Erie Family Health Center

The plot thickens around health care reform! Check out these articles that discuss where health care reform goes from here:

1) Some still believe that despite a loss of the 60 vote majority in the Senate, President Obama can still achieve health care reform. It begins with a simple suggestion: “Obama should use his authority as president to start reforming the health care system right now.”

2) Conversely, others believe that the election in Massachusetts signaled the end of health care reform for the Obama administration.

3) Other experts claim that Obama can still utilize special procedural maneuvers to advance the health care bill. The move, known as budget reconciliation, would allow the bill to move through Congress with simply vote in the Senate. Read more in the New York Times.

4) Are you still confused about the differences between the House and Senate health care reform bills? Check out this breakdown of the health care proposals.

5) The Hill offers insight on the top ten reasons that health reform stalled.

Welcome to Health Beats—the place to come every week to receive the top five health care stories of the week! Tune in to Beats Per Minute every Wednesday to read about the top five stories impacting Erie Family Health Center and our community.

Beats this week:

1) On Monday, January 18, 2010 Erie Family Health Center celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Across Chicago, many did the same, invoking King’s memory in the fight for health care reform. Read more in the Chicago Sun-Times.

2) The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force just released new guidelines on the treatment of obesity among children. Currently, over one-third of America’s children are at least overweight; these new guidelines found that with intense treatment, children were able to obtain a healthy weight.

3) Yesterday Massachusetts held a special election to fill the late Senator Kennedy’s seat. This resulted in the election of Republican Scott Brown and the loss of the Democrats’ 60^th vote in the Senate for health care reform.  So the question is: Will this election lead to the collapse of health care reform?

4) Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed a bill that would allow Illinois residents to have their denied medical claims reviewed. This bill will allow more than 3 million residents to get a second opinion on whether their claim should have been denied. Per the Chicago Tribune.

5) 2009 was a whirlwind year for community health centers across the nation. Read about how community health centers were mentioned in the White House’s ‘Year in Health Care.’ You can also read more at the National Association for Community Health Center’s blog, Health Center News and Happenings.

If Congress passes a health care reform bill 30 million more Americans may end up with a health insurance card in their pocket.  That’s a big step towards covering the total uninsured count, estimated at 46 million.  But what will that mean for community health centers like Erie?  If so many more people have insurance, will the need for safety-net care providers vanish?

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