Obama? Big Pharma. Here's an $80B Drug Discount

(NEWSER) - Both chambers of Congress will likely miss President Obama’s August deadline for a health care reform bill, slowing “the momentum behind the president's top priority,” Jay Newton-Small writes in Time. “Why can't a popular president with poll numbers in the 60s and super majorities in both chambers of Congress get this done?”

• The Costs Question: "So much of the potential cost savings of overhauling the entire health care system is unknown and impossible to predict with any accuracy," and all the conflicting numbers give ammunition to opponents.

Donald Berwick says 20-30% of health care spending helps no one

(NEWSER) - Between 20% and 30% of all US health care spending is pure “waste,” according to departing Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick. “Much is done that does not help patients at all, and many physicians know it,” Berwick said in an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, his last day on the job. He cited overtreatment of patients, the failure to coordinate care, complex administrative systems, burdensome regulations, and fraud as the main reasons for the “extremely high level of waste.” More»

President delivers closing argument to enthusiastic crowd

(AP) - President Obama described the stakes of this weekend's health care vote in stark terms today, using words uttered so rarely out of the White House that they seem all but banned: "If this vote fails." What then? "The insurance industry will continue to run amok," the president declared, pointing to rising rates, denials of coverage and limits on care. More»

Lawmakers pledge to overturn law

(NEWSER) - Republicans may not be able to stop health care reform, but they're already thinking about repealing it should they win either house of Congress. The "Repeal It" movement has won pledges from dozens of lawmakers and candidates, reports the Washington Post , including all the Senate hopefuls in Kentucky, Nevada, Kansas, and Missouri. They vow to "repeal any federal health care takeover, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government." More»

Pelosi 'delighted' Obama will be present for 'historic' passage

(NEWSER) - Democrats got ready for a health care rumble today, with Nancy Pelosi telling her troops to clear their schedules, be ready to stay in session, and expect a vote next week. Pelosi will move to pass the Senate's December bill as soon as Thursday or Friday, and though Politico reports that the speaker likely doesn't yet have the 216 votes she needs, most believe she's within reach. More»