It was a delicious inside bit of politics: Bill Clinton and Congressman Paul Ryan having a private, backstage chat about Medicare, captured by an ABC News camera. Clinton says he's happy that the Democrats won the House special election in New York, but hopes his party doesn't use it as an excuse to "do nothing on Medicare." Ryan suspects that's exactly what is going to happen: "It's going to sink into paralysis." Clinton invites Ryan to give ...

The health-care-reform bill the U.S. House of Representatives will debate when it returns from recess next month contains a provision that would have Medicare reimburse doctors for counseling patients on end-of-life care every five years. Opponents of health-care reform have latched onto the provision, claiming it would lead to forced euthanasia or "death panels" to decide whether lifesaving care for the elderly is cost-effective — despite the fact that the bill says nothing about either of these ...

President Obama has declared a national emergency to deal with the "rapid increase in illness" from the H1N1 influenza virus.The officials didn't want their names used because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Obama's action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements" to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic. Those requirements are contained in Medicare, Medicaid and state Children's Health Insurance programs, and ...

Katherine Jackson's battle for control of her pop star son's estate is about to take a "new direction" based on "new evidence" uncovered by the family, a Jackson family lawyer said.The officials didn't want their names used because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Obama's action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements" to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic. Those requirements are ...

President Obama's speech to Congress on Wednesday on health care reform will probably be one of the high-noon moments of his presidency. Surrounded by liberals demanding a government-run public option and centrist Democrats -- along with Republicans -- who want to dump the option, Obama just might have his finger on something that can get him through this health care showdown: the "trigger" option. The idea would give insurance companies a defined period to make changes in order to help ...

Since he took office in January, President Barack Obama has made clear that he views this year as the best opportunity in decades to overhaul the nation's ailing health-care system; more recently he has stressed that he wants the House and Senate to pass their respective bills before their month-long August recess. That, to say the least, is not going according to plan. The Senate said last week it will not make this deadline and the House is also ...

On the eve of his fourth prime-time news conference, President Obama was working the phones, calling lawmakers involved in the health care talks to push them to embrace reform, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said Wednesday. It follows the president's Tuesday meeting with Democrats at the White House, dubbed a "serious working session" where "major progress" was made, Dunn said. Senior administration officials said the president will not meet with lawmakers Wednesday but was temporarily shifting focus to the ...

Even as Congress struggles with how to pay for health-care reform, the White House keeps doing it its best to accentuate the positive. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden hosted the country's three largest hospital trade groups as they announced they will accept $155 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts over the next 10 years. It's all part of an inspiring storyline, the idea that everyone is doing their part to make this most ambitious undertaking a reality. But ...

The budget that just passed both houses of Congress has given the prospects for health-care reform this year a big boost. With the inclusion of procedural language that would make it impossible for opponents to filibuster, it will now take a simple majority to pass the Senate, rather than 60 votes, simplifying the political arithmetic considerably. But that is only the beginning. As hard as it will be for lawmakers to navigate the political and philosophical minefields to get to 51 votes for health-care reform, ...

In the midst of a celebrated career that has taken place almost entirely behind the political curtain, Nancy-Ann DeParle was introduced to a microphone Monday by the President of the United States on live television, and she almost turned it down. "Nancy, do you want to say a little something?" Obama asked her at the end of a ceremony in the East Room. "Go ahead." She shook her head a couple times in response, apparently saying no. But almost ...