« Coburn longs to be a judge | Main | Kansas congressman fights taxpayer-funded abortions, ask what if Obama's mom had had one? »

July 16, 2009

Health care: CBO, AMA and more acronyms weigh in

A rollercoaster of a day on Capitol Hill for President Obama’s desired health care overhaul.

Prospects for consensus took a nasty hit after the Congressional Budget Office’s director testified to lawmakers that the House and Senate health care proposals he’d seen so far wouldn’t rein in government spending, as has been pitched, and could instead drive costs up more.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.,meanwhile, told reporters that the president is “not helping” Senate Democrats by his opposition to taxing some health insurance benefits, which might have been one of the best prospects for getting bipartisan support. Obama campaigned against such taxation last year and doesn’t want it now, either.

On the other hand, the American Medical Association today expressed its support for House health care legislation. That prompted a statement of support from the president, who’s in New Jersey and New York today, campaigning for N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine and speaking tonight at the NAACP’s 100th anniversary convention.

“I am grateful that the doctors of the AMA have chosen to support health insurance reform that will lower costs, expand coverage, and assure choice and quality health care for all Americans,” Obama said. “Along with the nation’s nurses, these doctors are joining the chorus of Americans who know that the time to reform what is broken about our health care system is now.”

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c64169e20115720faeba970b

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Health care: CBO, AMA and more acronyms weigh in:

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

christena

Health is wealth , health is more important to us


Christena
Lock in your price today for Your favorite channels - and keep it there until 2010!

Merritt

When a country's health care system is run by greed not need we end up creating one of the worst health care systems on the planet. Almost everyone knows someone who is pushed over the edge of bankruptcy or ruin because of how this country delivers health care. To those who need it, unless they have lots of money or a good employer willing to help provide it, you are very much out of luck. America should not pass this opportunity to create a health care system for the people and children who work and try to do the right thing. One day, perhaps this nation will have the forsight to offer those who struggle daily a chance to have health care at least
as Moldovia provides it's citizens. That will be the day.

Post a comment

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In





ABOUT THIS BLOG

"Planet Washington" covers politics and government. It is written by journalists in McClatchy's Washington Bureau.

Send a story suggestion or news tip.

Receive updates to this blog by email. Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


THIS MONTH

BLOGROLL