The more I look at the merged Senate bill, the more I’m afraid that Harry Reid might have been laying the ground work to betray progressives on the issue of the public option, and gain the support of Olympia Snowe. Many of Snowe’s top demands managed to make their way into the bill. Harry Reid [...]

According to the Huffington Post, “Key to winning Democratic support was a letter posted early Thursday from labor leaders and progressive economists” which was “organized by the liberal blog Firedoglake…Grayson was able to show Democratic colleagues that the liberal base was behind them.” During the committee debate, Grayson quoted from the letter.

The Senate health care bill was released last night, and Jane has the official FDL statement on it. PhRMA and the biotech industry made out like bandits. Here is a good breakdown of what is in the Senate bill and here is one explaining some of the worst provisions in the bill. One of the [...]

Like a monster in some B horror movie, the trigger is a terrible idea that just will not die. I guess as long as you have a massive heath insurance lobby willing to spend millions to keep your pet creature alive, it will never truly meet its end. Tom Carper is now working with Olympia [...]

Keith Olbermann’s free health care clinics come to Arkansas this weekend, thanks to the efforts of Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter. Halter was on Countdown last night talking about the clinics with Lawrence O’Donnell.

The language on abortion in the original version of House health care reform bill, before it was amended on the floor, and the Senate language on abortion are very similar. Both say that: No federal funds will be used to pay for abortions, but as provided by the Hyde amendment, exceptions are made for rape, [...]

While a lot is going to be made of the fact that the Senate bill’s price tag for expanding coverage is smaller than the House’s ($848 billion vs $1,052 billion), this does not even begin to tell the full story. The Senate bill is cheaper simply because it does less. It covers many fewer people, [...]

The Senate bill contains a provision long sought by the health insurance industry lobby AHIP. It would allow for the sale of “nationwide plans.” Theses plan would not be required to follow the state laws regarding what medical treatments must be covered. It is described as: Allows insurers in the individual and small group markets [...]

RYAN GRIM: Just this morning the blog Firedoglake organized a letter that’s signed by the AFL-CIO, the SEIU and other economists saying we need to back the Paul/Grayson amednement and a vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secresy at the Fed, more secreat bailouts. But you also have unanimous Republican support for this in the committee, so you have this left/right convergence, kind of a grass roots movement, that is trying to challenge the establishment.

The CMS and CBO have already concluded that the risk adjustment mechanisms in the House bill are insufficient. The risk adjustment mechanisms are slightly better in the Senate bill. The Senate also has an addition, a temporary three year reinsurance program for when the exchanges first get started. Unfortunately, the CBO has concluded that the [...]