Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–December 10, 2009.  CBO has released a letter responding to questions posed by Senator Rockefeller about our recent analysis of the budgetary effects of proposals to limit costs related to medical malpractice (“tort reform”), as described in a letter to Senator Hatch on October 9. Today’s letter addresses questions[Read More…]

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–December 8, 2009.  Today, a group of eleven freshmen U.S. Senators introduced several amendments to the health care legislation being considered in the Senate. AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond gave brief remarks during today’s introduction. Excerpts from LeaMond’s remarks follow: “On behalf of our nearly 40 million members, AARP[Read More…]

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–December 8, 2009.  Bonnie M. Cramer, Chair of AARP’s Board of Directors is testifying today before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee during its hearing on “Prescription Drug Price Inflation: Are Prices Rising Too Fast?” Cramer is highlighting the health care needs of older Americans, and will focus on[Read More…]

WASHINGTON, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–December 8, 2009.  Senator Roland W. Burris today joined ten of his fellow freshman Democratic Senators to introduce an amendment package designed to increase efforts to promote innovation in the U.S. health care system and lower costs for millions of consumers. For the sixth time since Labor Day, this[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–December 7, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson and a bipartisan group of senators filed an amendment to extend the more than 30-year federal standard disallowing public funding for abortion to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, the Senate health care bill. “As written, the[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–December 4, 2009.  HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today highlighted the benefits of health insurance reform for businesses and released a new fact sheet regarding a recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. “Businesses across the country are struggling under the weight of high health care costs,” Secretary Sebelius said.[Read More…]

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–December 3, 2009.  Challenging head-on the powerful private insurance and pharmaceutical industries, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment to the Senate health reform bill Wednesday that would replace the bulk of the Senate bill’s language with provisions establishing a single-payer, Medicare-for-All program. Joining with Sanders, I-Vt., in co-sponsoring the measure,[Read More…]

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–December 2 – As the Senate debates health care reform, hundreds of Americans joined the American Civil Liberties Union and progressive and women’s rights groups today to ask Congress to protect women’s access to abortion care. Last month, the House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act[Read More…]

WASHINGTON, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–December 1, 2009.  U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today put women first in the health care reform debate by introducing as the first amendment to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act a measure to guarantee women[Read More…]

Princeton, NJ–(ENEWSPF)–November 24, 2009.  Americans’ confidence in their health insurance coverage and ability to access health care increased sharply in October, amid signs of economic recovery and Congressional momentum on health reform. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Care Consumer Confidence Index (RWJF Index) rose to 104.4 points, up from[Read More…]