Making Waves On and Off the Hill: The Policy & Practice Podcast

From hearings and press conferences in Washington, DC:
The Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee finally passed a health reform bill with a little help from the other side of the aisle: a Yes vote from Maine Republican Olympia Snowe. Meanwhile, health insurers and medical device makers sound alarm bells about their concerns, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) [...]

No Room for the Huddled Masses

From the Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.:
I was excited to be covering the Oct. 13 meeting of the Senate Finance Committee. It was a historic occasion — the fifth and final committee of jurisdiction was about to pass a bill that could result in the first serious health reform in decades.
Having been to a [...]

Just Three Republicans?

From “Prospects For Bipartisan Health Reform,” a breakfast conference at Union Station in Washington, and the Senate Finance Committee mark-up of its health reform plan in the Hart Office Building:
Quick question: How many Republicans are likely to sign on to the health reform package now making its way through the Senate?  Apparently, only three, if [...]

Maneuvering Begins Anew: the Policy & Practice Podcast

From Washington, DC:
As Congress gets back to work after the August recess, President Obama urges Congress and the nation to get behind health reform, the Senate Finance Committee releases its draft version of a health reform bill,  and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee — another key player in health care politics — [...]