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<div>Hi Fellows and List Serve members: From the Kaiser Health Policy Report 10/13/09:</div>
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<div><font face="Georgia, serif" size="5" color="#264884">Senate Finance Committee To Vote Today On Health Care Reform Overhaul </font></div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 10pt; ">After months of negotiation, haggling, posturing and talking, the Senate Finance Committee votes today on a health care reform bill. </div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 10pt; "><font face="Times New Roman, serif" size="3"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101203165.html"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>The Washington
Post</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2"> reports that the Finance Committee, where Democrats hold a 13-10 edge, will likely report the $829 billion bill out to the full Senate despite misgivings from Republicans and some Democrats. "With
few, if any, Republicans expected to support the bill sponsored by Chairman Max Baucus (Mont.), Democrats have already begun their own internal negotiations aimed at reconciling the various measures passed by House and Senate committees." Democrats disagree
on how to pay for the overhaul, the inclusion of a government-run public option and the tax treatment in the measures (Murray and Montgomery, 10/13).
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</font><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091013/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>The Associated Press</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2"> reports that "much work would lie
ahead before a bill could arrive on Obama's desk, but action by the Finance Committee would mark a significant advance, capping numerous delays as Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., held marathon negotiating sessions — ultimately unsuccessful — aimed at producing
a bipartisan bill." The other committees, three in the House and one other in the Senate voted their bills out of committee before the August recess. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is already merging the other Senate bill — from the more liberal Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — with the Finance Committee bill to ready it for debate on the Senate floor (Werner, 10/13).
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</font><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-10-12-healthcare_N.htm"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>USA Today</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2"> reports on other "sticking points" -- the mandates
that people have health insurance, penalties for those who don't and the higher cost of premiums on older Americans. "Complicating the task: An 11th-hour attack by the health insurance industry" which issued a report on Monday saying the Finance Committee's
bill will increase the cost of family coverage (see </font><a href="http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2009/October/13/Insurance-Report-Second-Day.aspx"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>KHN's summary of stories</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2">.) Reid
"will need all 60 members of his caucus to prevent a GOP filibuster from blocking the health care legislation on the Senate floor" (Kiely and Fritze, 10/13). <br>
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</font><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-HealthcareReform/idUSN0749607120091013"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>Reuters</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2">: "The Finance Committee vote will be closely
watched to see if Senator Olympia Snowe, a moderate from Maine, becomes the first Republican in Congress to back a health reform bill and if any of Obama's fellow Democrats defect on the issue. ... Democratic defections would create a major threat to passage
in the Senate, where the party controls only 60 seats and has no margin of error" (Whitesides, 10/13).
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</font><a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cda_20091013_3685.php?"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>CongressDaily</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2"> reports on some Democrats to watch during the
vote: Senate Finance Health Subcommittee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "Rockefeller is a champion of the public option and is unhappy with the co-op alternative in Baucus'
proposal. Lincoln is facing a potentially tough re-election race in a conservative state, and Wyden wants more choices" (Edney and Hunt, 10/13).
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</font><a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/77031.html"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0000FF"><u>McClatchy Newspapers</u></font></a><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2">: "Republicans have offered several alternatives to Democrats'
health care plans. GOP proposals usually include strengthening employer-provided insurance and offering tax benefits for those who buy coverage on their own. Democratic-controlled committees have routinely rejected Republican plans" (Lightman, 10/12).</font></font></div>
<div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 10pt; "><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i>This is part of Kaiser Health News' Daily Report - a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day's news can
be found </i><a href="http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Headlines.aspx"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><u><i>here</i></u></font></a><i> and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report </i><a href="http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Email-Subscriptions.aspx"><font face="Arial, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><u><i>here</i></u></font></a><i>.
In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our </i><a href="http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/"><font color="#0000FF"><u><i>home page</i></u></font></a><i>.</i><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><i>
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<div>Nancy Cooper, Coordinator<br>
Health Policy Fellowship<br>
307 Grosvenor Hall<br>
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine<br>
Athens, OH 45701<br>
740 593-2017 phone<br>
740 593-1730 fax<br>
<a href="mailto:coopern@ohio.edu"><font color="#0000FF"><u>coopern@ohio.edu</u></font></a></div>
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