At about 1 p.m. eastern, Obama, joined by the American Nurse Association, will make a statement on healthcare. Politico is also reporting:
Also developing on the health care front: Three Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee — Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) today are announcing an aggressive push to make health insurers absorb as much as $100 billion of the cost of reform. The idea has been kicking around quietly in meetings, and insurers are on a list of potential targets that have been floating around. But Schumer, one of the senior Democratic voices at the Capitol, is going at them head-on. And the Senate HELP Committee votes on its version of health care today.Note that Hillary Clinton will also be making a foreign policy speech at about the same time.
I heard Sam Nussbaum, chief medical officer for WellPoint, on NPR this morning complaining about a public option to rival private healthcare insurers. He said that it is unfair because the government has the upper hand. When he said that the first thought that came to my mind was: too bad. After all these years the healthcare industry suddenly cares? They've been ripping people off and letting people die and now they care because their profit is going to be affected? Too bad for the industry. They should've cut costs and cared a long while ago. Now it's time to do right by the people.
The Senate Committee passes a bill this morning:
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