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President Obama has nominated Dr. Donald Berwick to be CMS Administrator. Dr. Berwick currently serves as President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and is a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. Among many other appointments, Dr. Berwick has served as Chair of the National Advisory Council…

The White House has proposed $313 billion in new Medicare and Medicaid cuts over 10 years, in addition to the provisions included in the Administration’s proposed FY 2010 budget. Among other things, the Administration is endorsing: incorporating productivity adjustments into Medicare payment updates; reducing hospital subsidies for treating the uninsured as coverage increases; paying “better”…

On April 8, 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Office of Health Reform within the Executive Office of the President. The goal of the office is to provide leadership to the executive branch in establishing policies, priorities, and objectives for the federal government’s comprehensive effort to improve access to health…

A number of Congressional panels have scheduled hearings on health policy issues, including the following:

  • An April 21, 2009 Senate Finance Committee hearings on “Reforming America’s Health Care Delivery System”;
  • A Ways and Means Committee hearing on April 22 regarding reforming the health insurance market;
  • An April 22 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

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The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing April 2, 2009 on the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. At the hearing, Governor Sebelius asserted that if confirmed, health reform “would be my mission – as it is the President’s.” The Committee has not yet scheduled a vote…

On March 10, 2009, HHS proposed to rescind a controversial Bush Administration rule issued December 19, 2009 that implements and enforces certain federal nondiscrimination statutes protecting the conscience rights of health care providers and other entities. The Obama Administration is reviewing this rule to ensure its consistency with current Administration policy and to reevaluate the necessity for …

On January 8, 2009, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration.

On January 8, 2009, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration.