A few weeks ago, the consulting firm McKinsey released a controversial study claiming that employers would drop coverage in large quantities when the full Affordable Care Act is implemented. The Obama Administration immediately downplayed the study and then sought to get further information about it released. In the meantime, a separate study from Avalare Health [...]

As I noted earlier, the threat of a double-dip recession or Japanification is entirely man-made, a failure of policy to make the kind of adjustments necessary to improve economic growth. The right answer, to increase near-term fiscal stimulus or at the very least not cut spending, has been marginalized in the debate in favor of [...]

One of the major elements of the health care law which the Administration and its advocates have touted as an immediate measure is the small business tax credit to purchase health care for employees. (by law, every legislation in America must now include a “small business tax credit.” By the way, those claims that 195% [...]

Hemmed in by the House Democratic caucus, which simply will not pass a bill with the Senate’s excise tax as part of the financing, Barack Obama is making some nods in the House’s direction, in the interest of finding a bill that can get majority support in the lower chamber. President Barack Obama has indicated [...]

The big news in the health care debate is that President Obama specifically stated that he prefers the excise tax on high-end insurance plans as a means to finance health care reform. That’s not surprising, he’s basically been saying that for months, as have his aides and allies. But the fact that this is one [...]

I don’t think Rush Limbaugh realized at the time what a colossal blunder his “I don’t think there’s one thing wrong with the American health care system” comment would turn out to be. And it all comes down to the fact that he was vacationing in Hawaii, which really doesn’t have a health care system [...]

(Programming note: The Roundup will be delayed until later tonight) The Senate just passed a third and final cloture vote, by a count of 60-39, on the health care bill. In prior votes today, Jim Bunning did not vote, so I would assume in advance of a roll call, that he was the missing vote. [...]

The Senate is in the middle of the second of seven procedural votes on health care reform. In the first, lawmakers voted down a point of order on the Constitutionality of the individual mandate proposed by John Ensign and Orrin Hatch. The party-line vote failed, 39-60. Other votes include a series of additional points of [...]

Within the hour, the Senate will pass the third and final cloture vote on their health care bill, almost certainly with 60 Democratic votes and no Republican ones, clearing the way for final passage on the bill tomorrow morning. At that point, the House and the Senate will have to reconcile their bills in a [...]

Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO has released a statement on the Senate health care bill. It’s not all that different from Andy Stern’s – they want to keep fighting for a better bill. But Trumka certainly leaves the door open for opposition down the road to a greater degree. I’ve added Trumka’s entire statement below. [...]

Andy Stern, the President of the SEIU, published a letter to his membership on the union’s website today, saying that they cannot accept the Senate health care bill without fighting to improve it. In the letter, Stern cites Joe Lieberman (not by name) as the one Senator saying “no we can’t” to an up or [...]