White House Unveils President Obama's Health Reform Plan

By Sofia Sanchez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

In a conference call with reporters on Monday, administration officials said President Barack Obama’s newly released health care reform proposal is basically a modified version of the bill passed by the Senate.

“We are talking about the Senate bill with targeted and important changes..that achieve the President's goals and bridge the gap between the House and the Senate proposals,” said White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy Ann-Deparle.

Obama's plan includes more generous subsidies for low and middle income Americans to purchase health insurance, and a removal of the Medicaid subsidies that were proposed by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) to originally secure his vote. The plan does not include the controversial public option.

The plan also includes a proposal by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would give the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power to block insurance company premium increases if they don’t meet certain criteria.

“We thought it would be a more productive meeting if we brought one consolidated plan to use as a jumping-off point, said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer. “We hope Republicans do the same.”

The unveiling of the plan comes just three days before the President's bipartisan Health Care Summit.

Insurance Providers' Profits Are Up While Coverage Dwindles, Claims New Report

By Sofia Sanchez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A new report compiled by the organization Health Care for America Now finds that leading insurance providers made record profits in 2009 while simultaneously dropping many Americans' coverage.

“These companies increase their profits by 56 percent last year while shedding 2.7 million people from private insurance,” said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager for Health Care For America Now, during a conference call with reporters.

Kirsch says that these companies are spending more money on administrative work than distributing health care to individuals, and notes that these companies have also spent 25 percent more lobbying against comprehensive health care than in 2008.

In light of the report, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reiterated the economic case for reforming the health care system.

“We need to press forward to have health insurance reform to provide economic security for American families,” said DeLauro. “We have seen bad behavior come from the health insurance industry."

Rural America Needs Quality Health Care Too, Says U.S. Agriculture Official

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plays a key role in increasing health care for rural America, according to USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. Merrigan spent Wednesday morning speaking with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and its members at the organization’s 21st Annual Rural Health Policy Institute.

The NRHA, a non-profit organization, has been in Washington all week consulting with various House Members regarding initiatives to expand the quality of health care coverage to rural America.

According to Merrigan, the USDA is working hard to increase the availability of quality health care to rural Americans. Over the past ten years, the Department of Agriculture awarded $2.6 billion through loans and grants to over 1,200 health care facilities. According to Merrigan, this money was used to improve facility infrastructure and to build new hospitals and clinics in rural America.

Merrigan also said that the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act granted the USDA $2.5 billion in an effort to expand broadband connection to rural hospitals and communities. Merrigan believes that this expansion will improve the long-term economic health of rural America and increase the efficiency of exchanging information between institutions.

“High speed connections will allow medical specialists to tell a medicine to provide advanced diagnosis for patients,” Merrigan said. “Or, to consult colleagues in other hospitals while sharing medical records.”

Using the theme, “Community Matters,” NRHA President Dennis Berens advocated the collaboration between his organization and Congress to expand quality health care to rural communities, saying “health, like politics, is always local.”

Pelosi Offers Grim Assessment Of Healthcare Bill

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News

The Senate’s version of the health care reform bill will not likely pass in the House unless some changes are made, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her weekly news conference on Thursday.

“I don’t see the votes for it at this time,” Pelosi said. “There isn’t a market right now for proceeding with the full bill unless something changes in the Senate bill.”

When asked if the bill, in its current state, will be passed in time for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address next week, Pelosi said that there are fundamentals included in the Senate’s version that make it problematic for some House members.

“There are certain things that members just cannot support,” she said.

Issues regarding education and economic policy are being pushed aside, but there are a growing number of constituents who believe that a decision regarding health care reform must come sooner rather than later, according to the Speaker.

“We have to get a bill passed, we know that,” she said. “That’s a predicate that we’ve all subscribed to.”

McConnell ‘Sure Hopes’ Democrats' Health Care Reform Push Is Dead

Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown’s victory Tuesday night could kill Democrats’ chances of completing their months-long effort to reform the health care system, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seems just fine with that.

When asked at a press conference Wednesday whether he believed if Brown’s long-shot victory meant the legislation in its current form was dead, McConnell replied “I sure hope so.”

“This was in many ways a national referendum, principally on the major issue we’re wrestling with here in the Congress,” the Kentucky Senator explained.

According to McConnell, Brown’s victory could also impede a number of other items on the majority party’s agenda, including climate change legislation.

“There is minimal enthusiasm, to put it mildly, for cap and trade,” McConnell said, but noted that the decision to pursue climate policy would ultimately be left with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

McConnell expressed confidence that neither Democrats in the Massachusetts state legislature or the U.S. Senate will make any moves to pass the legislation prior to Brown being sworn-in, but conceded that the House could still adopt the Senate’s version of the legislation as-is, and thus pass reform.

“I can’t speak for the House,” McConnell said. “There has been discussion on the House side.”