Tip Sheets

Health care reform has passed: What's next?

AHCJ is working to compile useful information for journalists covering the health care reform and how it might affect their communities. Some journalists on the front lines offer their advice and suggestions on what needs to be covered next and how to approach this complex topic:

 Jim Landers

Jim Landers, Washington correspondent for The Dallas Morning News

 Noam Levey

Noam Levey, health policy reporter for the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau

Trudy Lieberman

Trudy Lieberman, director of the health and medicine reporting program at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

 Laura Meckler

Laura Meckler, staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal

More resources

Congressional links

Sources

White House

Recent coverage

Background

 


Congressional links

Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010

CBO Score

Summary Documents:

Provisions At A Glance:

Around the Web:


White House

President Obama's statement following the signing of the health care reform bill.

HealthReform.gov

Pending executive order that will reaffirm the health reform bill's consistency with restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion.


Recent coverage

Interactive timeline of provisions in the bill, USA Today

How will removing lifetime caps on health coverage affect you?, The Plain Dealer

Updated news coverage of health reform

11 Health Leaders React to House Passing Health Reform, HealthLeaders Media

Sebelius: Public will embrace health care reform, The Associated Press

Chart compares House vote on health-care bill, money from big insurance, percent uninsured in district, The Washington Post

Top 5 lies about health care, PolitiFact

What Are The Immediate Effects Of Health Bill Passing?, Kaiser Health News

In Health Reform, Boons for Hospitals and Drug Makers, The New York Times

Consumers guide to health reform, Kaiser Health News

What health reform means to you, from HealthyCal.org

Scoring the CBO Score: This CJR.org piece says two stories are noteworthy:

ProPublica has posted an interactive news application that includes the text of the bill the House will be voting on and a side-by-side comparison of the Senate-passed health care bill. This tool goes beyond reviewing a summary of changes to the 150-page bill – it lets you see the proposed language itself. ProPublica says, "Our side-by-side comparison has revealed new revisions to the laws governing student loans, a new law governing the tax credit for biofuels, and more." Related story: Why You Should Checkout the Bills Side-by-Side

 

What's inside the Health Care Reform Reconciliation Bill? Timothy Jost parses the 153-page document for Health Affairs Blog. Jost is the Robert L. Willett Family Professorship of Law at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Sources

These sources on health reform were suggested by AHCJ's immediate past president, Trudy Lieberman.

Jonathan Oberlander
Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management and Social Medicine
University of North Carolina
E-mail: jonathan_oberlander@med.unc.edu
Phone: 919-966-6296

Ted Marmor
Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Management and Political Science
Yale University (based in New York City)
E-mail: theodore.marmor@yale.edu
Phone: 203-432-3238

Jonathan Gruber
Professor of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
E-mail: gruberj@mit.edu
Phone: 617-253-8892

James Robinson
Professor of Health Economics
University of California, Berkeley
E-mail: james.robinson@berkeley.edu
Phone: 510-642-0564

Vicente Navarro
Professor of Public Policy, Sociology and Policy Studies
Johns Hopkins University
E-mail: vnavarro@jhsph.edu
Phone: 410-955-3280

Stuart Altman
Professor of National Health Policy
Brandeis University
E-mail: altman@brandeis.edu
Phone: 781-736-3803

Uwe Reinhardt
Professor of Political Economy, Economics and Public Affairs
Princeton University
E-mail: reinhard@princeton.edu
Phone: 609-258-4781

Marilyn Moon
Vice President and Health Program Director
American Institutes for Research, Washington, D.C.
Media contact number: 202-503-5119


Bill Erwin, communications director for the Alliance for Health Reform, has compiled this list of health reform experts from the organization's Find-an-Expert Service for reporters. These experts have included after-hours phone numbers.

Len Nichols
Director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics
Professor of Health Policy
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22207
703-993-1978 (w)
lnichol9@gmu.edu

Best number on Sunday is 571-286-7149

Christine Ferguson
Associate Research Professor - George Washington University
2021 K Street NW, Suite 800
Washington DC 200006
202-530-2356
chfergus@gwu.edu
After Hours Number: 401-862-3325
I am a former Mass. Public Health Commissioner, RI Director of Health and Human Services and spent 15 years as staff in the US Senate working on Finance Committee issues and health reform. I am particularly interested in health care reform at both the state and federal levels; the impact of obesity and obesity policy; all-hazards preparedness; children's health and development(the intersection between health, education and child care); and the impact of state budget requirements and health care particularly with regard to Medicaid.

Joseph Antos
Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy - American Enterprise Institute
1150 17th St NW
Washington DC 20036
202-862-5938
After Hours Number: 301-869-4643
jantos@aei.org
Areas of expertise include Medicare (including Part D), Medicaid, and other federal health programs; private health insurance (including consumer-driven health care); price/spending trends; health policy and the budget. Former senior official at CBO, CMS, and OMB.

Edward F. Howard
Exec V-P - Alliance for Health Reform
1444 Eye Street NW
Washington DC 20005
202-789-2300
After Hours Number: 301-656-3962
edhoward@allhealth.org

Has run the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform since its founding in 1991, where he has arranged hundreds of policy briefings for Congressional staff and media in Washington and around the country.

Brian Biles
Professor, Department of Health Policy - George Washington University
2021 K St NW #800
Washington DC 20006
(202) 416-0066
hsmbbb@gwumc.edu

After Hours Number: 202-543-6707
Former staff director of Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. Worked for more than thirty years on major health financing and delivery issues. Specific issues include Medicare, HMOs and managed care, health care cost increases and cost containment programs, and health professions including physician speciality and geographic distrubution of physicians.

Chris Jennings
President - Jennings Policy Strategies, Inc.
1001 G Street, NW Suite 700 East
Washington DC 20001
202-879-9344
ccj@jenningsps.com

After Hours Number: 202-550-8677
Former senior health care adviser to President Clinton for eight years and ten year veteran of Senate Aging/Finance Committee. Expertise in insurance coverage, cost containment, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, long term care and overall politics of health care.

Judy Feder
professor and dean of public policy - Georgetown University
3600 N St., N.W.
Washington DC 20007
202 687-8397
federj@georgetown.edu
Cell Phone: 703/508-9447
Long-time health policymaker and researcher; experience in health reform and other congressional initiatives. research on health and long-term care financing

Ron Pollack
Executive Director - Families USA
1334 G Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. DC 20005
(202) 628-3030
rpollack@familiesusa.org

After Hours Number: (703) 780-8158
Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. As executive director of Families USA, health care expertise includes health coverage for the uninsured, prescription drugs costs and affordability, Medicare and Medicaid, patients' rights legislation, and health care ombudsman issues.

Karen Pollitz
Project Director - Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
2233 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 525
Washington DC 20007
202-687-3003
pollitzk@georgetown.edu

After Hours Number: 301-587-2976
My research focuses on the regulation of private health insurance markets and plans by the states and federal government. I also focus on how private health insurance and the rules governing it impact the availability, adequacy, and affordability of coverage for consumers.

Dean A. Rosen
Partner - Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti
1341 G Street, N.W., Suite 1100
Washington DC 20005
202.585.0217
dean@mvc-dc.com
Cell Phone: 202.812.9650
Rosen is head of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti's health practice. He provides policy counsel and strategic advice to policy makers, business leaders, trade association executives and not-for-profit organizations on a broad range of health issues. Prior to joining Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Mr. Rosen was the chief health care advisor to former Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, M.D (R-TN). Among earlier Capitol Hill posts, he served as staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Public Health.

Background

Talking health webcasts

Past coverage and more sources of information from the past two years of health reform discussion and debate.

Health care policy in an Obama administration: Delivering on the promise of universal coverage (Nov. 12, 2008)
A new analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute examines the challenges Obama faces, explains how these reforms may be enacted, the potential impact for employers as well as those in the health industry and provides five ideas for making health care more affordable.

Commonwealth Fund releases analysis
The Commonwealth Fund analyzed the health system reform proposals of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. The report describes the 2008 presidential candidates' proposals, examines key differences in their vision of a future health insurance system, and evaluates the proposals against principles outlined by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.

Actuarial organization publishes, analyzes candidates' health care reform plans
Contingencies, a publication of the American Academy of Actuaries, published an article about health care reform by then- Sen. Barack Obama, as well as one by an actuary who weighs proposals from Obama and then-candidate John McCain.

Which way health reform?(April 7, 2008)
Leading health policy experts from the left, middle and right debated the widely varying options facing lawmakers and voters.