about Steamrolling Ahead

Highlights White House see-saw     Tax cap Reid backtracks    Who decides on care? Hospitals balk    The trillion-dollar question No deal    The 80-20 rule      Featured Articles    White House and congressional leaders continue to work feverishly on a sweeping … [Read more...] about Fractures and Fissures

Highlights ABC News White House forum No crystal ball, but . . . Lessons from Massachusetts Conflicting opinion polls Featured Articles ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson shook his head after Wednesday night's broadcast from the White House, frustrated he had not been able to draw out more details from President Obama about the sweeping health reform plan that he is pushing. Gibson, as … [Read more...] about Change Vs. Security

Highlights  CBO and More Genuine Compromise About the Public Plan Quote of the Week Aircraft Design Featured Articles The bombshells started dropping on the health reform front this week:   Soaring costs: The Congressional Budget Office told the Senate health committee its bill would cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years and would only provide health insurance for a net 16 million … [Read more...] about Bombshells

Highlights HELP Reform Bill Ironies Abound Details Matter Early Score Quote of the Day Featured Articles The first Democratic bill in the hopper this week came from Sen. Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, taking 615-pages to turn most of whatever is left of our private health sector over to government. The normally-genteel Sen. Orrin Hatch was quoted in The New … [Read more...] about Trouble Brewing

Highlights Public Plan    Video Contest Winners Consensus Group    A New News Source Individual Mandate    A Clarification Cost    More on the Mandate Question Quote of the Week    Featured Articles Public plan: Rep. Paul Ryan spoke at a day-long conference at the American Enterprise … [Read more...] about Short Takes

Four Republican members of Congress shook up the health reform debate this week when they were the first to reach the floor of the House and Senate with comprehensive health reform legislation. The Patients' Choice Act puts the $300-billion tax break for employment-based health insurance front and center in the debate. Reps. Paul Ryan and Devin Nunes and Sens. Tom Coburn and Richard Burr use … [Read more...] about Shaking Things Up