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    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_423"
                     title="Week 31: Baucus Quotes Gandhi; Obama Wants $80 Billion HHS Boost"
                     score="0.014"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/tb/18337?impressionId=1265755532598"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;WASHINGTON  --  Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, likes to start hearings with a quote from a famous leader. This week, he quoted Mahatma Gandhi.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Every worthwhile accomplishment . . . has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle, and a victory,&quot; said Baucus, who has been an integral part of the negotiations that stalled last month with Congress apparently just weeks away from passing a healthcare reform bill.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The effort to enact healthcare reform &quot;has certainly seen its struggles,&quot; Baucus said. But he said he agrees with President Barack Obama, who urged Congress during his State of the Union address not to give up on passing comprehensive reform.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;We have gone well past this effort&apos;s beginning,&quot; Baucus said. &quot;We have endured our share of struggle. Now let us at last bring this bill to victory.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Since the election to the U.S. Senate of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown  --  a vocal opponent of healthcare reform  --  and the president&apos;s State of the Union message, which focused strongly on job creation and improving the economy, healthcare reform has been moved to a back burner.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But &quot;I&apos;m very confident we&apos;re going to pass healthcare reform this year,&quot; Baucus said during Wednesday&apos;s hearing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Obama also urged Congress again not to give up on a bill when he spoke to Democrats at a question-and-answer session on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;All that&apos;s changed in the last two weeks is that our party&apos;s gone from having the largest majority in a generation to having the second-largest majority in a generation,&quot; Obama said. &quot;We&apos;ve got to remember that.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Although Baucus used most of his speaking time talking about healthcare reform, the purpose of this week&apos;s hearing was to question Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the $80 billion increase in funding for HHS requested in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/18248&quot; mce_href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/18248&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Obama&amp;#8200;Requests&amp;#8200;$80&amp;#8200;Billion&amp;#8200;Increase&amp;#8200;in&amp;#8200;Healthcare&amp;#8200;Funding&quot;&gt;president&apos;s 2011 budget&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Under Obama&apos;s blueprint, HHS would receive $911 billion in 2011, most of which would be Medicare and Medicaid spending. But the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would also get a $1 billion boost for medical research, and there would be money for improving food, drug, and device safety, and to intensify efforts to help Americans quit smoking and get healthy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The President&apos;s budget doesn&apos;t make any provisions for healthcare reform should it be enacted.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Healthcare spending now accounts for 17.3% of the nation&apos;s total spending, according to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/18302&quot; mce_href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/18302&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;In&amp;#8200;Bad&amp;#8200;Economy,&amp;#8200;Record&amp;#8200;Growth&amp;#8200;in&amp;#8200;Health&amp;#8200;Spending&quot;&gt;new data&lt;/a&gt; released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The recession of 2009, coupled with growing use of medical services, led to the fastest one-year growth in health spending since the 1960s, according to the CMS report.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By 2019, national health spending is projected to reach $4.5 trillion and account for about 19% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the report.&lt;/p&gt;

    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_312"
                     title="Reps to Request Info on White House Healthcare Deals"
                     score="0.007"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/tb/18181?impressionId=1265755532598"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;WASHINGTON  --  In a rare display of bipartisanship, a top House Democrat agreed to back a Republican lawmaker&apos;s quest for details of closed-door deals the White House made with industry insiders to produce a healthcare reform bill.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he&apos;d help Michael Burgess, MD, (R-Texas), seek information on the names of representatives from the pharmaceutical, device, hospital, doctor, and insurance sectors, who met with White House officials regarding healthcare reform.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Waxman and Burgess said they will also request any written materials regarding the &quot;sum and substance&quot; of any deals made when the individual or groups met with a White House representative, and any &quot;written materials memorializing any agreements that were provided to outside participants.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They said they will also request written communications between Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, and stakeholders from the healthcare industry.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It&apos;s no secret that the White House struck deals with various interest groups in order to win their support for overall healthcare reform.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;What we don&apos;t know is who made a deal with whom,&quot; said Burgess, an Ob/Gyn.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Obama administration has been criticized by some of its own supporters for what they see as reneging on a campaign promise to bring to the office an unparalleled level of transparency.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;At one point, Obama even told the nation that he would welcome C-SPAN cameras into healthcare negotiations that would normally be top secret.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But no C-SPAN cameras ever recorded the closed-door deals, much to the dismay of the president of C-SPAN, who sent a letter to congressional leaders in December asking for access to film healthcare reform discussions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In September, Burgess sent a letter to Obama asking for details on deals struck at a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/14153&quot; mce_href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/14153&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Major&amp;#8200;Stakeholders&amp;#8200;Vow&amp;#8200;to&amp;#8200;&apos;Bend&amp;#8200;Healthcare&amp;#8200;Spending&amp;#8200;Growth&amp;#8200;Curve&apos;&quot;&gt;May meeting &lt;/a&gt;at the White House in which stakeholders pledged savings of $2 trillion in reduced costs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That meeting included representatives from the Advanced Medical Technology Association, the American Medical Association (AMA), America&apos;s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;According to Burgess, after not receiving a response from the White House, he introduced a resolution to launch an official inquiry.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On Tuesday, less than 24 hours before the House Energy and Commerce Committee was scheduled to vote on the resolution, counsel for the White House sent Burgess 80 pages of public information, including White House visitor logs, speech text, and press releases.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;A far cry from the information requested&quot; in the letter, Burgess said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The White House introduced a new policy last year to list the names of all White House visitors starting on Sept. 15. In November, the White House released names and dates from an additional 575 individual appointments that were healthcare-related.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On Wednesday afternoon when the House Energy and Commerce Committee met, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the committee, informally agreed to sign off on another letter, but didn&apos;t endorse Burgess&apos; resolution.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Waxman instructed the committee to report the resolution to the full House, but without endorsement, which means the House probably won&apos;t take up the measure. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Waxman said he&apos;d work with Burgess to write a letter requesting the information instead of relying on the House to pass a resolution launching an official inquiry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&quot;A resolution of inquiry is a serious oversight tool and it should not be used unless other avenues to obtain information have been undertaken and exhausted,&quot; Waxman said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Burgess&apos; resolution would have encompassed notes of communication between the president and his chief of staff and other top advisers, presidential e-mails, and other high-level deliberations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;There has been no showing  --  or even an allegation  --  of wrongdoing that would justify this kind of request,&quot; Waxman said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Although his resolution essentially failed, Burgess said he was pleased with the outcome of the markup.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Waxman&apos;s agreement to work with him &quot;somewhat surprised&quot; him, he said, although Waxman has a long record of a &quot;commitment to being open and above-board.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Indeed, Waxman has been an advocate of government transparency and has launched numerous inquiries, including an investigation of the FDA&apos;s handling of rosiglitazone (Avandia) after a meta-analysis linked the drug to increased cardiovascular risk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;During the markup, Republicans accused the administration of breaking its promise to increase transparency. Democrats, meanwhile, defended the White House for being significantly more transparent than the Bush administration.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Bush administration came under fire for keeping a tight lid on negotiations that led to the formation of its energy policy. For years Reps. Waxman and John Dingell (D-Mich.) tried to get the Bush administration to disclose information from the closed-door meetings.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;The White House consistently rebuffed these requests,&quot; Waxman said.&lt;/p&gt;

    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20100101_19_193"
                     title="Democratic Supermajority at Stake in Mass. Election"
                     score="-0.002"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/tb/18032?impressionId=1265755532598"
                     
      &lt;p&gt;WASHINGTON  --  As voters in Massachusetts cast ballots to elect a new U.S. senator, Democrats in Congress are scrambling to come up with a backup plan in case Republican Scott Brown beats Democrat Martha Coakley in today&apos;s election.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If Brown takes the seat  --  left vacant after &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/15694&quot; mce_href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/15694&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Brain&amp;#8200;Tumor&amp;#8200;Fells&amp;#8200;Ted&amp;#8200;Kennedy&quot;&gt;Sen. Edward Kennedy died&lt;/a&gt; in August  --  the win would break the Democrat&apos;s filibuster-proof 60-seat supermajority. Although the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/17679&quot; mce_href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/17679&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Senate&amp;#8200;Passes&amp;#8200;Healthcare&amp;#8200;Reform&quot;&gt;Senate has already passed&lt;/a&gt; a healthcare reform bill, in the typical course of events, the upper chamber would need to take a final vote on whatever measure results when its bill is combined with the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/16847&quot; mce_href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Reform/16847&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;House&amp;#8200;Passes&amp;#8200;Healthcare&amp;#8200;Reform&quot;&gt;bill passed by the House&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;mceItemHidden&quot;&gt;Coakley, who is the Massachusetts attorney general, and Brown, a state senator, were neck-and-neck in the polls when voting booths opened.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another option would obviate a need for a second Senate vote by convincing members of the House to approve a version of the bill that closely mirrors what the Senate passed. That version could then go directly to the president&apos;s desk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Although the two bills are similar  --  and identical on some points  --  a few notable differences make it unlikely that members of the House would support a wholesale adoption of the Senate bill.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For instance, the Senate bill is less restrictive about using federal funds for abortion, it doesn&apos;t contain a public insurance plan, and it doesn&apos;t exempt insurance companies from antitrust laws.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;At least one moderate Democrat  --  Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.)  --  has said House members wouldn&apos;t vote for the Senate bill, according to the &lt;em&gt;New York Times. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;If Scott Brown wins, it&apos;ll kill the health bill,&quot; Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) reportedly said last week.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;President Obama traveled to Massachusetts over the weekend to campaign for Coakley and today, the president sent out an e-mail pitch aimed at getting Massachusetts voters to support Coakley.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;Right now, the polls are open to elect a new senator to the seat that my friend Ted Kennedy held for 47 years,&quot; Obama wrote. &quot;The choice could not be more stark, and the result could not be of greater consequence  --  for Massachusetts or the nation.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Polls in Massachusetts close at 8 p.m.&lt;/p&gt;


    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20090101_8_122"
                     title="Survey Report: Time May Be Right for a Single-Payer Health Care System"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="