The health care reform debate is constantly evolving. Here are some of the week’s top health care headlines to help keep you up-to-date on what’s being said:
Q+A - Where Does Health Care Reform Stand In US Congress? (Reuters)
Congress Considers Single Payer Health Care System (House Committee on Education and Labor): Lawmakers in the House recently held a hearing to examine the option of a single payer health care system amongst the many proposals for health care reform currently being discussed by legislators. Much of the debate was inspired by a bill that would establish a single payer system proposed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.). Rep. Conyers’ bill, The United States National Health Care Act (H.R. 676), would establish a publicly financed, privately administered universal health care system with single payer financing, based on improvements and expansion of the existing Medicare program.
Senate Committee Hears Many Opinions On Health Reform (Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions): The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions recently held a hearing on health care reform featuring the testimony of numerous witnesses from across the health care sector. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), sitting in for Committee Chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), stated that health care reform is an urgent issue and “delay is not an option.” On the other hand, Ranking Member Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) cautioned that “if we don’t get [health care reform] right, America will suffer. We shouldn’t be subject just to timetables; we should be subject to getting it right.”
Health debate to intensify (Atlanta Journal-Constitution): After weeks of relatively polite discussion about health care reform – the top item on President Barack Obama’s agenda – Congress and interest groups are beginning to draw battle lines as the first specific proposals emerge from Congress. The rhetoric will sharpen when Obama, who pushed change in a town hall meeting Thursday in Wisconsin, addresses the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest doctors’ group, in Chicago.
Obama Urges Health Care System Overhaul To The American Medical Association (Associated Press on YouTube)