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, Washington correspondent for The Dallas Morning News |
Noam Levey, health policy reporter for the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau |
Trudy Lieberman, director of the health and medicine reporting program at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism |
Laura Meckler, staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal |
More resources |
Congressional links
Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010
- Rules Committee of the House of Representatives
- Text of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 3590 (Senate health bill)
CBO Score
Summary Documents:
- 3-Page Summary
- Section by Section of the Reconciliation Bill
- Reconciliation Bill Makes Key Improvements To Senate-passed Bill
- Regular Procedure to Pass Health Insurance Reform
- Immediate Benefits
- Fact Sheet
- District-By-District Impact
Provisions At A Glance:
- Timeline for Implementation
- Making Coverage Affordable
- Employers and Health Reform
- Strengthening Medicare
- Medicare Part D
- Shared Responsibility
- Summary of Revenue Provisions
Around the Web:
- U.S. PIRG offers a guide to how state leaders can improve the federal reform law
- State examples for national reform components, from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
- Health insurance reform on The Gavel blog
- Health reform fact checking and mythbusting
- Get breaking updates on Twitter at twitter.com/healthreformnow
- History of actions on health insurance reform in the House
- Statement from Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander M. Levin (D-MI), and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), issued the following joint statement upon introduction of comprehensive health reform legislation:
- Documents from the Ways and Means Committee
- Documents from the Education and Labor Committee
- Majority Leader Hoyer's Clearinghouse
White House
President Obama's statement following the signing of the health care reform bill.
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:
- Congressional Budget Office's sunny forecast carries big uncertainties, The Washington Post
- Fine-Tuning Led to Health Bill’s $940 Billion Price Tag, The New York Times
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 |
Ted Marmor |
Jonathan Gruber |
James Robinson |
Vicente Navarro |
Stuart Altman |
Uwe Reinhardt |
Marilyn Moon |
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 |
Christine Ferguson |
Joseph Antos |
Edward F. Howard |
Brian Biles |
Chris Jennings |
Judy Feder |
Ron Pollack |
Karen Pollitz |
Dean A. Rosen |
Background
Talking health webcasts
- Covering the Underinsured (July 2008)
- Political Promises (Nov. 2008)
- Health Insurance (May 1, 2009)
- Health reform coverage: The key issues (Sept. 2009)
- What's ahead for Medicare (Dec. 2009)
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.