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Health Care Blog

Learn more about President Obama's health reform agenda.

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Word from the White House: Health CEOs Confirm Reform Lowers Costs

CEOs come out for reform, for the future of their businesses and the future of the American economy.
December 8, 2009 at 4:21 PM ET by Jesse Lee

Moving Forward on Cost-Containment

Dan Pfeiffer writes about continuing progress on cost-containment in health insurance reform, including a package of amendments unveiled by eleven freshman Senators.
December 8, 2009 at 1:49 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

CBPP: Savings Will Stick

OMB Director Peter Orszag passes along more independent validation of the ways in which health insurance reform will cut costs.
December 4, 2009 at 3:42 PM ET by Peter Orszag

Coming Attractions: Insurance Industry Funded Study is Wrong on the Facts... Again...

What to expect from the new insurance industry "study" coming down the pike.
December 3, 2009 at 12:07 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Reality Check: Standing by Medicare vs. Standing by Insurance Companies

Making clear who is fighting to protect Medicare and who is just fighting to protect the insurance industry.
December 1, 2009 at 1:08 PM ET by Macon Phillips

CBO Confirms Families Will Save Money Under Health Reform

More good news from the CBO about what reform will mean for families struggling to keep up with skyrocketing premiums under the broken status quo.
November 30, 2009 at 2:50 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

The Senate Debate Begins

Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle sets the record straight on health insurance reform and deficits as the Senate debate begins.
November 30, 2009 at 2:46 PM ET by Nancy-Ann DeParle

Who Do You Trust?

Ann Widger from the Office of Public Engagement introduces a new video with Vice President Biden, the President of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the President of the American Nurses Association on who you should trust on health insurance reform.
November 30, 2009 at 10:25 AM ET by Ann Widger

MIT Economist Confirms Senate Health Reform Bill Reduces Costs and Improves Coverage

Jonathan Gruber, PhD, a MIT Economist who has been closely following the health insurance reform process, issued a compelling new report based on data from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
November 29, 2009 at 3:14 PM ET by Nancy-Ann DeParle

What Health Insurance Reform Means for Rural America

I have seen the consequences of a health care system in need of reform – too few insured, too costly for others and too little quality for all. Unsustainable growth in the cost of health care and the continued denial of coverage to millions of Americans is evidence that our health care system has failed.
November 28, 2009 at 12:49 PM ET by Secretary Tom Vilsack

Reality Check: Column Ignores Facts about Health Reform

In today's Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer takes great pains to paint a bleak picture of health care reform as "monstrous," "overregulated," and rife with "arbitrary bureaucratic inventions." The columnist's argument may be cogent and well-written, but it is wholly inaccurate.
November 27, 2009 at 5:14 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Streaming at 11:30am EST: Nancy-Ann DeParle Speaks with AllBusiness.com about Health Care Reform

Watch live as White House Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle answers health reform questions from AllBusiness.com.
November 25, 2009 at 11:03 AM ET by

Reality Check: Health Insurance Reform and Guns

It’s amazing that after so many months debating health insurance reform, sometimes a myth we see being spread about it can still surprise us.
November 24, 2009 at 11:31 AM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Streaming at 3:30 pm on Flu.gov: H1N1 Briefing for Bloggers and Blog Readers

Join HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as she takes your questions live on H1N1 and seasonal flu during today’s webcast.
November 23, 2009 at 3:05 PM ET by

Health Insurance Reform vs. Medicare Part D

Opponents of health insurance reform have spent hours on the Senate floor today attacking the Senate's efforts to provide stability and security for those with insurance, affordable coverage for those without, and lower costs for families, small businesses and the government. To provide a little perspective on these attacks, let’s compare today's legislation with the 2003 Medicare Part D effort, which many of these same critics supported.
November 21, 2009 at 4:08 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Speaking of Page Numbers...

Since some opponents of reform seem too obsessed with the length of the Senate health insurance reform bill (pdf) to even bother looking at what's in it for American families, we thought we'd make it a little easier for them to find some key of provisions they're working so hard to kill.
November 20, 2009 at 11:30 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Reality Check: The "Rationing" Smear... Again?

When people use arguments they know are bogus, it's probably because they know they don't have any valid arguments at their disposal. So it would seem with opponents of reform in the Senate spending today obsessed with arguments about "rationing" that were debunked months ago.
November 20, 2009 at 3:03 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Reality Check: Claims That Reform Will Encourage Abortions at School "Sex Clinics" are Absurd

Opponents of health reform appear to have run out of fresh smears against health insurance reform and have started recycling old debunked attacks. In response to those that brought up this attack that Politifact proved false months ago, we simply bring back this classic Reality Check first published on October 1, 2009.
November 19, 2009 at 8:16 PM ET by Macon Phillips

Reality Check: Desperately Twisting the CBO Analysis on the Deficit

The same defenders of the status quo who recently held up the Congressional Budget Office as the gold standard scramble to undermine their estimates now.
November 19, 2009 at 7:55 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Moving Closer to a Victory for All Americans

Valerie Jarrett celebrates "another critical milestone in the health reform effort" and follows up on her recent online chat.
November 19, 2009 at 12:53 PM ET by Valerie Jarrett

Word from the White House: Economists Say Reform Will Strengthen America's Fiscal Health

More support from economists for the health insurance reform plans in Congress.
November 18, 2009 at 12:07 PM ET by Jesse Lee

Reality Check: Beware What “Critics Say” on Reform and Mammograms

One of the hallmark tactics from opponents of health insurance reform has been to grab onto any convenient piece of information and twist it into some misguided attack on reform, no matter how unrelated it may actually be. The hope appears to be that some media outlet will give them unchecked airtime under the banner of covering the “controversy.” Today they’re going back to that playbook again, and Fox News obliges them with the headline “Critics See Health Care Rationing Behind New Mammography Recommendations.”
November 17, 2009 at 11:52 PM ET by Dan Pfeiffer

Word from the White House: Hospitals Reaffirm Commitment to America's Seniors

The Federation of American Hospitals reaffirms that – despite reports to the contrary – nothing in health insurance reform will cause hospitals to end their participation in Medicare or stop serving America's seniors.
November 17, 2009 at 11:36 AM ET by Jesse Lee

Word from the White House: Talking Points: Reform Opponents' Pre-Determined "Study"

Opponents of reform tip their hand on why you shouldn't buy what their "studies" say.
November 16, 2009 at 4:45 PM ET by Jesse Lee

News Flash: Insurance Companies Will Profit If Status Quo Continues

Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the Office of Health Reform, comments on the recently-revealed analysis of the impact of health insurance reform on the health insurance industry.
November 15, 2009 at 9:00 AM ET by Nancy-Ann DeParle

"I am Here Because I'm a Daughter"

The First Lady joins some older women who have seen the worst of our current health insurance system in speaking out for reform.
November 14, 2009 at 4:28 PM ET by Jesse Lee

Word from the White House: Business Roundtable Hewitt Report "Health Care Reform: Creating a Sustainable Market"

A new report from the Business Roundtable confirms that the status quo is unsustainable and that Congress is moving in the right direction on both fiscal responsibility and cost containment.
November 12, 2009 at 11:20 AM ET by Jesse Lee

Fiscally Responsible Health Reform Redux

OMB Director Peter Orszag debunks yet another story hyping the costs of health insurance reform.
November 10, 2009 at 2:00 PM ET by Peter Orszag

There They Go Again

OMB Director Peter Orszag debunks yet another story hyping the costs of health insurance reform.
November 10, 2009 at 1:31 PM ET by Peter Orszag

Word from the White House: Controlling Costs for Families, Small Businesses, and the Government

On the ways in which health insurance reform helps bring down costs.
November 10, 2009 at 11:53 AM ET by Jesse Lee