Healthcare Digest 5/10: Senate and House Repubs Blocking Healthcare

Showing how great they are at Across-the-Aisle-ing, and that they want to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem, “House and Senate Republican leaders told President Barack Obama Thursday that they will refuse to nominate candidates to serve on an advisory board that is to play a role in holding down Medicare costs under the new health care act.”

Oh. Whoops. I should have read more carefully.

Other things the Republicans are doing:

Voting again to repeal the health care act. (That thirty-seventh time’s BOUND to be the charm, right guys?)

Boehner, at a news conference Thursday, said this “is a board with 15 unelected, unaccountable individuals who have the authority to deny seniors access to care. The American people don’t want the federal government making decisions that doctors and patients should be making.”

As opposed to a group of elected unaccountable individuals who are insisting on doing just that pretty much every day. It’s item #2 on their Task List.

Friday’s Headlines:

With the Republican Nuttiness, Obama’s Back in the Deep End: “President Barack Obama is launching a new effort to rally the public around his hotly disputed health care law, a strategy aimed at shoring up key components of the sweeping federal overhaul and staving off yet another challenge from Republicans.” [Boston Herald]

Immigrants and Healthcare Overhaul: “When open enrollment begins in October under the new federal health care law, nearly 260,000 immigrants in Illinois will be eligible to apply for government-subsidized insurance, according to a study released Thursday.” [Chicago Tribune]

Thanks, Medicare Date — But We ALREADY KNEW THIS: “Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released for the first time data detailing the 100 most common medical procedures in more than 3,000 hospitals nationwide, how much those hospitals charge Medicare for those services and how much Medicare actually pays.” [Daily Mail]

If Only the Healthcare IT Market Were Single: “Healthcare IT Market Worth $56.7 Billion by 2017.” [Dallas Herald]