Category Archive

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Republicans think that one way to improve health care is to engage in tort reform, i.e., somehow limit the number of malpractice cases brought to court, or limit the damages that winning plaintiffs can receive.  Because (Republicans claim) of all these lawsuits, malpractice insurance for doctors and hospitals is high, which creates higher health care costs. It's an idea, so … Read More

Washington Post’s Tom Shales says Obama “came across like Jimmy Stewart in ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’: a bright-eyed young idealist up against entrenched power, old ideas and obstructionism. It was also a chance for Obama to go on national television and look presidential again, asserting himself in ways that helped make up for the past few months of perceived … Read More

CNN: Two out of three Americans who watched President Barack Obama's health care reform speech Wednesday night favor his health care plans — a 14-point gain among speech-watchers, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll of people who tuned into Obama's address Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress. Sixty-seven percent of people questioned in the survey say … Read More

Dear Mr. President, I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth. On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in … Read More

I thought Obama did nicely. He shot down the lies. He addressed all the BS about death panels, government coming between you and your doctor, illegal immigrants getting health insurance, etc.  Not that rabid opponents will change their mind; they're entrenched in stupidity and or fearmongering.  Key passage: Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose … Read More

Not really been attuned to the health care debate?  That's fine.  You're busy. Fortunately, you can increase your knowledge about the central sticking point — the public option – in 150 seconds, just by watching this dwarf former Secretary of Labor, former boyfriend of Hilary Rodham, author, father of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Rhodes scholar and NPR commentator Robert Reich explain what … Read More

The town hall meetings are over.  Congress is back in session.  If the White House is changing its tone for the upcoming health care debate, and this is indicative of that tone, I think we might see some good things coming.  As the Washington Post noted, "In abandoning the cool, patient tone he adopted at health-care town hall meetings over … Read More

The Washington Post has a front-page article up about rescission in the health insurance industry: Rescission — the technical term for canceling coverage on grounds that the company was misled — is often considered among the most offensive practices in an insurance industry that already suffers from a distinct lack of popularity among the American public. Tales of cancellations have … Read More

There is a huge viral movement brewing on Facebook at the moment: Countless young people around the country are pasting the following message (or something close to it) into their status: No one should die because they cannot afford healthcare. No one should go broke because they get sick, and no one should be tied to a job because of … Read More

This video is boring and wonkish.  It's boring and wonkish because it's detailed and educated.  I'm telling you that right up front because my point is that the health care debate should be boring and wonkish and detailed and educated. This is Senator Al Franken (D-MN) who was confronted by a loud and angry mob of teabagging anti-reform protesters.  What … Read More

Rudy Ruiz, guest commentating at CNN, has some thoughts: Why has it become so difficult to even consider changing our minds about important issues? Here's my diagnosis. Increasingly, the willingness to change one's position on political issues has been misread as a mark of weakness rather than a product of attentive listening and careful deliberation. Three factors exacerbate this paralysis … Read More