About 1 in 5 U.S. children had a flu-like illness earlier this month—and most of those cases likely were swine flu, according to a new government health survey. About 7% of surveyed adults said they'd had a flu-like illness, the survey found.
President Obama will travel today to Massachusetts, one of only two states to implement a universal healthcare program similar to his ambitions for the entire country. But he does not plan to use the trip to make his case for far-reaching reform; he will tout clean energy and raise money for the Democratic governor. The president's critics say his reluctance to spotlight the Massachusetts model is real-world evidence that his vision would not work on a national scale. High costs have forced the state to trim benefits for legal immigrants and prompted one safety-net hospital to sue over a $38 million shortfall.
House Democrats are coalescing around an $871 billion healthcare package that would create a government-run insurance plan to help millions of Americans afford coverage, raise taxes on the nation's richest families, and impose an array of new regulations on private insurers, in part by stripping the industry of its long-standing exemption from federal antitrust laws. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants said Thursday that they are close to corralling the 218 votes they need to move forward with comprehensive legislation that would include a version of the public option prized by liberals as a fundamental pillar of reform.
The Senate on Wednesday voted down a measure that would have permanently prevented Medicare payment cuts to doctors, with a split in the Democratic vote showing there remains room for disagreement on the healthcare front within the party. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats moved to stiffen antitrust laws on insurance companies. The two actions could influence whether the broader health-overhaul legislation Democrats are pushing in Congress wins support from doctors and insurers.
In pushing to include a government-run health insurance plan in the healthcare bill, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is taking a calculated gamble that the 60 members of his caucus could support the plan if it included a way for states to opt out. Reid met with President Obama at the White House Thursday to inform him of his inclination to add the public option to the bill, but did not specifically ask the president to endorse that approach, a Democratic aide said.
Enrollment in both new and existing U.S. medical schools continues to expand to meet the nation's need for more doctors, according to data released by the Association of American Medical Colleges. First-year enrollment in the nation's medical schools rose this year by 2% over 2008 to nearly 18,400 students.