GOP lawmaker targets key health reform provision

House GOP targeting key health reform component, the medical loss ratio
The House GOP knows that while they have enough members to vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act this week, the effort dies in the Senate. Even if it could get through the Senate, it would be vetoed by President Obama. So they're working on individual pieces to chip away at the provisions of the bill, including a critical one that went into effect January 1: requiring that insurers spend at least 80 percent of the premium dollars they take in on actual health services, rather than overhead or ...

Healthcare Law a Jobs Killer?
TM NOTE: Texan4Hillary offers his perspective as a movement progressive Activist, weeknights 6 pm EST. Sorry Mr. Speaker, no. The healthcare law is very flawed. The mandate making Americans buy from a cartel is abhorrent. But it does have some redeeming qualities bundled in it and the Right Wing lies on the law must be debunked. The Right’s effort to Repeal the entire thing is outlandish, especially since the mandate is based on the GOP’s own plan for healthcare coverage back in the...

Health care lobby mum on repeal
The Health Care industry’s biggest trade groups have remained uncharacteristically neutral on the Republican effort to Repeal the Health Care reform law, choosing instead to save their political capital for smaller, more targeted changes that have a chance at becoming law. America’s Health Insurance Plans lobbied against much of the Health Care overhaul when it was passed in Congress, but it is not supporting the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act. The heads of Aetna and...

California wants to lead the way
Sacramento, Calif. —While Republicans open debate Tuesday on repealing health reform, leaders in California are sitting down to a completely different discussion: how they can most aggressively implement the new law and remain among the Obama Administration’s model states on the reform — without stumbling over the significant challenges that stand in their way. California’s Health and Human Services secretary, Diana Dooley, had dinner last week with Joel Ario, the Obama...

GOP set to try for healthcare law repeal
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Republican leaders in the U.S. House are set to open debate on whether to Repeal Healthcare Reform Legislation enacted by Democrats in the previous session. The debate, set to begin Tuesday, comes as public-opinion polls indicate less than a third of Americans support repealing the law. A Repeal vote is expected Wednesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told The Christian Science Monitor. The debate was originally scheduled for last week and was anticipate...

National health care law will help many Texas families get insurance, report says
National Health Care law will help many Texas families get Insurance, report says 12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News [email protected] Austin - Even as Texas leaders rail against the national Health Care law and call for its Repeal, the State Department of Insurance has issued a report that says the law will make it easier for many Texas families to get health coverage. The report also helps make the case that the current system i...

Up to half in US. .have pre-existing conditions: study
WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:12am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have medical problems putting them at risk of being rejected by Insurance Companies or having to pay more for coverage, according to a U.S. government study reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday. The Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to release the study on Tuesday, The Post said, the same day the House of Representatives is expected to begin considering a Repu...

Up to half in US. .have pre-existing conditions: study
The Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to release the study on Tuesday, the Post said, the same day the House of Representatives is expected to begin considering a Republican bill to Repeal President Barack Obama's healthcare overall. The report is part of the Obama Administration's effort to convince the public of the advantages of the law, which contains Insurance protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. "Americans living with Pre-existing Conditions are ...

ObamaCare repeal vote set for Wednesday
After putting off the vote for a week in the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, Republicans are set to take up Repeal of ObamaCare on Wednesday: The House of Representatives will resume action next week on repealing President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare overhaul, a House Republican spokesman said on Thursday. […] “As the White House noted, it is important for Congress to get back to work, and to that end we will resume thoughtful consideration of the Health Care bill...

GOP seeks alternatives to Obama health care law
WASHINGTON -- Preparing to re-engage with President Barack Obama, House Republicans have set themselves a more ambitious goal than simply wiping out the sweeping Health Care overhaul signed into law last March. When they take up the much-anticipated Repeal resolution Tuesday and Wednesday, GOP lawmakers also will begin crafting an alternative with the goal of reducing Insurance Premiums, expanding coverage, preserving Medicare and holding down taxes. Although they will be mindful of the call f...

FACT CHECK: Shaky health care job loss estimate
WASHINGTON—Republicans pushing to Repeal President Barack Obama's Health Care overhaul warn that 650,000 jobs will be lost if the law is allowed to stand. But the widely cited estimate by House GOP leaders is shaky. It's the latest creative use of statistics in the Health Care debate, which has seen plenty of examples from both sides. Republicans are calling their thumbs-down Legislation the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act." Postponed after the Mass Shootings in Tucson, a H...

FACT CHECK: Shaky health care job loss estimate
WASHINGTON — Republicans pushing to Repeal President Barack Obama's Health Care overhaul warn that 650,000 jobs will be lost if the law is allowed to stand. But the widely cited estimate by House GOP leaders is shaky. It's the latest creative use of statistics in the Health Care debate, which has seen plenty of examples from both sides. Republicans are calling their thumbs-down Legislation the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act." Postponed after the Mass Shootings in Tucson, ...

FACT CHECK: Shaky health care job loss estimate (AP)
WASHINGTON – Republicans pushing to Repeal President Barack Obama's Health Care overhaul warn that 650,000 jobs will be lost if the law is allowed to stand. But the widely cited estimate by House GOP leaders is shaky. It's the latest creative use of statistics in the Health Care debate, which has seen plenty of examples from both sides. Republicans are calling their thumbs-down Legislation the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act." Postponed after the Mass Shootings in Tucson, ...

FACT CHECK: Shaky health care job loss estimate
Republicans pushing to Repeal President Barack Obama's Health Care overhaul warn that 650,000 jobs will be lost if the law is allowed to stand. But the widely cited estimate by House GOP leaders is shaky. It's the latest creative use of statistics in the Health Care debate, which has seen plenty of examples from both sides. Republicans are calling their thumbs-down Legislation the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act." Postponed after the Mass Shootings in Tucson, a House vote on the d...

Daschle, Frist join forces on reform
Former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bill Frist are hoping to achieve at the state level what federal lawmakers weren’t able to do: Bipartisan health reform. “We realize that the bulk of the work has to be done at the state level,” Daschle told Politico. “We want to work in a constructive way to ensure all the tremendous challenges, including the creation of the exchanges and the availability of the new Insurance possibilities for millions of Americans, can be...

AP/GfK poll: Support for expanding health reform stronger than for repeal
Following quickly on the heels of a Marist poll that found that more respondents want to see the health reform law expanded than repealed, AP/GfK reports: The poll finds that 40 percent of those surveyed said they support the law, while 41 percent oppose it. Just after the November congressional Elections, opposition stood at 47 percent and support was 38 percent. As for Repeal, only about one in four say they want to do away with the law completely. Among Republicans support for repeal has dro...

Defund Obamacare: The next step (Politico)
As one of the first acts of this 112th Congress, the House is due to pass language I introduced to Repeal Obamacare: “as if such Act had not been enacted.” This Legislation would validate the strategy for Repeal that I have been advancing since the day the law was signed. It will also set the stage for the next component of my Repeal strategy: the inclusion of language in every appropriations bill to prevent federal funds from being used to implement or enforce any of Obamacare&rsquo...;

Weiner: Health-care rollback will hurt NY
WASHINGTON - Rolling back the Health Care bill will slam millions of needy New Yorkers and cost the city some $3 billion in added health costs. That's the finding of an analysis by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens), a leading Democratic Strategist counterattacking GOP efforts that will begin today in the House to Repeal the Health Care bill. "Repealing Health Care reform would be a national disaster that would be felt most acutely in New York City," he said. Weiner says the average city resident ...

Obama health care reform: Is it really 'job killing'?
More than a year’s worth of GOP scare tactics about Health Care reform now appear to be unfounded, partisan politics. There were no Death Panels, as Sarah Palin claimed. It is not a ‘job killing’ bill, as House Speaker, John Boehner claims. In reality, Health Care reform will actually create jobs in the Health Care industry. Furthermore, Congressional Budget Office data finds that Obama care will reduce the federal Deficit. Politico reports health Insurance Industry insiders ar...

U.S.: 129M have pre-existing conditions
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- As many as 129 million people may have Pre-existing Conditions that make getting Insurance difficult, a U.S. government report indicates. The Health and Human Services Department found that one-fifth of those under age of 65 would be eligible for high-risk Insurance pools offered in states, The Washington Post reported Tuesday -- as Republican leaders in the U.S. House prepared to open debate on a bill to Repeal the Healthcare Reform law enacted by the previous Congr...

Owens sets phone chat with seniors on health bill
Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, will hold a town hall meeting via telephone at 7:15 p.m. today to discuss President Barack Obama's health-care bill with constituents 65 and older. About 40,000 residents of the 23rd Congressional District received automated messages Monday night, and will receive another call tonight, asking that they join in, said Sean R. Magers, Mr. Owens's spokesman. Residents who didn't receive a call are asked to call Mr. Owens's Washington, D.C., of...

Dear Democrats: Pray The Tuesday Group Is Heard
There is exactly one hope that Democrats have to not get bogged down in partisan morass for the next two years, and it has nothing to do with their own Party. In fact, it's a day of the week, the Tuesday Group. Made up of moderate Republicans, they actually got voted into office along with all the Tea Party candidates, according to the Washington Post. While the profile of Charles Bass of New Hampshire and Charlie Dent is for the Post to get some needed sources, it does represent a significant portion o

Health Care and the New Civility
President Obama’s call for “a more civil and honest public discourse” will get its first test much sooner than we expected. Having properly postponed all legislative action last week out of respect for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other Victims of the Tucson shootings, the House Republican leadership decided it could abide no further delay in a vote on its “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” And so, as a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Canto...

The New Civility
Washington—President Obama’s call for “a more civil and honest public discourse” will get its first test much sooner than we expected. Having properly postponed all legislative action last week out of respect for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other Victims of the Tucson shootings, the House Republican leadership decided it could abide no further delay in a vote on its “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” And so, as a spokesman for House Majority...

Health Care and the New Civility
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s call for “a more civil and honest public discourse” will get its first test much sooner than we expected. Having properly postponed all legislative action last week out of respect for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other Victims of the Tucson shootings, the House Republican leadership decided it could abide no further delay in a vote on its “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” And so, as a spokesman for House Majori...