NEWS

President Says His Critics Lack Health-Care Answer - Washington Post

CINCINNATI, Sept. 7 — President Obama attempted to reinvigorate support for his struggling health-care agenda on Monday by giving a stirring, campaign-style speech to thousands of union members celebrating Labor Day.

As Obama Speech Nears, Details on a Compromise - New York Times

As President Obama and top advisers drafted his eagerly awaited health care speech to Congress, new details emerged Monday about fees and coverage limits under a proposal being floated by the chairman of a crucial Senate committee.

Obama’s test: quiet right, win left – Politico

After a summer of setbacks, President Barack Obama has a clear roadmap for salvaging health care reform: Convince skeptical Americans that a new system would actually help them, not limit their choices and care. Strike a compromise between liberals who demand a public option and cost-conscious centrists who call it a deal-breaker. Win over Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), an inscrutable moderate. And avoid Death Panels II, a rerun of the potent Republican attacks.

Already, 23 Dems have said they will vote ‘no’ on healthcare reform – The Hill

At least 23 House Democrats already have told constituents or hometown media that they oppose the massive healthcare overhaul touted by President Barack Obama.

Key Liberals Willing to Bargain – The Hill

Amid fresh signs that the White House is preparing to back a scaled-down health care overhaul that would only include a public insurance option as a fallback plan, several House liberals told Roll Call that they could support such a bill depending on how it was structured.

Young Adults Swelling Ranks of Uninsured – New York Times

Some of the difficult financial choices facing uninsured Americans — whether to go to a hospital or tough out an illness, whether to pay the rent or pay doctor bills — confront young people who not that long ago had to worry only about buying gasoline or paying a cellphone bill.

OPINION

Missing Richard Nixon – Paul Krugman

Many of the retrospectives on Ted Kennedy’s life mention his regret that he didn’t accept Richard Nixon’s offer of a bipartisan health care deal. The moral some commentators take from that regret is that today’s health care reformers should do what Mr. Kennedy balked at doing back then, and reach out to the other side.

Why Reform Survived August – Jon Cohn

The August recess began with critics attacking health care reform because of its high price tag. It ended with critics attacking health care reform because of how reformers proposed to reduce that high price tag. The intervening weeks were nightmarish: Instead of using August to showcase what reform could do for the average American, the White House spent most of its time knocking down rumors of death panels for the sick and elderly. And as the right became energized, the left grew disillusioned, as much by the administration’s backroom deals as by its ineffectual messaging. Eventually, the shift showed up in the polls. First people grew more wary of reform. Then they grew more wary of the president. It was if everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Sen. Ben Nelson Expresses Support For Public Plan ‘Trigger’ - Think Progress

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) has long opposed a public health insurance option. In May, he expressed concern that “the public plan would be too attractive and would hurt the private insurance plans.” A Nelson spokesman even suggested that the senator would be “building a coalition opposed to the public plan.” And this past week, Nelson said health care reform “implodes” if a public option is included.

The GOP’s Fake Doctor Council – Slate

How Obamacare opponents scam physicians and the public.

The New Baucus Health Care Plan: Less Is Less – Change.org

I’ll admit to growing tired of seeing news stories based on leaked documents from Sen. Max Baucus and his Senate Finance Committee. Yet here we go again. Check out the New York Times and you’ll see a story which gravitates towards the only real news in the latest leaked documents: “New Fee on Health Insurance Companies Is Proposed to Help Expand Coverage”. And yet even that isn’t news, since this funding option was first suggested months ago. The more Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee release these trial balloons, the less it changes, and the more it looks like the past two months have just been an exercise in circling the drain.

No Alternative: An Analysis of the GOP Plan - The Health Care Blog

Congressional Republicans have been blasting away all summer at the Democrats’ health reform legislation. But they might face heavy blowback if more Americans took a close look at two ambitious health reform bills sponsored by GOP lawmakers.

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