Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent Health Reform Developments

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 29 May 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Summaries of recent developments related to health care overhaul appear below.

• Howard Dean: Former Democratic National Committee Chair and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) on Wednesday discussed Democrats' proposal to establish a public, government-run health insurance option that would compete with private insurers, the Denver Post reports. At a rally in Denver -- one of his many stops in a nationwide tour to discuss health care reform -- Dean said that the public insurance option is "not a poor people's program," adding, "This needs to be an everybody program. Let's have real choice" (Brown, Denver Post, 5/28).
  
  
• Businesses: The Boston Globe on Thursday examined how business leaders are working with examined how business leaders are working with congressional Democrats on a variety of issues, including health care reform. Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said, "I think there's a desperation now on the part of business for government to bail them out when it comes to health care costs," adding, "They've thrown their ideological opposition to government health care out the window because they need help with costs" (Milligan, Boston Globe, 5/28).
  
  
• Prospects: Reuters/Globe reports that "The U.S. Congress has started work on a broad overhaul of the healthcare system in a rare spirit of optimism, but brewing battles over its cost, scope and structure could still scuttle hopes for a solution" (Whitesides, Reuters/Boston Globe, 5/28).
  
  
• Public plan: American Public Media's "Marketplace Morning Report" on Thursday reported on uncertainties about how a public health insurance option would work and how much it would cost (Henn, "Marketplace Morning Report," American Public Media, 5/28).
  

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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