On October 9, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Doug Elmendorf wrote a letter to Senator Hatch (R-UT) on the "effects of proposals to limit costs related to medical malpractice ('tort reform')", and concluded that tort reform could decrease health care costs. Elmendorf went on to say, "Tort reform could...

With the announcement that a public option was included in the House health care reform bill introduced Oct. 29, you would expect Americans to be elated. Now we are going to get choice and competition so every single American can access and afford health care. Health care as a...

It is no surprise that America's health insurers came out with a report that took a 180 degree turn 24 hours before the Senate Finance Committee's voted on its health reform legislation. This report said that such a bill will actually increase premiums for all insureds. The basis for the...

On the eve of the Senate Finance Committee passing a bill without a public option (excuse me Senator Cantwell (D-WA), but your amendment which passed by one vote is not a public option), one wonders whether or not health care is a right for all Americans, or if health care...

Next week, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on the public health insurance option. There will be two versions of it, one offered by Senator Rockefeller; the other by Senator Schumer. Regardless of the outcome, health care reform today comes down to four simple, words: accessibility, affordability, choice, and competition....

With the president hitting the news talk shows on Sunday, I listened intently to a House hearing on health care conducted September 17, which was chaired by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Executives from various health insurance insurance companies gave testimony under oath. One question asked of one of them was: why...

Today, the Senate Finance Committee's "gang of six" (excuse me, what I meant to say is, coffee klatch of three, since no Republican came on board) through Senator Max Baucus put forth a bill on health care reform. Others on this site have reported on what they have come up...

Being engaged in the health care debate ever since I first began writing that health care should be a right in the summer of 2008 leaves me to wonder whether there is anything left to be said that all others have not already spoken or written about, either because...

The title to this piece is spelled using the words, "public" and "option," but after each letter there is a period--and for good reason. One might say the letters with periods behind them must be an acronym for something, that each letter stands for another word. Well, this is not...

In the first case of its kind ever to come before a State Supreme Court, the Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments on September 2, 2009 in the case of Baxter, et al. v. State of Montana, where the plaintiffs argued that a right exists under Montana's...

In the latest news cycles, including as reported by bloggers on Huffington Post, the President will be backing off of support for a public health insurance option. If Obama does this, or downplays this item, in his speech to a joint session of Congress next week, he will have...

With grace and style, United States House of Representatives Congresswoman Janice Schakowsky (D-9th) conducted her town hall meeting in a Skokie, Illinois high school on August 31 (a northern suburb of Chicago). Perhaps the largest such gathering of its kind in the Chicagoland area held during the August recess, a...

Now that Teddy Kennedy has gone to meet his Maker, I reflected on what his loss really means to the country. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to think about Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame, Bronx Bomber catcher of days past. I then...

In recent days, pundits have turned to discussing health care as an American right. After all, we see this in other countries. When asked by Bill Maher on his show the other day, Bill Moyers said, "We're all in the same boat", and said how could he be provided...

Though we knew it was coming quite soon, we still were shocked and saddened by Teddy Kennedy's passing. I represented him before the U.S. Supreme Court in two cases as an amicus (friend of the court) party. Much will be written, but by others, about the good and not...

How many times do we question someone who claims more knowledge than us, or we think they do? Many times, I suspect. This does not occur, however, when we have complete trust and faith in them, or we know from our own background that what is being told is...

Within the last couple of days, President Obama and his spokespersons have created a real firestorm of contention by now downplaying the need for a public option. Even though he was quite clear when he was running for the top job last fall that Americans needed a real choice...

I just returned from visiting several countries and spoke to citizens from England to India while away. In each country there exists a government run plan, paid for by tax dollars, that co-exists with private insurance plans for those who wish better coverage and who can pay for it....

By its inaction before this month's recess, Congress has actually done everyone a big favor. The politicians and electorate can read the draft legislation that has come out of the various committees. No one can complain that 31 days this month is not long enough to do this, or...

August has 31 days. While reported out of various Congressional committees, no such bill to reform health care will reach the floor of either chamber during these many days. As well, this is the number of days that our president and his administration and supporters have to simplify the...