The News

nytimes.com — President Obama hopes to sign a bill that guarantees access to insurance, outlaws the denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions and subsidizes premiums for many low- and middle-income people. Heading into Congressional elections this fall, Democrats hope voters will reward them for a historic achievement. But Republicans are already using the bill as ammunition against Democrats who voted for it, like Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.

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washingtonpost.com — President Obama has proposed cutting more than $100 billion in subsidies over 10 years, a contentious component of health-care reform that will be fought in earnest as the bills move through Congress. But unlike some issues that touch off partisan sparring, Medicare Advantage has an unlikely band of bipartisan defenders who have already battled to restore $10 billion of the proposed reductions. In a health-care debate defined by big numbers and confusing details, the prospect of losing benefits such as a free gym membership through the Silver Sneakers program is tangible, and it has spooked some seniors, who are the nation's most reliable voters and have been most skeptical about reform.

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latimes.com — The battle over healthcare entered a new, more frenzied stage Wednesday, as lawmakers and powerful interest groups jockeyed for advantage now that most believe some form of an overhaul will ultimately be signed into law. The Senate Finance Committee's passage Tuesday of a sweeping healthcare bill -- with the support of all of its Democratic members, plus Republican Olympia J. Snowe of Maine -- offered powerful evidence that a moderate legislative blueprint can command a majority in the Senate with at least token GOP support. Passage of a major bill by the House also is considered increasingly likely.

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nytimes.com — A delegation of senior White House officials met on Wednesday at the Capitol with the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the chairmen of the Finance and health committees, as Democrats turned their full attention to merging competing versions of the comprehensive health care legislation. The effort to combine the two bills is complicated and, politically, a potentially treacherous task. The Democrats must negotiate sharp disagreements between the liberal and centrist members of their party while also trying to hold the support of Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, the one Republican so far to support the legislation.

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latimes.com — With Republicans almost unanimously opposed to a healthcare overhaul and with 60 votes needed to thwart a threatened GOP filibuster, every Democrat and independent has become vital for Senate strategists. And so like a cloud of mosquitoes, lawmakers are making their presence felt -- claiming a central role in the debate and suggesting a variety of legislative provisions and concessions they would like in return for their support when a final vote is taken. "When you need that big a majority, every individual member has clout," said William Schneider, the veteran political analyst who works for Third Way, a centrist think tank. "Particularly those who are on the fence, moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats. Everyone whose vote is at all up in the air can be decisive."

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nytimes.com — Deep fissures among Senate Democrats became evident on Thursday as lawmakers moved closer to a floor debate on legislation to remake the health care system. The divisions involved two issues: whether the government should sell health insurance, in competition with private insurers, and whether Congress should offset any of the cost of legislation to increase Medicare payments to doctors. At a luncheon behind closed doors, Democrats said, liberals made impassioned pleas for a new government insurance plan, and they challenged the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, to defend his bill, which has no such public option. Among the outspoken champions of the public plan were Senators Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio; Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa; and Bernard Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

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