Selected stories from the daily newsletter CQ HealthBeat from the week of April 13, 2009. Provided as a service under rights licensed by The Commonwealth Fund. The full-text version of this newsletter can be accessed via the DC Policy Updates box on the Fund's Web site,
www.commonwealthfund.org.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer will summon three committee chairmen and other pivotal players to his office this week to plot strategy on a sticky priority: health care. Read more »
On a day when President Obama emphasized that rebuilding the nation's economic foundation depends in large measure on lowering health costs, a pilot program announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services served as a reminder of how new forms of local cooperation will be required to reach that goal. Read more »
If winning bipartisan support is essential to the passage of health overhaul legislation, the White House must reach some accommodation between Democrats and Republicans on the hotly debated issue of what role if any a new "public plan" should play in covering the uninsured. Read more »
Washington just can't get enough of accountable care organizations (ACOs). Members of Congress are talking about them as a way to save money and increase quality in the U.S. health care system, and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) again probed the concept as it relates to Medicare at its April 9 meeting. Read more »
The Obama administration's head of its health care overhaul said that she was optimistic it would become law this year. Read more »
The Senate Finance Committee and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have solidified their plans to move separate health care overhaul bills that will eventually be combined on the floor, likely after markups that are targeted for early summer. Read more »
Many people are unaware that their health insurance plans will not adequately cover their expenses and could leave them in substantial medical debt if they fall seriously ill, according to the May 2009 issue of Consumer Reports. Read more »