Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
How To Save Money On Health Care (CNN Video & Text)
When Heather Staples’ 6-year-old daughter, Sophia, fell and cut her eyebrow, Staples knew her daughter might need stitches. But instead of running straight to an emergency room, Staples took a few minutes to compare prices at nearby emergency rooms.
“I have a high-deductible plan, so I knew that I would be paying for the charges out [...]
Meet The Lone Democrat Who Could Sink Obama’s Health Care (Yahoo!)
Anyone who’s followed the health care debate even casually over the past year has probably heard Rep. Bart Stupak’s name mentioned a time or two. The nine-term Democrat from Michigan is the author of the “Stupak Amendment,” a rider attached to the House health care legislation that would effectively ban most government funding of abortion [...]
TALKING POINTS: Where House Dems Disagree With The President On Health Care (USA Today)
WASHINGTON — Some oppose abortion, some are worried about premiums, and some have zeroed in on taxes. But House Democrats do have this in common: They’re all being heavily courted to support President Obama’s health care legislation.
Although much of the focus during the health care debate has been on the Senate, a push by Obama [...]
Obama Begs Dems To Put Aside Qualms Over Health Care (Yahoo! News)
Support from his own party in doubt, President Barack Obama summoned more than a dozen House Democrats to the White House Thursday, pleading with them to put aside their qualms, seize a historic moment and vote for his massive health care overhaul.
It’s the opportunity of a generation, he told them — and a chance to [...]
Obama Calls For A Straight ‘Up-Or-Down’ Vote On Health Care (AP/Yahoo! News)
WASHINGTON – The end game at hand, President Barack Obama took command Wednesday of one final attempt by Democrats to enact bitterly contested health care legislation, calling for an “up or down vote” within weeks under rules denying Republicans the ability to kill the bill with mere talk.
Appearing before a White House audience of invited [...]
Pelosi’s Challenge – Corraling Votes for a Health Bill (The New York Times)
WASHINGTON — The future of President Obama’s health care overhaul now rests largely with two blocs of swing Democrats in the House of Representatives — abortion opponents and fiscal conservatives — whose indecision signals the difficulties Speaker Nancy Pelosi faces in securing the votes necessary to pass the bill.
With Republicans unified in their opposition, Democrats [...]
As Primary Care Shortage Looms, Doctors Cut Work Hours (USATODAY.com)
Doctors have steadily cut their work hours over the past decade, a new study finds, something that experts say may only worsen the health care situation.
It’s not that doctors are terrible slackers. Average hours dropped from about 55 to 51 hours per week from 1996 to 2008, according to the analysis, appearing in Wednesday’s Journal [...]
Obama and Democrats Contemplate ‘Reconciliation’ To Override GOP On Health Care Bill (Washington Post)
WASHINGTON — Democrats struggling to enact President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul may take a seldom-used Senate shortcut. That prospect has infuriated Republicans who, it turns out, have used the process far more than Democrats.
That’s just one hint of the pressures, emotions and uncertainty that Democrats’ use of the so-called reconciliation process would unleash for [...]
Key Moments From Health Care Summit (Yahoo! / Video)
President Obama and Democratic and Republican members of Congress spent most of the day Thursday debating the future of the American health care system: who it will cover, how it will do that, and how much it will cost. The historic bipartisan health care summit lasted almost seven hours. Though substantive and important, even President [...]
10 Things Your Family Doctor Won’t Tell You (SmartMoney.com)
1. “Good luck getting an appointment.”
Patients feeling a cold creeping up shouldn’t wait too long to call their primary-care physician since there’s probably already a long line of patients waiting to see him or her.
A good primary-care doctor — someone to coordinate your health care, help choose your specialists, and be the first to [...]
