Tip Sheets

Health care reform has passed: What's next?

CoreTopics: Essential coverage areas for health journalists

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

Sources

White House

Recent coverage

Background

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:

Provisions At A Glance:

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.

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:

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 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

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.

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Health Care Journalists

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