Leaders at Connecticut Children's Medical Center announced plans for a new, $5 million outpatient center to give its cancer and blood disorders program the space to match its increased demand. When it opened 14 years ago, Connecticut Children's Medical Center had space to accommodate 5,500 outpatient visits a year to the program. Since then, the number of annual patient visits has come close to 10,000. The Clinical Care Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders will cover 8,000 square feet on the hospital's fifth floor, doubling the space devoted to outpatient hematology and oncology services, the Hartford Courant reports.
Republicans are looking beyond Sunday's expected vote on the Democrats' healthcare overhaul to focus on strategies for striking back should it pass, ranging from challenges to the measure by individual states to a national repeal campaign, the Wall Street Journal reports. Opponents say they can still defeat the bill this weekend. By talking about the tactics now, and showing how they intend to rally the public, they hope to sway wavering lawmakers to vote no, the Journal reports.
House Democrats are inching toward the majority they need to pass healthcare legislation, although Democratic leaders are still working to secure backing for the legislation from among roughly three dozen members of the party whose votes are considered to be in play. Democratic leaders say they have not nailed down the 216 votes they need for passage, but they are pressing ahead in the belief that they can get them, the New York Times reports
President Obama claimed his first convert on healthcare reform when Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH) said at a news conference that he will back the still-unfinished package. Senior Democrats, labor unions, and an array of interest groups have intensified their efforts to sway wavering lawmakers before a vote in the House this weekend. Obama has declared that, after a year-long battle, Congress is finally poised to pass the overhaul.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers and candidates have signed a pledge to back an effort to repeal the pending healthcare reform measure should the GOP take control of either chamber of Congress after this fall's elections, the Washington Post reports. The "Repeal It" movement first won the backing of some of the most conservative Republicans in Congress, and has expanded to include some of the party's Senate candidates in liberal-leaning states such as New Hampshire and Illinois. In all, 37 House and Senate members and 163 congressional candidates have signed the pledge, the Post reports.
Democrats in the Georgia Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed Georgians to opt out of federally mandated healthcare. Senate Resolution 794 was part of a nationwide effort launched by Republicans to defeat the healthcare overhaul being considered in Congress. There are currently 38 states pushing constitutional amendments that would give the states the option of not participating in federal healthcare. The resolution was meant to block any federal healthcare bill.