Before President Obama's bipartisan healthcare summit, we talked about how both parties were already looking past that meeting to what would come next. Now, we're in the middle of what comes next, so there's no shortage of news about Obamacare 2.0. Or should that be Obamacare 1.5? In any case, here's a sampling of headlines you'll want to check out.
- What happens if Washington does nothing on healthcare, the New York Times asks? Health policy analysts and economists of nearly every ideological persuasion agree that the unrelenting rise in medical costs is likely to wreak havoc within the system and beyond it, and pretty much everyone will be affected, directly or indirectly. NYT story
- Democrats said their seven-hour meeting with the president and Republicans confirmed their belief that it was futile to try to work with the other party on a major healthcare bill because the philosophical differences were too profound, the Times also reports. More from the NYT
- Speaking of philosophical differences, the Wall Street Journal Health Blog breaks those down for us: Should the change be comprehensive or incremental? Should we count on access to help control costs, or cost-control to help improve access? And should government set the standard for insurance coverage, or should markets be allowed to juggle that out for themselves? Health Blog post
- Now, among Democrats, the push for votes: Obama plans to announce a way forward this week in a bid to break the impasse on his proposals. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on members of her party to think of the American people first, rather than themselves, and vote for reform. Bloomberg's coverage
- Meanwhile, President Obama also is leaving the door open to bispartisan negotiation, saying he's serious about working with the Republicans on changing healthcare proposals--provided they're serious about working with him, Reuters reports.