Could Healthcare Reform debate turn to a reconciliation?

In a recent article at The Christian Science Monitor, they look at President Obama's call for government to give the American people a definite answer on the long-lasting debate on universal healthcare. He's looking to the Democrats to provide the American people with an answer, possibly without the vote of one single Republican. The article states that Congress could have to resort to a rarely used procedure called reconciliation. According to the article, reconciliation is "a process that allows the Senate to ban filibusters, limit debate to 20 hours, and pass legislation by a simple majority vote." Read the full article here.

Democrats may try for healthcare reform alone

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the Democrats will try one more time to pass healthcare reform. However, this time, they are only looking to pass with Democratic approval, which would require only 60 votes to pass. Obama is also expected to make comments on the state of healthcare reform at the end of the week.

The article also addresses these questions when it comes to developing the strategy for passing healthcare:

Does Nancy Pelosi have the votes?
Is it fair to use reconciliation?
Should sweeping change require bipartisanship?

Read the full article here.

What stimulus package could mean for health care

With the House and the Senate working this week with the stimulus bill proposed by Barack Obama, many changes could come about for health care in the United States. One of the biggest is that newly unemployed individuals would be eligible for Medicaid.

Other incentives proposed with the $117 billion proposed for health care spending:

•$87 billion dollars to help states pay the costs of Medicaid, which provides medical care for the poor and disabled.

•$29 billion to help the unemployed pay for private insurance.

•$20 billion to implement new healthcare technologies, such as electronic medical records, aimed at improving care and cutting costs.

For more on the recent proposal, read the article here at the Christian Science Monitor.