After months and months of waiting, the Senate finally has a healthcare reform proposal, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that will begin being debated on Monday, November 30th. The Senate voted this past Saturday to invoke cloture and had the magic number of 60 votes, which means...

The House of Representatives passed HR 3961 yesterday (11.19.09). This bill eliminates the 21% cuts to Medicare Payments that would have started in January and provides a long term fix for the Sustainable Growth Rate formula. The bill passed by a vote of 243 to 183. Colorado’s Democratic Representatives...

Finally, the wait is over. The long-anticipated Senate health reform bill (a bill blended from the two bills reported from the Finance Committee and Senate HELP Committees) has been filed. The bill number is HR 3589. It is over 2,000 pages, so not a quick & easy read! It...

The Center for Rural Affairs recently highlighted some reports that specifically address how health reform will impact rural America. Please click HERE to access the reports in full.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce prepared, for each House member, a district-level analysis of the impact of House Bill 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act. This analysis includes information on the impact of the legislation on small businesses, seniors in Medicare, health care providers, and the uninsured....

On Saturday, the House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) with a vote of 220-215. Even with the passage of the House bill, overall healthcare reform has some hurdles to clear. The Senate bill is still awaiting a score (cost) from the Congressional Budget Office...

National health reform is still moving along, though where it is going to end up still reamins to be seen. Here is a quick update on both the House and Senate side as to where the two proposals stand…… House: The House has merged the three committee proposals that...

The Rural Policy Research Institute recently released a report entitled “Assuring Health Coverage for Rural People,” which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Health Reform brief suggests that the challenges that rural people face in obtaining health insurance are partly due to the structure of the...

The Commonwealth Fund has relased a report that provides an overview of the key provisions in the health reform bills currently being considered in Congress. Please click HERE to access The Commonwealth Fund website and report entitled: The Comprehensive Congressional Health Reform Bills of 2009: A Look at Health...

The following is from Kaiser Health News. Senate Democrats will need to move quickly if they want to pass some version of health overhaul legislation by the end of the year. The Associated Press: With “time growing short,” Senate Democratic leaders “still face key decisions…” In the Senate, that...