NEWS

Baucus Offers Health Plan but Lacks G.O.P. Support – New York Times

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday unveiled his long-awaited plan to remake the nation’s health care system and insure millions of Americans. But he did not win support from a single Republican despite tailoring his proposal to be less costly and to extend the reach of government less than other health bills moving through Congress.

Baucus health care bill gets lukewarm reception – USA Today

A long-awaited plan to revamp health care got a tepid response from lawmakers Wednesday, underscoring the challenge President Obama confronts as his top priority enters a critical new phase.

All sides go on attack as senator issues health plan – Boston Globe

Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, released his long-awaited health care proposal yesterday without the bipartisan support he had sought over months of painstaking negotiations, only to see it attacked from every corner of the political spectrum.

Guarded Optimism Among Insurers, but Some Health Sectors Remain Skeptical – New York Times

In an important victory for the insurance industry, Senator Max Baucus’s legislative proposal does not call for a government-run health plan that would directly compete with private insurers. Insurance stocks rose on that news Wednesday.

Chasm In Congress Over How Much Individuals Should Pay For Health Care – Kaiser Health News

How much can people afford to pay for health care?

New A.F.L.-C.I.O. Leader Calls for Public Option – New York Times

In his speech accepting the presidency of the A.F.L.-C.I.O on Wednesday, Richard L. Trumka dove headfirst into the health care debate.

Ganging up on Baucus: Senator’s plan garners bipartisan grumbles - The Hill

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) finally introduced his much-anticipated healthcare reform bill Wednesday — and was rewarded with a chorus of disapproval from both the left and the right.

Michelle Obama turns to health care – Politico

Pushing for health care reform didn’t turn out so well for the last first lady in a Democratic White House.

Vacant Senate Seat Triggers Flip-Flop – Wall Street Journal

The Democrat-controlled legislature in Massachusetts is poised to pass a bill in coming days giving Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick authority to appoint an interim senator to succeed the late Edward M. Kennedy, strengthening the party’s U.S. Senate majority and bolstering prospects for passage of a health-care overhaul.

Firms Split From NFIB On Public Option – CongressDaily

A network of small-business owners, saying that their interests have been misrepresented by K Street, are holding out hope for the inclusion of a public insurance option in the healthcare overhaul, even as the nation’s top business …

Subsidies in Baucus Health Reform Plan Would Fall Short of What Is Needed for Many People to Afford Health Care – CBPP

The difficulty Congress is encountering in finding ways to finance health reform legislation is placing in jeopardy the adequacy of the legislation’s subsidies to help low- and moderate-income people afford health coverage and out-of-pocket costs. The plan unveiled today by Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, reflecting deliberations by a group of the Committee’s Senators, would provide more limited subsidies to help people purchase coverage than the Senate HELP Committee bill or the House bill. The Baucus plan could leave many people who are eligible for subsidies facing fairly steep insurance premiums and cost-sharing charges that they could have difficulty affording.

OPINION

The Baucus Health Care Plan: Who Will Vote for THIS? – Change.org

You’ve heard endlessly about how you need 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate. (It’s the number of votes required to end a filibuster.) You’ve even heard the number 60 used to justify why the Senate Finance Committee is jettisoning something as popular as the public option from their bill. As Sen. Kent Conrad said again and again on TV, there are “not 60 votes in the U.S. Senate” to pass a public option. But given the reaction to Sen. Max Baucus’ bill, crafted in secret with a bipartisan “gang of six” including Mr. Conrad, the magic number is not 60. It’s 12.

The Only Good News About Senate Finance Bill? It Won’t Pass - Mike Lux

I have written several times of the media’s fixation with the bill that comes out of the Senate Finance Committee on health care. It’s finally starting to move now, creaking its way up the track like a half-dead carcass. Traditional media will act like whatever is in the Senate Finance bill will be the bill, that the deal is done. Not even close, folks.

There Are Enough Votes For *A* Triggerless Public Option – Chris Bowers

In our email petitioning Harry Reid earlier today, I claimed “we have the votes to pass a public option in health care reform.” This is a statement I stand by, as long as the emphasis is on a triggerless public option, rather than on any of the triggerless public options that currently passed through Congressional committees.

Conrad Praises Baucus Bill Which Contains Co-Ops He Proposed After Meeting With UnitedHealth Group - Think Progress

After months of legislative deliberation aimed at forging a bipartisan health care bill that began by ejecting single-payer advocates from his hearing room, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) unveiled his committee’s health care bill today with zero Republican support. Baucus’s bill — which former Cigna executive Wendell Potter has referred to as “an absolute gift” to the health insurance industry — includes no public option, an individual insurance mandate, and the creation of health care co-ops.

How Does Baucus Protection Stack Up? - Jon Cohn

One of the big questions about the Baucus proposal is affordability–that is, what protection it provides and at what cost. The best answer I’ve seen, so far, comes from Nicholas Beaudrot. He had the good sense to compare the provisions of the Baucus bill to those now available in Massahcusetts, under its newly reformed system. Better still, he put the results on a chart.

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