Will Ferrell and Pals: 'Save Our Health Execs'

Merged proposal mostly follows Senate outline

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama today revealed the health care proposal he’ll be taking into bipartisan meetings this week, a $950 billion bill that hews closer to the Senate’s model than the House’s. The plan seeks to resolve some of the contentious issues between the two bills, cutting, for example, the special Medicaid deal Ben Nelson negotiated for Nebraska. The White House is signaling its readiness to incorporate Republican proposals, but made clear their demand to start from scratch was off the table. More»

Sacrifices in store for Pelosi and Co.—and maybe for the industry

(NEWSER) - The House will need to make a lot of last-minute sacrifices when combining its health care bill with the Senate’s, but if legislators play their cards right, the final bill could be a stronger beast. The Senate must stand by its strong cost control mechanisms, writes David Leonhardt of the New York Times . The “Cadillac tax,” the independent Medicare commission, and vouchers that give people with employer-purchased health insurance access to the exchanges are all essential. More»

President rejects notion that legislation has been neutered

(NEWSER) - President Obama hit back today at critics who say he's compromised too much on health care legislation, charging that "every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill." In an interview with the Washington Post , he bemoaned how much the public option in particular had become such a "source of ideological contention," but added, "I didn't campaign on the public option." More»

But he could and should have prepared liberals better for defeat

(NEWSER) - Russ Feingold blamed the death of the public option in part on a “lack of support” from the White House, which made passing the option “an uphill struggle.” But Nate Silver isn’t sure there’s much Obama could have done. “I think the defeat of the public option was a fairly robust outcome,” he writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. The public option had 3-4 strong no votes, even before Joe Lieberman’s treachery put a stake in its heart. More»

Abortion, taxes, and the public option continue to plague both sides

(NEWSER) - With the Senate and House health care bills expected to come together later this week, McClatchy Newspapers takes a look at the three biggest issues that have yet to be resolved:

• Abortion: Both bills have placed limits on abortion, but neither side is happy, with abortion rights supporters feeling women are being denied access to abortion while anti-abortion members remain concerned that the government will be subsidizing insurance that covers the procedure.