ProPublica shows all the changes in the Health Care bill side by side. A very useful tool!

• Side by Side: Health Care Bills, (Senate-Passed Version (Dec. 24, 2009) With Reconciliation Changes (March 18, 2010)). by Olga Pierce and Jeff Larson, ProPublica

  "we've created a side-by-side comparison of the full versions of the Senate healthcare bill versus the bill that will likely go before the House for a vote on Sunday. What you've seen elsewhere-the text put out by the House Rules Committee-is just a 150-page list of amendments to the Senate bill ("strike paragraph 4", "insert this new sentence in paragraph B:…"). What we've created, the full proposed final bill-and highlights of the changes- allows you to easily to compare House's Reconciliation proposal to the earlier Senate bill."

C-SPAN complains about private health talks, by Foon Rhee, Boston Globe (January 5, 2010).

Democrats' apparent decision to come up with a final health care bill not only behind closed doors but within a very select group of negotiators is drawing criticism not only from expected quarters, but from the media.

A recent non-government health care survey is a good complement to the recent Current Population Report P60 series report (see: Health Insurance Coverage: 2008):

• Employer Health Benefits: 2009 Annual Survey, Kaiser Family Foundation (Kaiser) and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET).

Among those that offer benefits, large percentages of firms report that in the next year they are very or somewhat likely to increase the amount workers contribute to premiums (42%), increase deductible amounts (36%), increase office visit cost sharing (39%), or increase the amount that employees have to pay for prescription drugs (37%).

See also: You Have No Idea What Health Costs By Ezra Klein, Washington Post (September 20, 2009). "The most important health-care document released this week was not Sen. Max Baucus's Healthy Future Act. It was the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2009 Employer Benefits Survey."

A new report in the Census Bureau's Current Population Report P60 series reports on health insurance coverage. The report is based on data from the Current Population Survey.

• Health Insurance Coverage: 2008 (press release, etc.)
• Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008. By Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-236, September 2009. [pdf]

Leave it to Ze Frank (many of you will remember Ze from "The Show", a daily video blog he did from March 17, 2006 - March 17, 2007), a comedian, to put this whole healthcare debate into proper perspective.

Yesterday, the House voted on the expansion of the Children’s Health Care Bill with the support of Barack Obama. This bill will increase the coverage of insurance to 4 million uninsured children. It is expected that Obama will sign it within a few days after taking office and then, the Senate might act on it soon. According to the news article, the bill has a provision that would permit states to reinstate the health insurance benefits of legal immigrants. At present, legal immigrants have a five-year waiting period (after their initial entry into the U.S.) before they can take advantage of Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

A recent article in Government Technology states that Medicare Personal Health Record (PHR) Choice Pilot has been released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This program has been introduced in Arizona and Utah. Using this tool, Medicare beneficiaries can select one of the PHR products provided by the companies participating in this program “to maintain their health record information electronically and Medicare will add claims data directly to the PHRs for this pilot.” Consumers can regularly check and manage information related to their personal health and health care services with the help of this tool.