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24 Feb 2010 22:02

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U.S.: Finally, a health care detail most of the House can agree on

  • 406 “yeas” to repeal an antitrust exemption for insurers source

06 Feb 2010 13:00

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U.S.: Obvious health insurance protip: The uninsured are more likely to die

  • 45,000 people die in the U.S. due to the lack of health insurance
  • 40% the increased risk of death for uninsured people under age 64 source

14 Dec 2009 10:04

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Politics: Protip: Joe Lieberman’s wife has worked as a big health strategist

  • We are asking Ellen DeGeneres, Christie Brinkley and other high-profile celebrities who are associated with Komen to demand that no more money raised for cancer treatment be given to Hadassah Lieberman or any other ex-Pharma/Insurance strategists.
  • Firedoglake blog founder Jane Hamsher • On her group’s push to convince the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to drop Hadassah Lieberman as a spokesperson. (The push has celebrity support, by the way.) Lieberman, whose husband Joe is the 60th vote on health care and appears to be stonewalling the effort, has been a consultant for companies such as Pfizer and ALCO – companies, ironically, that might not benefit from the passage of a health care bill. source

26 Oct 2009 08:40

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Biz, U.S.: Big health insurers succeeding at crafting a favorable reform bill

  • They knew they had a very big [public relations] problem, and they knew this day was coming. They knew they had to be perceived as coming to the table with solutions. It was a departure from their previous point of view. But they knew they would be slaughtered if it weren’t.
  • Former Cigna Corp. public relations executive Wendell Potter • Describing the change in tactics that the health care industry has tried to help shape the health care bill in such a way that keeps them in the mix. Many are surprised that the health care industry hasn’t gotten the snot beaten out of it by congress, but the reason is that they’ve been working extra hard to make universal health care something that keeps them in the mix. So yeah, greeeeaaaaaat. • source

21 Oct 2009 22:45

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U.S.: Democrats shot off some major health-insurer antitrust salvo today

  • We can open up our health insurance markets to real competition and make an important contribution to the health reform efforts under way in both houses of Congress.
  • Democratic Congressman John Conyers • On the House Judiciary Committee’s decision to strip health insurers of their antitrust exemption. This is a BIG DEAL, because it means that big insurers can’t collude or price fix or do willy-nilly like they’ve been doing in the past. It means that the insurers will be subject to state AND federal regulation. They’ve had their antitrust exemption since 1945, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calls “antiquated” and “an accident of American history.” The legislation will be included as part of the broader health-care legislation.  • source

18 Oct 2009 23:23

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Politics: Max Headroom: More on the White House’s war against Fox News

  • “Chicago-style”? On Fox News, Bush-era White House strategist Karl Rove suggests that the Obama administration is carrying around an enemies list and is full of Chicago-style politicians. Is that kinda like Chicago-style pizza, Karl? That sounds tasty.

  • “Chicago-style”? On Fox News, Bush-era White House strategist Karl Rove suggests that the Obama administration is carrying around an enemies list and is full of Chicago-style politicians. Is that kinda like Chicago-style pizza, Karl? That sounds tasty.

  • Axelrod’s grinding ax White House strategist David Axelrod continues Anita Dunn’s strategy of trashing on the news value of Fox News. We think that this strategy has a lot of holes in it. And it’s making Rupert Murdoch more money.

  • “Chicago-style”? On Fox News, Bush-era White House strategist Karl Rove suggests that the Obama administration is carrying around an enemies list and is full of Chicago-style politicians. Is that kinda like Chicago-style pizza, Karl? That sounds tasty.

  • Axelrod’s grinding ax White House strategist David Axelrod continues Anita Dunn’s strategy of trashing on the news value of Fox News. We think that this strategy has a lot of holes in it. And it’s making Rupert Murdoch more money.

  • Insuring criticism Republican senator John Kyl may regret saying this. When tackling the Afghan war versus the cost of health care on “Meet the Press,” he says that the uninsured won’t die from the lack of insurance. Yeah man, whatever.

12 Oct 2009 21:39

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Politics: Here’s a big, scary number health insurers want you to be scared by

  • 18% increase in premiums over the next decade – maybe source
 

07 Oct 2009 11:23

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Politics: Shepard Smith makes a super-passionate public option pitch

  • How does Shep stay on Fox News? Really? He’s like the worst fit for the network, ever. He doesn’t fit in with any of the right-leaning line, and he knows what he’s talking about in this video. He does more to devastate the arguments against a public option (and big insurers in general) in this video than Democrats fighting tooth and nail for it for six months.source

22 Sep 2009 20:18

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U.S.: The financial toll from the flooding is nothing short of massive

  • $250 million in estimated damages; many are uninsured source

15 Sep 2009 10:10

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U.S.: The Senate health care plan: The Democrats may not like it

  • $880 billion the estimated cost of the health-reform bill pushed by Sen. Max Baucus, which concedes a lot of things to the GOP to help gain bipartisan support source