NEWS

House Dems: Don’t tax ‘cadillac’ plans – Politico

More than half of the Democrats in the House have signed on to a letter denouncing a key element of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care legislation as labor unions draw a line in the sand on paying for reform.

4 Senators’ Concerns Reflect Health Care Challenge - New York Times

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia is upset that a health care bill poised for approval by the Finance Committee would turn nearly a half-trillion dollars over to insurance companies, whose profits he says are “out of sight.”

Health Care Activists: Big Insurance Companies a “Crime Scene” – Public News Service

Yellow crime scene tape and "body pile-ups" attracted the attention of passersby outside Anthem Blue Cross offices in five California cities, as thousands of protesters declared the company’s locations "crime scenes."

State-Run Health Plans Garner Support – Wall Street Journal

Some influential centrist Democrats in the Senate are warming to a compromise that envisions health-insurance plans run by state governments, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice Tuesday to a small group of Republicans expressing support for a Democratic-led overhaul plan.

Health Care Poll: AP Finds Growing Support For Overhaul – Associated Press

The fever has broken. The patient is out of intensive care. But if you’re President Barack Obama, you can’t stop pacing the waiting room. Health care overhaul is still in guarded condition.

Obama finds support outside party and Washington for healthcare plan – LA Times

At the president’s request, Republicans, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and independents from beyond the Beltway offer qualified support for healthcare overhaul.

Members jockey for seat at Reid’s table – Politico

It’s the invite that every senator with an opinion on health care wants to get: a reserved seat at the conference table where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will merge two competing reform bills.

OPINION

5 arrested at HCAN blockade of Philadelphia Cigna offices (w/ video) – Daily Kos

Meet Joan Kosloff.

The young man on the sign she is holding is her son, Eric. Eric died three years ago of treatable bacterial meningitis.

Dodd: "We are going to get the public option" – Congress Matters

Standing alongside Vice President Joe Biden and 4th District Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT), Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) yesterday told a crowd of more than 400 supporters and guests how crucial the recovery program and health care reform are to the economy, then added emphatically: "We are going to get the public option" and received an extended, cheering ovation.

Anthem BCBS Of Maine Proclaims Entitlement To Profits, Demands Government Guarantee 3 Percent Profit – Think Progress

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, the state’s largest private insurer, is suing the state after Maine’s Superintendent of Insurance denied Anthem a rate increase that would have required Maine residents to pay an “additional $12 million in annual premiums for the same level of benefits.” Under Anthem’s proposed increases, the average policyholder would have had to spend “more than $13,000 in premium and deductibles, prior to becoming eligible to receive any health benefits under the policy.”

(compiled for Health Care for America Now)