Health and Human Services

Updated March 16, 2009

Hat tip to PoliticalWire.com for the following:

1. Pollster John Anzalone found that in Democratic congressional districts likely to be contested:
   • 60% of likely voters want health care reform and want it to pass this year, including 64% of swing voters.
   • As we've noted previously, once voters learn about the plan a majority supports it. Fourteen provisions were supported by more than 60% of those polled. Coverage of pre-existing conditions was the most popular provision.
   • Swing voters are as concerned about insurance companies as they are about any potentially negative consequence of reform.

   Anzalone also found that swing voters wanted more information about the reform bill before taking a firm position.

2. Writing in American Enterprise Institute blog (yes, that American Enterprise Institute), Resident Scholar Norman Ornstein labels as "ridiculous" the "level of misinformation and disinformation over the use of reconciliation"
   

The January Kaiser Health Tracking poll finds that a majority of the public still supports the idea that "it is more important than ever to take on health reform now." The poll further finds that while Americans are divided over Congressional health care proposals, even skeptics grow more supportive when they learn specific details of the proposals, such as:

• Tax credits for small businesses
• Health insurance exchanges
• Insurers prevented from denying coverage on pre-existing conditions

http://kff.org/kaiserpolls/8042.cfm

From the New York Times:

Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system on Saturday night, advancing legislation that Democrats said could stand as their defining social policy achievement.

After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years. Democrats said the legislation would provide overdue relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance.

"This is our moment to revolutionize health care in this country,”" said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and one of the chief architects of the bill.