9/30/09 HC Reform Update: After an intense debate that captured the essence of the national struggle over health care, a pivotal Senate committee on Tuesday rejected two Democratic proposals to create a government insurance plan to compete with private insurers. The votes, in the Senate Finance Committee, underscored divisions among Democrats and were a setback for President Obama.

9/29/09 HC Reform Update: When the Senate Finance Committee resumes debate today, a proposal for a government-run insurance plan — the public option — will take center stage. Supporters say a public option would drive down the cost of private insurance. But the insurance industry opposes it. Sens. Rockefeller and Schumer intend to press the issue in separate amendments before the committee.

9/28/09 HC Reform Update: Democrats proposing an overhaul of the American health care system have gotten themselves locked in a box around the question of affordability. The affordability question vexing Democrats is whether those with moderate income will be able to afford health insurance, even with the subsidies the legislation would provide and all sorts of new rules aimed at controlling costs.

9/26/09 HC Reform Update: The proposed federal mandate for every individual to have health insurance has stirred a legal debate over whether Congress has the constitutional authority to impose such a requirement. Conservatives and libertarians have been advancing the theory lately that the individual mandate, in which the government would compel everyone to buy insurance or pay a penalty, is unconstitutional.

9/25/09 HC Reform Update: This week, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee largely stood up to Republicans’ attacks on a proposal to overhaul the health care system. But behind the scenes, their united front has given way to intraparty tensions. This will become more evident next week when the Finance Committee tries to finish its work and liberals press to change a bill that is too conservative for their liking.

9/25/09 HC Reform Update: The Senate Finance Committee says the panel will not get to the matter of a public option debate today. Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Chuck Schumer yesterday said they were planning to introduce amendments on the so-called public option, and they would take place today. But committee sources say there is not time. The committee will work a shortened day today and not be in session Monday due to the Jewish holiday.

9/25/09 HC Reform Update President Obama scored a big victory on Thursday as the Senate Finance Committee rejected a proposal to require pharmaceutical companies to give bigger discounts to Medicare on drugs dispensed to older Americans with low incomes. The victory came at the expense of senators in Mr. Obama’s own party who had championed the proposal.

9/24/09 HC Reform Update: Senate Democrats swatted down Republican attempts to make fundamental changes in their health care legislation on Wednesday as the Finance Committee voted on a wide range of amendments that highlighted the deep partisan divide over the bill. Much of the debate focused on the question of whether the bill would help or hurt older Americans in the Medicare program.

9/23/09 HC Reform Update: The Group of Six is over, done. What’s left is the Group of One: Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine. Ms. Snowe is the only member of her party on the finance panel willing to support the proposed health care legislation. Her Republican colleagues will vote against it, and so the focus on Wednesday will turn to policy fights among Democrats themselves.

9/22/09 HC Reform Update: The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, said Monday that he would modify his health care bill to provide more assistance to moderate-income Americans to help them buy insurance. Mr. Baucus also said he would make changes to reduce the impact of a proposed tax on high-end health insurance policies.

9/21/09 HC Update: A tax proposed by Senator Baucus on insurance policies for the well-heeled to help raise money for the nation’s health care overhaul has prompted anxiety among the middle class. The supposedly Cadillac policies include ones that cover many of the nation’s firefighters and coal miners, older employees at small businesses — a whole gamut that runs from union shops to Main Street entrepreneurs.

9/20/09 HC Reform Update: President Obama, appearing in interviews on five television networks, said the health care fight had been more difficult than he anticipated and conceded that he has struggled “breaking through.” He said he remained confident he would sign a health care bill into law and welcomed Republicans to the effort, but added, “I don’t count on them.”

9/19/09 HC Reform Update: President Obama will appear on five Sunday talk shows — an unprecedented step for a president — to promote his health care plan. The television networks broadcast brief parts of their interviews on Friday evening, all of which focused on a question the White House has sought to avoid all week: Has race played a role in the debate?

9/18/09 HC Reform Update: Senators of both parties said Thursday that they would seek significant changes in a Democratic proposal to tax generous high-cost health insurance policies. The tax, proposed as a way to help finance coverage of the uninsured, would be levied on insurance companies. But the senators said they worried that it would be passed on to individual policyholders, families and employers who buy insurance for their workers.

9/17/09 HC Reform Update: The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday unveiled his long-awaited plan to remake the nation’s health care system and insure millions of Americans. But he did not win support from a single Republican despite tailoring his proposal to be less costly and to extend the reach of government less than other health bills moving through Congress.

9/15/09 HC Reform Update: Two of the three Republicans in a small group trying to forge a bipartisan compromise on health care have requested numerous major changes in a proposal drafted by the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, reducing the chances that he can win their support.

9/14/09 HC Update: Sen. Max Baucus, who is leading the effort to develop bipartisan health care legislation, plans this week to unveil his “mark” — the proposal to be taken up by the Senate Finance Committee. Reaction to his plan could finally reveal whether the “bipartisan six” subgroup that Mr. Baucus has been working with for months will stick together or whether Democrats will head off largely on their own.

9/12/09 HC Reform Update: The top lobbyists for every major sector of the health care industry including AMA and big pharma publicly insist they are squarely behind the Obama administration’s health care reform. But as the debate gets down to the details, each industry group is also working quietly to scuttle or reshape some element of the administration’s proposals that might hurt profits.

9/11/09 HC Reform Update: President Obama’s speech on health care failed to bridge the gulf with Republicans, but Democrats said Thursday that the president had largely succeeded in unifying his party by making a cogent, persuasive pitch to the American public, and by casting his plan to overhaul the health care system as a political and moral imperative.

Dr. Mark Sanna is headed to Vancouver to speak for Brican on Friday, September 11. We'll be at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel, 1088 Burrard Street. I'll be sharing the Top 9 Marketing Trends in Chiropractic for 2009! Call to join us at 1-800-699-9255.

Health Care Reform Update: 9/8/09 The centerpiece of President’s domestic agenda — remaking the health care system will be on center stage as he addresses the Congress and nation in a televised address tonight. Despite tensions between Democrats, they agree on most proposals: to require all Americans to have insurance; provide government subsidies for those who cannot afford it and regulate private insurance. At question is the pubic plan.

9/8/09 More details about the Bacus plan emerged Monday. It includes lower-cost catastrophic illness insurance for those 25 and younger; expanding basic Medicaid coverage; forming state-run, nonprofit, member-owned insurance coops. It will be paid for in part by fees of $6 billion/yr on insurance companies, $4 billion/yr. on manufacturers of medical devices and $750 million/yr. on clinical labs.