Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid has acknowledged that his chamber is unable to pass healthcare reform before its August recess, a move that highlighted internal Democratic divisions on the legislation and is likely to result in significant changes to the shape of the final bill. The Aug. 7 deadline that President Obama set for House and Senate leaders to move their versions of reform served as a tool for congressional leaders in minimizing dissent as the $1 trillion package moved through five committees.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she doesn't feel bound by the $235 billion in deals that the White House and the Senate Finance Committee cut with hospital and pharmaceutical companies to defray costs of a new healthcare plan, stating that she thinks the industries could do more. The nation's hospitals have agreed to forgo $155 billion in government healthcare reimbursements, and drug companies promised $80 billion, to help keep the cost of President Obama's healthcare reform plan under $1 trillion.
The general public has grown increasingly anxious about Washington's efforts to reconfigure healthcare and what it may mean for middle-class families. Some remain frustrated by the lack of available detail about his plan’s contours and cost, and feel that they are being asked to buy on spec from a government they do not trust, according to the New York Times.
White House officials negotiated furiously to keep major healthcare legislation on track after the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said his chamber would not vote on a health measure until after Congress returned from its summer recess. The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, led a hastily called three-hour negotiating session at the Capitol with conservative Blue Dog Democrats, the group that has stalled action on the healthcare bill in the House.
Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services could receive tens of millions of dollars if it manages to control costs and hit certain quality measures under a new three-year contract with Medica. Officials say the contract represents a dramatic change in how healthcare is paid for, and will encourage clinics to experiment with less costly types of patient care, such as nurse-only visits and group appointments.
The effort to insure tens of millions of uncovered Americans will almost certainly involve a sweeping expansion of Medicaid, with Texas probably feeling the impact more than any other state. Texas lawmakers have for years limited Medicaid's reach to low-income adults, who under Texas rules don't qualify for the program. One proposal by U.S. House lawmakers would provide federal funding to extend Medicaid to about 1 million Texas adults, according to the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities. That would be a massive jump from the 38,000 who qualify today.