health care reform

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Health Insurer Tries to Jack Rates—59%

Blue Shield of California cites rising costs, new health care law

(Newser) - Blue Shield of California wants to jack up its health insurance rates a whopping 59% for individual policyholders this year, saying the increase is “absolutely necessary” to deal with rising health care costs and restrictions in the new health care law. Policyholders have complained to the state insurance commissioner,...

Dems Quickly Pull Plug on 'Death Panels'

White House reverses course, deletes references to counseling

(Newser) - The end-of-life counseling derided as "death panels" that was originally part of health care reform, then taken out, then put back in , is back out again. For now. The Obama administration has reversed itself and removed references to the counseling from new Medicare regulations that quietly went into effect...

House Schedules Vote on Health Repeal

Two-page bill dubbed the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act"

(Newser) - The new Republican House won’t waste any time getting in a vote on its top priority —a largely symbolic vote to repeal Democrats’ health care reform law. The bill will be voted on next week, Politico reports. The two-page document is subtly titled the “Repealing the Job-Killing...

Major Health Care Reforms Kick in
Major Health Care
Reforms Kick in

Major Health Care Reforms Kick in

Insurers now required to spend 80% of premiums on customers

(Newser) - A rule requiring health insurers to spend at least 80% of premiums on customers and a $2.5 billion tax on drug makers are among the health care reform provisions taking effect today. The new rules also plug the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug benefits and provide free preventive...

'Death Panels' Return: Obama Enacts End-of-Life Planning

Obama to add end-of-life planning to Medicare

(Newser) - Sarah Palin's "death panels" are back. The brouhaha surrounding end-of-life counseling forced Democrats to cut it from health care reform, but now President Obama is quietly adding the same policy to Medicare by rewriting regulations, reports the New York Times . Under the new policy, beginning Jan. 1 the government...

The Top Moments in 2010 Politics
The Top Moments
in 2010 Politics

The Top Moments in 2010 Politics

The Tea Party really made things interesting this year

(Newser) - From a January special election right up to the unexpectedly-productive lame duck Congress that just finished, 2010 was an incredible year in politics. Here's the rundown of Politico's top moments:
  • Jan. 9, Scott Brown surges—The Republican took the lead in polls, sending uneasy Democrats into full-fledged panic mode. Just
...

Most Productive Congress Since 1960s Adjourns

111th passed vast legislation in 'dysfunctional' environment

(Newser) - The 111th Congress adjourned last night, after passing more key legislation that affected more Americans than any since Lyndon Johnson’s 1960s “Great Society,” Bloomberg reports. That included $1.67 trillion spent to save the economy, health insurance for 32 million people, and new regulations on Wall Street;...

Politifact Names 'Lie of the Year'
Politifact Names
'Lie of the Year'

Politifact Names 'Lie of the Year'

Health care reform no 'government takeover'

(Newser) - This year’s biggest political lie is the phrase “a government takeover of health care,” holds the nonpartisan fact-checking group Politifact . The term "government takeover" was suggested by a GOP strategist, who called on Republican leaders to use it to refer to health care reform—and use...

Holder, Sebelius: Health Care Mandate Must Stand
Holder, Sebelius: Health Care Mandate Must Stand
OPINION

Holder, Sebelius: Health Care Mandate Must Stand

Forcing people to buy insurance will keep costs down, they argue

(Newser) - The health care reform law’s mandate forcing individuals to buy insurance is necessary and constitutional, Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius argue today in an op-ed piece for the Washington Post , defending a provision struck down in federal court yesterday. Opponents of the law “have sought to invent new...

Va. Ruling Won't Stall ObamaCare: White House

Implementation of it will proceed, says administration

(Newser) - Implementation of the new health care law will continue to move forward in spite of yesterday's federal court ruling that a key provision of ObamaCare is unconstitutional , the White House says. Regulations will continue to be written, plans to expand Medicaid will be considered, and this week, 150 officials from...

Judge Who Nixed Health Care Owns Stake in GOP Firm

Attorney general paid consulting firm $9K this year

(Newser) - Surprise! Henry Hudson, the federal judge who ruled health care reform unconstitutional today owns as much as $50,000 worth of stock in a GOP political consulting firm that opposes health care reform. According to financial disclosure forms spotted first by the Huffington Post and then Gawker , Hudson has made...

Federal Judge Declares Health Care Reform Unconstitutional
Federal Judge Declares Health Care Reform Unconstitutional
Breaking News

Federal Judge Declares Health Care Reform Unconstitutional

Rules in favor of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

(Newser) - A federal judge declared the Obama administration's health care law unconstitutional today, siding with Virginia's attorney general in a dispute that both sides agree will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. US District Judge Henry E. Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down the law, which has...

Calif. Man Gets 21 Months for Pelosi Threats

House speaker approves plea deal for Gregory Giusti

(Newser) - A San Francisco man who made dozens of threatening and abusive phone calls to Nancy Pelosi's home and offices has been sentenced to 21 months in a federal prison. Gregory Lee Giusti, 49, threatened to destroy the House speaker's home if she continued to support health care reform, the San ...

Second Judge Shuts Down Challenge to Obamacare

Conservative Christian university will appeal the ruling

(Newser) - A federal judge yesterday dismissed Liberty University's lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's new federal health care law, declaring that a provision requiring most individuals to obtain insurance is constitutional. The ruling is the second court decision upholding the law, following one in Michigan in October . University law school dean Mathew...

New GOP Rep: I Have to Wait to Get Health Care?

Maryland's Andy Harris can't understand why benefits don't kick in for a month

(Newser) - For a Republican who campaigned on repealing ObamaCare, Andy Harris had a rather unusual question at a meeting on congressional benefits yesterday: Dude, where's my health care? Harris, an anesthesiologist and newly elected Maryland rep, demanded to know why his federal health insurance takes a month to kick in. “...

GOP to Dems: Help Us Repeal ObamaCare

Republicans try to sway Senators facing 2012 election

(Newser) - Republicans are leaning on at-risk or moderate Senate Democrats to help them pick apart the Democrats’ health care reform bill. Strategists tell Politico that they think they can sway Ben Nelson, Jim Webb, and Jon Tester, since all come from red-tinged states and face 2012 reelection campaigns. They also expect...

White House Caves, Will Extend Bush Tax Cuts

But Axelrod says Obama will veto any health care threat

(Newser) - Any Republican attempt to repeal health care reform legislation won't make it past President Obama's veto pen, top adviser David Axelrod tells the Huffington Post. The president is willing to give ground in other areas and is prepared to accept an across-the-board continuation of Bush-era tax cuts even for the...

Supreme Court Turns Down First ObamaCare Challenge

Kagan may not recuse herself from cases involving health reform

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has turned down the first preliminary challenge to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The decision to reject an appeal from a former Republican state lawmaker in California was no surprise because a federal appeals court has yet to consider the case. The high court almost never...

Republicans Look to Hobble Health Reform

May force partisan standoff

(Newser) - The GOP may not have the votes to repeal health care reform, but they're still setting their sights on it. Incoming Republicans say they plan to curtail the controversial law by finding creative ways to hobble it, finds the New York Times . They may, for instance, cut funding and personnel...

Pelosi, Democrats Are the Real Winners in 2010

Op-ed: They passed health care reform and deserve a toast, not scorn

(Newser) - Democrats blew it. In just two years, they managed to squander an ocean of goodwill and hope, resulting in a trouncing at the hands of Republicans—and their long slog on the health care bill was to blame. That's the prevailing narrative, anyway. At Slate , William Saletan suggests this view...

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