Category: Congress

JGrimes
Amid all the ink going to what the proposed health-care overhaul would do, we wanted to note an easy-to-overlook provision that it won’t do: eliminate many so-called pay-for-delay deals.
Those are the oft-criticized pacts under which branded drug makers give something to generic makers stall cheaper copycat versions coming on the market. The deals, […]

JGrimes
This post by WSJ’s Laura Meckler also appears on the Washington Wire blog
The complex legislative maneuvering to pass health-care overhaul legislation has produced many questions and among them this: When can the White House declare victory?
If the House passes the Senate health bill on Sunday, as Democrats hope, and President Obama signs it […]

JGrimes
The Congressional Budget Office has finished its preliminary run-through of cost numbers for the latest — and perhaps final — version of the Democratic health plan before it comes to an expected vote as early as Sunday. Democrats liked what they saw and President Obama again delayed an Asia trip to […]

JGrimes
Remember that investors meeting that WellPoint had planned in Indianapolis last month? The one that was canceled when CEO Angela Braly was summoned before a congressional committee to explain her company’s requested 39% rate hike in California?
Well, it resurfaced in the form of a 15-minute conference call this morning. Here’s what happened:
CFO […]

JGrimes
This post by WSJ’s Naftali Bendavid also appears on the Washington Wire blog.
We’re not doing anything wrong. And besides, the Republicans did it more.
That was much of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s message today as he struck back at critics of the legislative tactics Democrats are using to push through their health overhaul […]

JGrimes
It’s another Monday and another week of to-ing and fro-ing on the health-care bill in Washington. But this week is different because there could actually be votes on the legislation.
The gameplan has been set for a while now: first the House passes the same health bill approved in the Senate on Christmas Eve […]

JGrimes
There are some harsh words for Democrats trying to overhaul health care in the Washinton Post this morning.
Comprehensive health care has been lost. If it fails, as appears possible, Democrats will face the brunt of the electorate’s reaction. If it passes, however, Democrats will face a far greater calamitous reaction at the polls. […]

JGrimes
Some wrinkles in the health-overhaul orchestrations are in the news this morning:
Washington Democrats are working on an idea to pair the health-care bill bill with another Democratic priority of increasing federal aid for college students. The notion isn’t a firm plan, but as Senate Budget Committee head Kent Conrad told the Washington Post, […]

JGrimes
It’s crunch time in the fight over a health-care bill, so groups for and against the legislation are getting ready for a final push before congressional votes that could come later this month.
These efforts take money, of course, and advocate groups have put together war chests, much of it slated to go to […]

JGrimes
President Obama was back on the campaign trail Monday, using his election-style oratory to stump for a health-care overhaul that still awaits an uncertain fate in Congress.
As is the case routinely these days, the president took aim at health insurers. He lambasted them 22 times in a speech to a college audience near […]