Congressional Democrats' intensifying efforts to pay for their healthcare overhaul and provide more relief for consumers are threatening to unravel a White House deal with the pharmaceutical industry and turn one of Washington's most powerful lobbies against the legislation. Drug makers, which have already spent $110 million lobbying Congress this year, are preparing to make a stand in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid is working to unveil a healthcare bill this week. And senior administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, are warning members of Congress not to antagonize the deep-pocketed industry at a time when a major victory appears to be within reach, according to Democratic aides.
A federal appeals court says a former HealthSouth executive should go to prison for his role in an accounting fraud at the rehabilitation chain. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that probation isn't enough punishment for Ken Livesay, who pleaded guilty to inflating earnings at HealthSouth. Federal judges have sentenced Livesay to probation three times for his role in the HealthSouth fraud. Prosecutors appealed each time, claiming the sentences were too lenient.
As the Senate prepares to take up legislation aimed at overhauling the nation's healthcare system, President Obama and the Democrats are still struggling to win the battle for public opinion. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans deeply divided over the proposals under consideration and majorities predicting higher costs ahead. But Republican opponents have done little better in rallying the public opposition to kill the reform effort. Americans continue to support key elements of the legislation, including a mandate that employers provide health insurance to their workers and access to a government-sponsored insurance plan for those people without insurance. The new poll provides ammunition for both advocates and opponents of reform.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pressing to advance his version of healthcare legislation past a key juncture this week in a bid to avoid a timing crunch that could otherwise kick the proposed revamp into next year. Republicans will likely filibuster the "motion to proceed," which simply allows the Senate to begin debate. Delaying consideration of the bill until 2010, an election year, could jeopardize its chances and turn the intricacies of the Senate timetable into a political tool for the bill's opponents. This week could offer a test of Reid's ability to hold together Democrats and independents in the 60-vote majority needed to shut off any filibuster.
Restrictions on abortion coverage approved in the House version of the healthcare bill likely will affect the affordability of the procedure for only a small minority of women. Although the bill has stirred passions on both sides of the abortion-rights debate—which are likely to be echoed when the Senate takes up its version—the practical effect of the restrictions will be limited, statistics suggest and some experts in family-planning issues say. The restrictions aim to ensure that no taxpayer dollars fund abortion. To that end, the government-run public insurance plan set up by the House bill wouldn't cover abortion, except in the rare cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy endangers the woman's life. Individuals getting federal subsidies to buy insurance on a new healthcare exchange also would be barred from buying policies that cover abortion, unless they do so with their own money.
Business foes of healthcare overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous about a final bill. Led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opponents of the Democratic healthcare drive have spent $24 million on TV commercials over the past month to $12 million spent by labor unions and other backers. More than half the opposition spending has been by the chamber. With the House narrowly approving its health overhaul on Nov. 7 and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid drafting his measure behind closed doors, the outpouring of cash underscores how crunch time has arrived for business and other groups trying to shape or scuttle the legislation.