WBUR reports that the state senate just approved a measure to allow the governor to appoint an interim U.S. senator to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat. Lawmakers were lobbied hard to approve the change in law that permits the appointment. The vote was 24-16. The bill now heads to the full legislature and then to Gov. Patrick, who has said he will sign it.
NPR’s Morning Edition ran a thoughtful story on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, or FEHBP, often held up as the gold standard of health insurance. Reporter Joseph Shapiro finds the best part of the program is that it offers consumers broad choices in coverage. For instance, in the Washington D.C. area alone there are 16 different health plans on offer.
Meanwhile, President Obama spent Sunday morning trying to sell health reform to a skeptical public, insisting that under any new law, health insurance will remain affordable, according to the New York Times.
A new study shows that people without health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of premature death compared to those who are insured. WBUR’s Sacha Pfeiffer reports on the study, conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance.
NPR’s Mara Liasson explores Obama’s push to get young people behind his plan for health care reform. But, she reports, mobilizing the active, healthy “Yes-We-Can” generation to back mandatory health insurance may not be so easy.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate are struggling to secure the 60 votes needed to pass a health care reform plan, the New York Times reports.
Massachusetts could hold the key, as lawmakers gather at the State House today to vote on whether an interim senator can be named to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat. WBUR covers the debate live. Is Dukakis in our future?
Health economists and academics writing in the New York Times weigh in on how to improve the health care overhaul plan introduced this week by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. Suggestions range from adding more stringent regulatory reforms to making affordable health insurance coverage more accessible.
Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, offers his own amendment to the Senate bill which would allow everyone to choose their health insurance plan. He lays out the details in an op-ed in the Times.
And in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Gov. Deval Patrick makes the case for Massachusetts-style health care reform.
WBUR’s Sacha Pfeiffer reports on a new proposal by Harvard economists and public health experts to tax soda and other sugar-laden drinks to defray health care costs and fight obesity.
Former President Jimmy Carter characterized public anger directed at President Obama’s health care overhaul plans and other efforts as “racism.” Speaking at a public meeting, Carter said: “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.” See video posted by the BBC.
The long-awaited health care overhaul plan by Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is now out: The plan has no public insurance option and, according to early reports, no Republican supporters.
Meanwhile, the Globe reports that health insurance rates are going up this year, and a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that family health premiums rose 5% this year.
Gov. Deval Patrick should be allowed to name an interim replacement to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s senate seat because it would help ensure health care overhaul legislation gets passed, Democrats told a packed State House hearing. Follow WBUR’s coverage.