Health Care Reform

States that have already broadly expanded health care coverage are pushing back against the Senate overhaul bill, arguing that it unfairly penalizes t...

Christmas came a day early this year for health insurance and drug companies when the Senate passed a health care bill crammed with more industry-friendly gifts than Santa's sleigh. "I'll be rolling up my sleeves," said President Obama, pledging to take a hands-on role in merging the House and Senate bills. Before he dives in, the president should spend some time reacquainting himself with his campaign promises to "break the stranglehold that a few big drug and insurance companies have on the health care market," "let Medicare negotiate for lower prices," and "allow the safe re-importation of low cost drugs." Back then, Obama said, "I'll have the insurance and drug companies at the table. They just won't be able to buy every chair." Turns out they did. Here's hoping that, at the 11th hour, the president changes the seating arrangement to include the people who elected him.

Was it not possible that shuttle diplomacy could have been between Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray and Ben Nelson, with the women being the ones whose votes were needed to reach the magic number 60? Apparently not.

The health care plan being debated in Congress promises to bring millions more limited English speaking legal immigrants into a system already struggling to communicate with many of the patients it has.

Notwithstanding the tremendous efforts by the president and the Democratic leadership, the resulting bill will create a health care system as ugly and absurd as a gerrymandered Congressional district.

WASHINGTON — Democrats are troubled by the inconsistency of Republican lawmakers who approved a major Medicare expansion six years ago that has ...

With the Senate's passage Thursday morning of sweeping health care reform, President Obama took another giant step toward the biggest legislative achi...

Now that the Senate has caught up with the House by passing a sweeping health care bill, lawmakers are on the verge of extending coverage to the tens ...

The battle over the public option isn't over. Somehow, everyone's forgotten that 60+ House Democrats signed a letter demanding it just a few months ago.

Instead of sending more "Kill the Bill" emails, we need to turn our attention now to leaders in the House, insisting they stick to their guns and improve on what the Senate has passed.

It would be great if senators listened to all the polls the left likes to cite when defending the public option. I suppose polls are hard to pay attention to when August is still vivid in your mind.

American liberals have a habit of withdrawing into cynicism and ennui at the most inopportune moments. The 2000 presidential election, and subsequent ...

"The most troublesome task of a reform president," Henry Adams wrote in his autobiography, is "to bring the Senate back to decency." President Barack ...

Without a single Republican vote, the United States Senate passed a sweeping health care reform bill in a landslide, shortly after 7:00 in the morning...

When Bill Clinton addressed a crowd of mildly despondent progressives at the Netroots Nation conference this past August, he made a prediction. If hea...

During an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe today journalist and author Carl Bernstein lamented that the debate over and the writing of health care re...

We are left with a bill that neither side is incredibly happy about, but from experience, I know it means that it is a good piece of legislation.

From the moment he was elected, Obama has governed not as a progressive liberal but as a corporatist liberal. Progressive liberals hoped Obama would be like FDR. Instead, he's been like Bill Clinton on steroids.

There will be no significant progressive change requiring Congressional action unless the Senate eliminates the filibuster and elects -- rather than perpetuates -- committee chairs.

Those who are critical of Obama need to remember something: health insurance reform is an achievement that has eluded presidents for decades. It's easy to criticize. It's not so easy to actually get things done.

The way Democrats secured the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster of health care legislation has exposed them to accusations that they ha...

I acknowledge that a fair debate on health care can be had. But what I have no patience for is the ignorance being injected into our national consciousness, most recently by Sarah Palin.

The Senate health care bill betrays the promise of fundamental "change" Democrats made during the 2008 election. It cloaks a handout to the health ind...

It is time that the quest to achieve health care reform no longer be used to serve lawmakers ulterior agendas. Maneuvering must now take a back seat so that the American people can best be served.