Author: Serkadis

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with Lisa Benson’s “The HIPAA Bone Is Connected To The….”

Kaiser Health News staff writers Eric Pianin and Mary Agnes Carey report on what lies ahead for Democrats in their push to overhaul the health care system. “Now comes the really hard part. After a brief celebration of House passage of landmark health legislation, House and Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama face weeks, if not months, of difficult negotiations in constructing a final package that will win congressional approval” (11/8).

Among other issues making news in the health care reform debate are people’s weight, benefits for homosexual partners, the debate over interstate insurance and the timeline for implementing any changes.

The New York Times on the weight issue. “Heavier Americans are pushing back now with newfound vigor in the policy debate, lobbying legislators and trying to move public opinion to recognize their point of view: that thin does not necessarily equal fit, and that people can be healthy at any size.”

Congress is considering making it easier for employers to financially reward employees who practice healthy behavior, like losing weight. But the provisions are seeing push back from some, including the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, who advocates for heavier people. “On Capitol Hill, the association asked legislators for a public option from which fat people could not be excluded because of weight and for coverage that did not consider excess weight a pre-existing condition.” Some feel encouraged that the House bill does not allow pricing changes based on obesity (Saulny, 11/7).

(Related KHN story: Just Rewards? Healthy Workers Might Get Bigger Insurance Breaks – Carey, 7/28)

The New York Times in a separate story reports on nutrition labeling requirements, lower taxes for gay couples who receive health benefits from employers and a new program on teaching parents how to interact with their children. “Those are some of the little-noticed provisions in a mammoth health care bill taken up Saturday by the House of Representatives.” Under the bill, benefits for gay partners would be tax-free, chain restaurants with more than 20 locations would have to provide calorie counts for food they offer (Pear, 11/7).

Kaiser Health News reports on the debate over selling insurance over state lines. “Some insurers support the GOP approach (to allow the sale of health insurance over state lines), as does the National Federation of Independent Business, which says it would help the self-employed and also hopes lawmakers would give small employers the opportunity to buy workers’ insurance this way. But critics … say the provision would erode many state government consumer protections, leave policyholders with inadequate coverage and could actually lead to higher premiums for some people” (Galewitz, 11/8).

The Los Angeles Times has a Q&A on the timeline for implementing the reforms. “The proposed insurance exchange, a regulated marketplace, would not be in place until 2013. Medicaid expansion and the payment of premium subsidies to individuals and small employers would also begin in 2013. In the meantime, however, the House bill would create a program providing immediate, temporary coverage for the uninsured” (Geiger and Oliphant, 11/8).

The Wall Street Journal has a list of what the House bill would mean for various groups including the uninsured, the insured, employers, hospitals, doctors, insurers and pharmaceutical companies (11/9).

The Chinese are also trying to change their health care system, but as the United States tries to extend insurance to all, “China is simply attempting to provide a modicum of coverage for its people,” Reuters reports. The Chinese are also trying to stop the hospital system’s “reliance on peddling drugs to earn revenue. … One illness can ruin a Chinese family, driving everyone — from well-paid white collar employees at foreign firms to migrant construction workers and hard-scrabble farmers — to save around 40 percent of household income for a rainy day.” Chinese economists argue that lowering costs could allow the Chinese to spend more of their disposable income and ease tensions with Washington over the trade deficit (Hornby, 11/8).

Microsoft has plans to announce an advertising campaign with JiWire that will focus on enticing users to try out its search engine Bing in exchange for free WiFi where available.

The campaign is being supported by JiWire’s mobile advertising network, which reaches about 20 million unique users monthly. The Bing campaign will run across WiFi hotpsots in airports and hotels nationwide.

"We’re all creatures of habit, so giving away free Internet access in exchange for one search on Bing is a great way to change user behavior," David Blumenfeld, senior vice president of strategy and business development at JiWire told MediaPost.

The campaign launched in September at thousands of locations, has attracted between 30 percent and 40 percent of users to Bing, according to Blumenfeld.

So far the campaign has been a success for Microsoft.  "The typical online engagement rates for ads range between .1% and .2%, so when you think of what we’re seeing, it’s off the charts," he says.

"Let’s just say the campaign has performed well above average and Microsoft plans to continue the promotion."

JiWire runs an opt-in program called Ads for Access, which allows advertisers to offer users something in exchange for their time, such as watching a video or taking a survey.
 

Related Articles:

>"Time Spent Online" Report Puts Microsoft Way Ahead

>New Bing Commercial Inspired By The Shining

>Bing Gains Ground In August

News outlets report on health issues at the state level including a health insurance program in Washington State and a bill to increase coverage for autism services in Massachusetts.

NPR reports: “Now, while members of Congress are trying to figure out how to help the so-called working poor afford health insurance, one state has a plan that’s been doing just that. For two decades, Washington State has negotiated lower rates with insurance companies for those who can’t afford the full premiums. And the U.S. Senate is now considering allowing all states to do the same. … Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, is pushing for the final health care bill to include an option like her state’s insurance program. She sees it as an alternative to the much debated public option” (Seinfeld, 11/7).

The Cape Cod Times reports on a Massachusetts bill that seeks coverage for autism services: “In Massachusetts, children under the age of 3 with autism receive therapy through the Department of Public Health’s early intervention services. After age 3 those children depend on services provided by their school districts. … But some children with autism need more than a school district can provide. … State Rep. Barbara L’Italien, D-Andover, whose 19-year-old son is autistic, introduced the bill, which is part of a nationwide push by the advocacy group Autism Speaks” (Connors, 11/9).

“For people lacking health insurance in the Washington [D.C.] region, where they live can make all the difference in getting affordable health care,” The Washington Post reports. In the District of Columbia, the city provides tax-payer funded health insurance to many; though 10 percent of eligible adults remain uninsured, the city is actively seeking them out. But, in suburban Prince George’s County, Md., one-fifth of adults are uninsured and while five community clinics treated about 6,000 patients last year, many others did not get care.

“A lack of health insurance is not the only factor determining whether people have access to care. But many clinics that provide free or low-cost health care to low-income residents say they are flooded with people who have let their health slide, often for years, because they have no insurance” (Morello, 11/9).

Believe it or not, the Kohl’s Black Friday ad actually features a decent amount of electronics deals. Stores open at 4AM on Black Friday.

Here’s a list of all the electronics deals. Doorbusters (available from 4AM to 1PM on Black Friday) are marked with an asterisk.

Digital Cameras

Vivitar 10.1MP HD Digital Camera 2.4″ LCD 8X Digital Zoom – $59.99 *

Electronics

10-50% Off Entire Stock Of The Sharper Image Products – 10-50% Off

2XL In-Ear Headphones iPod Compatible – $9.99

5-Day Wireless Weather Forecaster – $59.99

BYO 10″ Lunch Bag – $9.99

BYO By Built 10″ Netbook Sleeve – $9.99

Charging Station Complete With Power Strip – $18.99

Digital Photo Viewer 3.2″ LCD, 500 Pictures, Rechargeable Internal Battery – $24.99

Discovery Expedition Entertainment Projector – $79.99 *

Entire Stock of Portable Karaoke Systems – $59.99 *

HMDX Speaker-On-The-Go – $9.99

iHome Clock Radio – $49.99

iHome Clock Radio And Audio System – $89.99

iHome Portable Speaker System – $29.99 *

iLive Home Music System – $79.99

Indoor/Outdoor Wireless Speakers – $79.99 *

Negative Scanner – $59.99 *

Panimage 7″ Digital Photo Frame 512MB Internal Memory AR – $29.99 *

Robot Bank – $29.99

USB Video Camera – $39.99 *

Wooden Music Center w/Recordable CD Player – $179.99 *

GPS Systems

3.5″ GPS Navigation System – $69.99 *

GPS Dashboard Grip Mat – $9.99 *

MP3 Players

2GB MP3 Player w/Video – $24.99 *

Televisions

19″ LCD HDTV w/Built-in DVD Player – $199.99 *

Digital Labs 7 Inch Portable LCD TV – $69.99 *

Video Games

Entire Stock of Nintendo DS Video Games – 20%-30% Off *

Entire Stock of Nintendo Wii Video Games – 20%-30% Off *

Entire Stock of Video Game Accessories – 20%-50% Off *

Kohls Black Friday Ad [BlackFriday.info]

More Black Friday deals…

The New York Times reports that a “restriction on abortion coverage, added late Saturday to the health care bill passed by the House, has energized abortion opponents with their biggest victory in years — emboldening them for a pitched battle in the Senate.” The Times notes that “the provision would block the use of federal subsidies for insurance that covers elective abortions” and is a major win — “the biggest turning point in the battle over the procedure since the ban on so-called partial birth abortions six years ago.”

“Both sides credited a forceful lobbying effort by Roman Catholic bishops with the success of the provision, inserted in the bill under pressure from conservative Democrats. The provision would apply only to insurance policies purchased with the federal subsidies that the health legislation would create to help low- and middle-income people, and to policies sold by a government-run insurance plan that would be created by the legislation” (Kirkpatrick and Pear, 11/8).

The Wall Street Journal: “Abortion-rights supporters say the change would likely prevent any insurer who sells policies on the new government insurance exchanges from covering abortions, regardless of whether the purchaser is using a tax credit.” Most private insurers offer packages that cover abortion but not all employers provide it. Abortions typically cost between $350 and $900. (Adamy, 11/9).

NPR reports that the amendment in addition to banning direct federal funding for abortion also disallows any federal funding for insurance companies that offer abortion services (Rovner and Inskeep, 11/9).

Politico reports that wrangling, and in some cases shouting matches, ensued among Democrats after the deal was struck. “(House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi wasn’t the only one getting pressure on the amendment. As rumors spread that Republicans might vote ‘present’ in order to scuttle the entire bill, even Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called Republican leader John Boehner to make sure the GOP didn’t play any games with the Stupak (abortion) amendment, sources said” (O’Connor and Bresnahan, 11/8).

The Washington Post reports that even as Democrats seek to use their Saturday victory to generate health reform momentum, they will now face a new challenge: “profound dismay among abortion-rights supporters over antiabortion provisions inserted into the House bill. … But abortion-rights supporters are vowing to strip the amendment out, as the focus turns to the Senate and the conference committee that would resolve differences between the two bills.” House Majority Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette, D-Colo., says she has enough votes against the amendment to block final passage of the post-conference bill in the lower chamber (MacGillis, 11/9).

 

The 220-215 pencil-thin margin of victory for the House Democrats’ health reform bill foreshadows a potentially tougher fight in the Senate, The Wall Street Journal reports. “Senate Democrats are struggling to agree on how to pay for the overhaul and whether to create a new public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, as the House did. Friction over how the bill treats abortion, which almost derailed the House vote, is likely to divide the Senate too.” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said it is “almost always easier to pass a bill in the House than in the Senate” (Adamy and Bendavid, 11/9).

Kaiser Health News: “Despite months of debate, disputes remain between liberal and moderate Democrats and between the House and the Senate on a raft of core issues. They include how much to spend on an overhaul; how to pay for it; how to deal with a government-run insurance option, and the scope of coverage and subsidies for the uninsured.” One thing is clear, KHN reports, the bill passed in the House is “almost certainly the high-water mark of liberal aspirations. On most issues, Democrats will likely have to tack to the right to win the support of Senate moderates” (Pianin and Carey, 11/9).

Politico: “Even before Saturday’s House vote, senators had begun to question why Reid suddenly shifted course two weeks ago and threw his weight behind a public option plan, laying bare the deep divisions in his caucus between liberals and moderates.” Those divisions are stalling Reid’s timeline, possibly delaying debate until after Thanksgiving; Reid has implied that the Senate may not pass a bill until next year (Brown and Raju, 11/8).

Reuters: In the Senate, “Democrats have no margin for error — they control exactly 60 seats in the 100-member Senate” the number needed to pass legislation, because less than that can lead to a filibuster by opponents. “Some moderate Democrats have rebelled at Reid’s plan to include a new government-run insurance program, known as the ‘public option,’ in the bill” (Whitesides, 11/9).

Associated Press: “A government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate. They’re locked in a battle with liberals, with the fate of President Barack Obama’s signature issue at stake” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/9).

Roll Call: On one hand, llinois Sen. Roland “Burris is hardly the lone Senate Democrat who supports a public insurance option, but unlike other backers, … [he] has made headlines recently for what appears to be an uncompromising stance on the bill: He will oppose it — and may even support a filibuster — if the measure does not include a robust public option (Pierce, 11/9).

Boston Globe: On the other, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has vowed “to support a Republican filibuster of health care legislation if it contains a public health insurance option” (Issenberg, 9/11).

Employees are facing rising health care costs during this open enrollment season.

The Virginian-Pilot reports: “This is the season when employees learn how much their health care costs will change next year. Hewitt Associates LLC, a human-resources research firm outside Chicago, estimated in a recent survey that workers would see an average 10 percent increase.”

In the Hampton Roads area of Virginia “the numbers, percentages and repercussions vary markedly, depending on the extent of the coverage, the employer’s willingness to share the cost and the employee’s circumstances. … The premium outlook swings a wide pendulum in Hampton Roads.” For instance, the Virginian-Pilots notes: “The same coverage will cost subscribers 8 to 12 percent more next year at Anthem and about 12 percent more at Optima. To minimize the impact, some employers are opting for ‘benefit buy-downs,’ such as higher deductibles and decreased emergency-room coverage, that lower cost increases for employees, both insurers said.” And at the Norfolk Southern Corp., “insurance premiums will rise 18 percent for union members and 12 percent for non-union employees” (Walzer, 11/9).

WTHR, an NBC affiliate in Indiana, reports: “While the healthcare reform bill passed the House on Capitol Hill, here in the State Capitol, employees are wondering how they’ll pay for the rising cost of health insurance. A letter went out this week reminding state workers it’s time to choose their health plan for the coming year. … State workers, who for the second year in a row, won’t receive a pay increase, will on average pay more for health coverage in the coming year.” In addition, “a new study shows that health insurance premiums have increased almost eight percent faster than wages in Indiana” (Kirschner, 11/9).

Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-La., was the only Republican to support the health reform bill, just a year after becoming a minor GOP celebrity for capturing a reliably Democratic congressional district in New Orleans, Politico reports. His defection – not his first since joining the House this year – has now made him “a bit of a cult hero on the left” and a sought-after media star.

However, “Republicans and Democrats who have worked closely with Cao in Louisiana and Washington say they weren’t a bit surprised — even if much of the political world did a double-take — when Cao registered a green light on the scoreboard in the House chamber.” He had been looking for reasons to back the legislation, his spokesman said, and after an amendment Friday restricted the use of taxpayers’ dollars for abortions, the former Jesuit-in-training, who is anti-abortion, had an opening (Allen, 11/8).

“Cao had for months considered bucking the party that embraced him, while the White House wooed his vote,” The Washington Post reports. “Cao arrived in Congress focused on getting more money for hospitals and other things in his district. While he generally has voted with the GOP, Cao, 42, has occasionally bucked his party, such as his backing of a Democratic-pushed resolution to condemn Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for shouting ‘You lie’ during Obama’s speech on health care in September.”

Cao won his surprise election victory last year with help from unusual circumstances. According to the Post, “Hurricane Gustav pushed back the election cycle last year, resulting in an early December contest that pitted Cao against Rep. William J. Jefferson, a nine-term incumbent who won reelection in 2006 despite widespread publicity about the FBI finding $90,000 in his freezer in 2005. With turnout much lower than in the presidential race a month earlier, Cao won in an upset” (Bacon, 11/9). 

The New York Times reports that Cao explained his vote during a Sunday CNN interview.”I have a constitutional duty to make the right decision for my district whether or not the decision was popular. … I had to make a decision of conscience based on the needs of the people of my district. … A lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor.”  The Times also reports that, “Another reason Mr. Cao may have felt pressure to support the health care bill is that most of his constituents are Democrats” (Herszenhorn, 11/8).

Health care companies stand to gain from legislation that would expand their market to millions of new consumers, but many are also complaining about specific provisions of the House health care overhaul bill, the New York Times reports. “Insurers do not like the provision to create a new government-run insurance program. Drug makers oppose billions of dollars in rebates they would have to give to the government over 10 years. Makers of artificial hips, heart defibrillators and other medical devices are not particularly happy about the proposed 2.5 percent tax on their products” (Wilson and Abelson, 11/8).

(Related KHN story: Proposed Tax Rattles Orthopedic Device Makers – Appleby, 10/14)

In addition, the House bill would permit Medicare to negotiate drug prices, a provision that has irked pharmaceutical companies, Bloomberg reports. Industry spokesman Ken Johnson said, “We remain convinced that the approach taken by the Senate Finance Committee provides the best blue print for comprehensive reform.” That version would not allow Medicare to negotiate; Finance Committee senators also rejected the public option, which sits well with insurers (Dodge and Jensen, 11/9).

The House bill also would strip insurers of a federal anti-trust exemption that has allowed insurers to privately share information since 1945, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s unclear whether that change would result in more competition. “That is because of a widespread belief that the law is toothless and outdated, which might be another reason to get rid of it … so many insurance companies are big national players, crossing state lines, and are easily able to look within their own experience for risk data. The more significant shift for the insurance industry could be stepped-up enforcement. Taking antitrust authority out of the hands of state agencies, which are often underfunded and understaffed, could result in more enforcement actions” (Johnson, 11/9).

And small business owners are finding faults in the bill, though it may be helpful to some, the Wall Street Journal reports in a separate story. The House’s measure would require companies with payrolls higher than $500,000 to contribute much of the costs of health insurance premiums for their works. If they don’t, they could face taxes between 2 percent and 8 percent depending on their payroll size. A spokesperson for a small business lobbying group called these provisions “the punitive employer mandates and atrocious new taxes.” By contrast, the Senate Finance plan would not include a mandate, but would reward employers who provide coverage with tax credits (Maltby and Flandez, 11/9).

Business Insurance reports that some larger employers may worry the legislation would “Remove employers’ longstanding ability to design health care plans. … Prohibit employers offering health care plans to retirees from reducing benefits. … Require employers to extend COBRA health care…” and more. “What’s in reform for large employers? There is a lot of downside and not much upside,” one business consultant said (Geisel, 11/9).

The events at Fort Hood highlight the military’s struggle to provide mental health care for soldiers, veterans and the therapists who treat them.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the mass killing at a Texas base: “In the early years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the various branches had been roundly criticized for failing to adequately address post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and other psychiatric problems. Responding to that criticism, leaders made progress in diagnosing and treating such illnesses among service members. But Thursday’s attack at Ft. Hood — as well as two other recent incidents in which military personnel allegedly turned guns on their own — indicates an intractable problem not easily overcome.”

The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have lead to a wide array of mental and behavioral issues, including violence within the military. The recent shootings by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was an Army psychiatrist, raises red flags and serious questions. “Those questions include whether, even today, military personnel can easily obtain mental health services. The factors that may have led to Hasan’s alleged actions are not yet clear. What is clear is that no one is immune to mental health problems: Doctors have slightly higher suicide rates than does the general population. Military leaders acknowledge rampant psychiatric problems in their midst. According to the Army, the suicide rate among soldiers in Iraq is five times that seen in the Persian Gulf War and 11% higher than during Vietnam. The Army reported 133 suicides in 2008, the most ever. In January of this year, the 24 suicides reported by the Army outnumbered U.S. combat-related deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan” (Roan, 11/9). 

USA Today reports that Hasan “had been chosen to be part of an ambitious plan to treat U.S. troops here in Afghanistan who need psychological counseling where counselors are often not available. As a result, the Pentagon is flying record numbers of therapists and other mental health workers into combat areas. But Thursday’s rampage … has thrown those efforts into some disarray. At least three of those killed were therapists slotted for Afghanistan. And six who were wounded are part of the 1493rd Combat Stress Control team to which Hasan was assigned and which was heading to Afghanistan, the Army says. Army spokesman George Wright said Sunday that commanders are wrestling with whether to cancel deployment of the team because it was so decimated by the shootings” (Zoraya, 11/8).

Meanwhile, NPR reports on the challenges that military families with special needs children face when spouses are deployed. “As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rage on, repeated deployments are taking a toll on military families. Service members are prepared for the dangers that lie ahead, but spouses and children are often left to navigate the emotional and physical challenges that come with separation alone. Those challenges are compounded when a parent has a child with special needs.” NPR reports on the struggles that one Texas military family – the Griffitts – face on a daily basis as Andrew Griffitts serves a long deployment in Afghanistan (Gildea, 11/7).

The Des Moines Register reports on a lawsuit put forth by a veteran’s widow in Iowa: “Roberta Minard goes to court today in an unusual wrongful-death lawsuit against the U.S. government. Minard says the government delayed critical medical services for her husband, a Vietnam veteran, in his time of need. According to the lawsuit, J.R. Minard of Unionville, Ia., died in 2004 after the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center canceled a medical helicopter flight on its way to pick him up, delaying critical surgery to remove a blood clot in his leg by four hours. … The four-hour delay consumed precious time that doctors will testify was critical to his survival, court documents show. Minard died three days later. His family believes he would have survived had he received an operation sooner” (Clayworth, 11/9).

KCRG, an NBC affiliate in Iowa, reports on the large numbers of veterans in the state who don’t sign up for health care: “Tens of thousands of veterans in Iowa served their country with honor. But many are unaware of one major benefit they earned through their service: Health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. … About 6 million veterans are enrolled for VA health care — not even one-fourth of the estimated 26 million veterans across the country. … VA officials acknowledge that some veterans may have been discouraged from applying. Six years ago the government tightened eligibility requirements. Many vets who applied then were not accepted, probably because their incomes were too high” (Aune and Hepker, 11/9).

While GameStop and Activision are busy with the whole broken street date issue in the United States, Sainsbury’s apparently decided that breaking th…

Come back with me to the turn of the century, circa 1996. Your humble narrator was working for campus police at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, creating FileMaker databases for their police reports. It wasn’t uncommon then to see DOS machines sitting beside Windows 95 machines and the web was a primitive and strange thing. There were only two browsers of note, Netscape and Internet Explorer, and firing either up was neither particularly comfortable or interesting. But, hidden deep behind Netscape’s bland carapace, was Mozilla. When you typed “about:mozilla” in the Netscape address bar, for example, you got:

Pretty badass stuff, especially when most websites were dedicated to kittens and burgeoning corporate identity. I was hooked instantly. This was the browser for me and it slowly became the browser for everyone with self-respect and a brain.

Fast forward to 2004: Mozilla and Netscape were on the rocks and it looked like the browser wars had been won. IE was the victor. In order to combat bloat and “feature creep,” however, a ragtag team of coders led by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross built something they called “Phoenix,” then “Firebird,” then, on November 9, 2004, Firefox 1.0 was born. This turned into the Mozilla suite – Firefox and Thunderbird – were born.

On this, the fifth anniversary of that momentous occasion, let’s all tip out a little Jolt for Netscape and toast to the future of Firefox, the best browser in the world. Best of all, the book of Mozilla is still being written and any time you type ‘about:mozilla’ into Firefox you get a red screen and a potent reminder of the early days of the Internet.

Happy birthday, Firefox.

The New York Times reports on federal legislation that could limit needle exchanges. “A bill working its way through Congress would lift a ban of more than 20 years on using federal money for needle exchange programs. But the bill would also ban federally financed exchanges from being within 1,000 feet of a school, park, library, college, video arcade or any place children might gather — a provision that would apply to a majority of the country’s approximately 200 exchanges.” A separate bill would ban exchanges within the 1,000-foot perimeter from receiving city money as well.

“Both bills have passed the House and a Senate subcommittee and await Senate action. Advocates and organizations including the N.A.A.C.P. are lobbying Congress to kill the 1,000-foot provisions. The promise of federal money could not come at a better time, these officials say, as states are cutting their health and human services budgets and private donations are dropping precipitously. At least four needle exchanges have closed this year because of a lack of financing.” A 2004 report by the World Health Organization found that exchanges reduce H.I.V. transmission and “cited studies showing that the rate of infection dropped up to 18 percent in cities with an exchange.” But, “Officials at exchanges in cities like Chicago, New York and Washington say there are few, if any, places that could house a needle exchange under the rule” (Zezima, 11/8).

President Obama is pressing the Senate to pass health care legislation as soon as possible. “The White House, growing concerned that the Congressional timetable for passing a health care overhaul could slip into next year, is stepping up pressure on the Senate for quick action, with President Obama appearing Sunday in the Rose Garden to call on senators to ‘take up the baton and bring this effort to the finish line,’” The New York Times reports. “Mr. Obama has staked his domestic agenda on passing comprehensive health legislation, a goal that has eluded presidents for decades.” The timing of the legislative agenda on health care is “crucial. Administration officials say Mr. Obama wants to wrap up work on health care so that he can turn his attention to other legislative priorities, including passing an energy bill and revamping financial regulations. But White House officials also know that the closer the final vote comes to the November 2010 midterm Congressional elections, the more difficult it will be to pass legislation” (Stolberg, 11/8).

The Hill: “On Sunday, Obama acknowledged the political difficulty that some lawmakers in the House had in coming to vote for the healthcare bill. ‘Given the heated and often misleading rhetoric, I know this was a courageous vote for many members of Congress,’ he said. ‘And I’m grateful to them and for the rest of their colleagues for taking us this far’” (Yager, 11/8).

The Washington Post: “A year after his election, the health-care vote in the House was a reminder of the power that he still wields to shape the country’s future, cajoling change that he promised as a candidate over the objections of a nearly unified GOP and a sharply divided party of his own. But the victory came on the heels of sobering evidence that even a president as popular as he remains is subject to the shifting public mood, an economy struggling to recover and events that are beyond his direct control” (Shear, 11/9).

Meanwhile, Obama “used Saturday night’s House vote in favor of health care reform to raise money for the grass-roots group Organizing for America, telling its 13 million members that the victory heralds a tough fight in the Senate and that OFA needs their financial support,” Roll Call reports. “‘OFA has built a massive neighborhood-by-neighborhood operation to bring people’s voices to Congress, and tonight we saw the result,’ the president wrote. ‘But the coming days will put our efforts to the ultimate test. Winning will require each of us to give everything we can, starting right now. Can you donate $25 or whatever you can afford so we can finish this fight?’” (Koffler, 11/8).

It’s not fun being the coolest kid in town as Barnes & Noble just found out. Its hot dual-screen Nook ebook reader was supposed to ship on November 30th, but that’s not going to happen. Sorry. The good news is that buyers should still get it before Christmas though.

B&N is saying that the delay was caused by higher than expected sales numbers and the new ship date is December 11. The Nook is just more popular that B&N had thought it would be and you can totally understand why. It comes sporting a 3G wireless connection like the Kindle, the same price as the Kindle, but also the two screens and an equally vast eBook store. The Nook is where it’s at, kids.