Protesters demand health reform at a rally outside Blue Cross headquarters in Los Angles last month.

Nothing about health care reform has inspired more overheated rhetoric than the so-called public option.
Opponents say it would unleash a government juggernaut against which no…

Otto von Bismarck: Not socialist.

Forget all this nonsense about socialized health care. The first head of state to propose a national health system was at the other end of the political spectrum. His name: Otto von Bismarck.

The system established by…

House Democrats unveiled a sweeping health care reform bill last Thursday built on shared responsibility.
Individuals would have to buy health insurance for themselves and their families.
Taxpayers would subsidize coverage for those unable to afford it on their own.
Employers would have…

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, was in a fine fury Tuesday morning. Speaking on the Senate floor, he blasted Democratic lawmakers for a plan to permanently adjust the Medicare formula used to set payment…

President Barack Obama speaks after last week's historic Senate health reform vote.

Forget all the angry shouting about socialized medicine and government take-overs. Health care reform is really all about markets, competition and choice.
That’s probably not what you’ve heard. But as…

To hear some people tell it, the number of people without health insurance in the United States is vastly overstated.
There are the illegal immigrants, the argument goes, and then there are those who can afford to buy insurance but don’t…

Robin Beaton's insurance company cancelled her breast cancer surgery because she didn't disclose she'd been treated for acne.

Health insurance companies launched an 11th-hour assault Monday on a compromise health care reform bill in the Senate. In a new report and a…

For a guy who focused so relentlessly on health care as a candidate, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has been remarkably quiet of late.
At a time when health care dominates the national debate, Mr. Nixon is one of just six Democratic…

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Here’s how much the Congressional Budget Office says a new health reform bill in the Senate would cost: $829 billion over 10 years.

The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post , Associated…

Mom always said to be careful what we wished for, lest we actually get it. The warning is apt now that the health care reform debate in Congress seems headed into the home stretch, or maybe just the back stretch.

Several big…

Tim Blacke

When doctors found a tumor in Tim Blacke’s brain, health insurance was the last thing he worried about. That was his first mistake.
For nearly two decades, he’d worked for internationally known evangelical minister Josh McDowell. During that time, Mr.…

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

America needs a strong shot of health care reform, but Sen. Max Baucus’ two-aspirin-and-call-me-the-morning measure won’t get the job done.
Mr. Baucus, D-Mont., who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, dithered for months trying to craft a compromise with…

In 1999, it cost about $5,800 to buy employer-provided family health insurance coverage. If premiums had increased at the same rate as inflation, that same policy today would cost $7,239.

Instead, it costs $13,375. That’s an increase of 131 percent — more than…

We put up a link to the HR 3200, the House health reform, in this space a few weeks ago. At the time, we were of the belief that the only way to know what was in the bill was…

President Barack Obama will try to retake the initiative on health care reform this evening with a nationally televised address to Congress. Conventional wisdom holds that it will be among the most important speeches of his political career.
That’s entirely backward.
Whatever…

Health reform protesters at an Aug. 15 rally in Atlanta.

About 100 people turned out at a Ventura County, Calif., shopping center Wednesday evening to demand health reform, the Associated Press reports.

About 25 counter-protesters gathered across the street. They carried signs…

Sen. Claine McCaskill at a town hall meeting at Jefferson College.

Our friend Michael Sewall from the Columbia Missourian reported on a town hall-style meeting held this week by Sen. Claire McCaskill in Jefferson City. You can find his full story here.

Ms.…

Critics are questioning whether health care reform will force middle-class families out of the insurance plans that currently cover them. The better question is whether the insurance plans that currently cover them —  or, more precisely, the price of that…

Most of us hear a lot of politicians talk. It can sometimes be difficult to remember who said what.

Which of these quotes is from President Barack Obama?

Which comes from former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who now heads the…

Sen. Charles Grassley addresses a rally on health reform in Iowa.

On Tuesday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, called  President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “intellectually dishonest” in their discussion of health reform. He said they’re using the flap about…