The majority of Americans support a government option included in any health coverage reform package, according to a CBS poll. Of course, CBS makes you scroll down to the last line of the story to learn this: There continues to be support for a government-run health insurance plan, or government option, with 65 percent of Americans saying they are in favor of the plan and 26 percent opposing it. In August, 60...

On Bill Maher, former National Security czar Richard Clarke just said, “I think there’s right-wing strategy to delegitimize the president.” I could not agree more. Republican Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst is merely the latest example. Despite President Obama’s attempt to shift the nature of the healthcare debate from rhetoric to substance, it seems we are all unable to look...

Debunker Hill’s Grade for Obama’s Speech: Cole: B-  What I wanted to hear, I didn’t hear. I’m also affected by his mishandling of this whole thing. If you were to sit me down 50 years from now and ask me to grade it just as a speech, I’d probably give it a higher grade, like an A-. ChrisM: I give it a B+. While it was a good speech, I agree with Cole that it is hard to separate...

We have known for awhile now that democrat Max Baucus is a greedy hack who marches to the drumbeat of the healthcare industry. You can view a list of some of the hundreds of thousands he has received from health insurance companies at Think Progress. Add the contributions he has received from big Pharma and other health organizations, and you reach the millions, according to the Sunlight Foundation: The overall...

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times has a tragic story of one couple’s experience with dementia and the healthcare system. The woman’s husband developed early signs of dementia, and the hospital advised her to divorce him because his long-term healthcare would eat up everything they had accumulated together in their life, including her 401K and money left from her first husband’s death....

It is no surprise that health insurance companies and small businesses that do not provide healthcare benefits for their employees oppose a public option. The insurance companies fear it could put them out of business or make them spend more on enrollees, and small businesses that provide no coverage are afraid of having to contribute something toward a public healthcare pool. What is surprising, however, is...

Democrats have a majority in the House and Senate (a filibuster-proof majority, in fact) and they control the White House; so why is passing healthcare reform proving so difficult? Although reluctant to lay this at President Obama’s feet, he is the guy at the top of the democratic food chain and has the best chance at pressuring wayward “Blue Dog” democrats to follow the party line. Instead,...

According to Marc Armbinder in the Atlantic Monthly, an anonymous White House official told him that Kathleen Sibelius was incorrect when she said a public option was not a key part of reform. Perhaps part of the difficulty in getting everyone unified in support of reform and the president’s position is that the White House cannot seem to unify its own team on this issue. In July, it was Rahm Emanuel whose...

Swastikas are back in vogue as conservatives take to the streets to protest Obama’s desire to give them access to guaranteed healthcare regardless of preexisting conditions, employment status, or financial situation. According to the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, the following states had the highest percentage of uninsured under age 65 in 2009 (to date): Alaska – 20% Arizona – 22% Arkansas...

In 1990, Congress passed and President George HW Bush signed the “Patient Self-Determination Act” (PSDA): The intent of the PSDA was to strengthen individual control over medical treatment decision making and thus enhance patient autonomy and self-determination. The law placed several new requirements on health care organizations receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments. Two of the major requirements...