Cover the Uninsured Weekly News Digest - Week of October 19, 2009

Exclusive: Nancy Pelosi Lacks Votes for Most Sweeping Public Option
Speaker Nancy Pelosi counted votes Thursday night and determined she could not pass a “robust public option” -- the most aggressive of the three forms of a public option House Democrats have been considering as part of a national overhaul of health care.
(Source: Politico, Mike Allen, 10/23/09)

Offer to Let States Opt Out of Health Plan Gains Support
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, stepping deeper into the health-care debate, put his weight Thursday behind a proposal that would create a new government-run insurance plan while giving states the option not to participate.
(Source: Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/23/2009)

Key Senators May Rebuff Obama On Health Care
The Democrats' control of a hefty majority in the Senate — plus the House — would suggest that President Barack Obama is within reach of overhauling the nation's health care system this fall.
(Source: Associated Press, Charles Babington, 10/22/2009)

Congress Cranks Up Pressure On Insurance Industry
Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved on Wednesday to repeal the health insurance industry's exemption from antitrust laws, cranking up the pressure in a growing battle over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans.
(Source: Reuters, Donna Smith and John Whitesides, 10/22/2009)

Democrats Lose Big Test Vote on Health Legislation
Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years.
(Source: New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/22/2009)

In Mass., Most Docs Support State's Health Mandate
As Massachusetts enters its fourth year under a sweeping law that aims to get nearly everybody health insurance, there's new evidence on what one crucial constituency thinks about it: doctors.
(Source: National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Richard Knox, 10/21/2009)

Public Option Gains Support
Clear majority now backs plan; Americans still divided on overall packages.
(Source: Washington Post, Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, 10/20/2009)

Health Insurance Worries Keep Rising
The number of Americans worried about losing their current health care coverage keeps rising, even as President Barack Obama and a Democrat-led Congress strive to extend society's safety net to cover the uninsured, a new poll has found.
(Source: Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/20/2009)

Basic Medicare Premium to Rise 15% Next Year
The basic Medicare premium will shoot up next year by 15 percent, to $110.50 a month, federal officials said Monday.
(Source: New York Times, Robert Pear, 10/20/2009)

Liberals Increase Pressure For Public Insurance Plan In Health Bill
Combined bill could be introduced this week.
(Source: Washington Post, Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, 10/21/2009)