Posts Tagged ‘senate’
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Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 23:20 | Comments Off
Medicare Doc Fix Update: 19-Month Relief Flops in SenateCategories: Wall Street Journal -
Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 00:26 | Comments Off
Health-Care Bill: Going Back for Another VoteCategories: Wall Street Journal
Student loans appear to be a health overhaul headache: the reconciliation bill is going back to the House for a vote, thanks to Senate Republicans who found two provisions in the document — including one related to student loans — that violate its rules and can’t be included in the final bill.
Some 16 lines of text will be removed from the 153-page bill. One provision is technical and has no substantive value, and the other is about a measure to ..read more
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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 08:43 | Comments Off
Health Bill: From Reconciliation to ‘Deeming’Categories: Wall Street Journal
This post by WSJ’s Naftali Bendavid also appears on the Washington Wire blog.
We’re not doing anything wrong. And besides, the Republicans did it more.
That was much of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s message today as he struck back at critics of the legislative tactics Democrats are using to push through their health overhaul bill. Dismissing the criticism as an inside-the-Beltway fixation, Hoyer said the American public cares about what’s in a bill, not the process by which it passes.
“ ‘So ..read more
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 01:10 | Comments Off
Wait! Could There Actually Be Votes on Health Care Up Ahead?Categories: Wall Street Journal
It’s another Monday and another week of to-ing and fro-ing on the health-care bill in Washington. But this week is different because there could actually be votes on the legislation.
The gameplan has been set for a while now: first the House passes the same health bill approved in the Senate on Christmas Eve and that completed legislation goes to President Obama for his signature. The ink on that may hardly have time to dry before the House then takes up ..read more
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Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 05:05 | Comments Off
Abortion Remains High Hurdle in Health-Care PushCategories: Wall Street Journal, insurance
The overhaul swirl of late has been focused largely on medical costs, insurance regulation, coverage mandates and the like. One pivotal issue has gotten less attention: abortion.
Republicans remain opposed to the health-care revamp, whether or not the legislation bans the use of federal money for abortion. But as many as a dozen Democrats in the House – a big number in this showdown – could vote against the overhaul if it doesn’t contain stiffened abortion restrictions like what House passed ..read more
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Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 10:02 | Comments Off
Tick Tock: Medicare Payment Cuts for Docs Due to Start MondayCategories: Wall Street Journal
The clock is running out before a 21% cut in Medicare payments to doctors kicks in. Plans to block the reductions have gotten hung up in Congress.
In response, the AMA is telling its members what they can do about the lower payments, including closing their doors to new Medicare patients, CNN reports. “To our physicians, we are providing information on their Medicare participation options, including how to remove themselves from the Medicare program,” AMA President James Rohack told the ..read more
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 00:44 | Comments Off
Today, It’s the Coakley-Brown Health-Care BillCategories: Wall Street Journal
The morning papers are full of speculation about what the Democrats will do with their health-care bill if Scott Brown, a Republican, wins the senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. Massachusetts is holding a special election for the seat today; if Brown defeats Martha Coakley, a Democrat, the Dems will lose their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
One option would be for the House to pass the bill already approved by the Senate. That possibility gets top billing in ..read more
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Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 09:50 | Comments Off
Dems May Seek Billions More From Drug and Device CompaniesCategories: Wall Street Journal, insurance
Some health-care news out of Washington this afternoon:
More fees may be coming for drug and device makers, the WSJ reports. Dems may add $10 billion in fees for device makers over 10 years, on top of the roughly $20 billion already included in the House and Senate bills. The final health-care bill may also cut reimbursements or increase fees on drug makers by an additional $10 billion over 10 years, beyond the $80 billion the industry agreed to last year.
Democrats ..read more
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Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 00:24 | Comments Off
Big Pharma, Generic Competition and CashCategories: Wall Street Journal
Regulators don’t seem to like it much when big drug companies pay generics shops in deals that determine when branded drugs will face generic competition.
Today, for example, the head of the FTC and a few lawmakers will call on Congress to crack down on the deals as part of the pending health-care legislation. (The House health-care bill does this; the Senate bill doesn’t.)
The FTC will also release a report today that says there were 19 cash settlements in ..read more
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 04:18 | Comments Off
Break’s Over: Back to Health-Care PolicyCategories: Wall Street Journal
If, like a kid after summer vacation, you’ve forgotten everything you learned before the holiday break, allow us to suggest a quick re-entry to the health-care debate.
It’s time for the House and Senate to hash out the (substantial) differences between the bills they’ve passed. And while it’s pretty clear that the House is going to have to do most of the giving in order to get a final bill through the Senate. The new, government-backed plan that’s included in ..read more

