Obama's health plan takes shape

Huh?? And where would that money come from? If payment for service will decrease, everyone will get hit.

If you are saying that RNs would deliver primary care, how would you get around that pesky gap in knowledge needed to practice medicine or the certification by the state board of medicine? Lobby all you want but i doubt the legislature is going to be too wacky about allowing normal nurses (ie no advanced degrees) to deliver primary care.

Nowhere did I suggest that further education would not be appropriate, however, I would say that a seasoned practicing RN's assessment skills are as proficient (many times better than) newly practicing GP's. One other small detail you have ignored is that of wellness. Why couldn't nurses with those assessment skills be competent enough to conduct wellness care? Proper dietary counseling, smoking cessation, and other realms of wellness could more properly be handled by nurses whom might I add take an interest and develop a more intimate relationship with their patients. The legislature is not the problem, the AMA is!

In late 2004 it was an NP who frightened and then took the time to educate and motivate my daughter to improve her health. She could have just ordered antihypertensive medication.
Now DD has lost >80 pounds, eats healthy, exercises regularly, and need no medication.

With tempers flaring in closed door meetings on both ends of the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), conceded the obvious and said the Senate wouldn’t have a health care bill until this fall.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25331.html#ixzz0M98EMvRZ

First August came and went, then fall, then spring and summer.

Committee approval sends the bill to the full House for a vote as early as September.

WASHINGTON - In a triumph for President Obama, Democrats narrowly pushed sweeping health-care legislation through a key congressional committee last night and cleared the way for a September showdown in the House.


The 31-28 vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along party lines, was weeks later than either the White House or Democratic leaders had hoped.
As part of a last-minute series of changes, the committee agreed to cap increases in the cost of insurance sold under the bill, and also to give the federal government authority to negotiate directly with drug companies for lower prices under Medicare.

Landmark legislation approved by a House committee shows the beginnings of a political consensus to cover more Americans and give them new rights with insurers

....Lawmakers of both parties agree on the need to rein in private insurance companies by banning underwriting practices that have prevented millions of Americans from obtaining affordable insurance. Insurers would, for example, have to accept all applicants and could not charge higher premiums because of a person’s medical history or current illness. All insurers would have to offer a minimum package of benefits, to be defined by the federal government, and nearly all Americans would be required to have insurance....

...Lawmakers also agree on the need to provide federal subsidies to help make insurance affordable for people with modest incomes. For poor people, Medicaid eligibility would be expanded. ...

...Details of the major House and Senate bills differ, but most employers would have to provide insurance or contribute to the cost of coverage for employees, with exceptions for some small businesses.

...In the run-up to final approval, the panel handed the drug industry a victory, voting 47-11 to grant 12 years of market protection to high-tech drugs used to combat cancer, Parkinson's, and other serious conditions. The decision was a setback for the White House, which had hoped to give patients faster access to generic versions of costly biotech medicines such as the blockbuster cancer drug Avastin...

...Members of both parties in both chambers want to create health insurance exchanges, where people could shop for insurance and compare policies.
Lawmakers also agree on proposals to squeeze hundreds of billions of dollars out of Medicare by reducing the growth of payments to hospitals and many other health care providers. They are committed to rewarding high-quality care, by paying for the value, rather than the volume, of services.
The major bills offer the promise of more affordable insurance for people who are uninsured, including those with chronic illnesses. Under the legislation, it might be easier for people to switch jobs because they would not have to stay in less desirable jobs just to retain health insurance. The bills promise relief to people with huge out-of-pocket health costs and would eliminate co-payments for many preventive services...