Stock Preacher

The largest expansion of US health care since the creation of Medicare in 1965 may emerge from legislation designed to reshape the medical industry and change how Americans receive and pay for care. Congress today begins crafting legislation that Democratic leaders plan to push through both chambers by their August recess. The measure may require all Americans to get medical insurance, force insurers to accept all patients and end the tax break for employer-paid health benefits. These changes may be hammered out with unprecedented speed at the urging of President Barack Obama who, four days ago, said “this is the moment.” Obama has made a health-care overhaul his top domestic priority, using his February budget proposal to call it a “moral” imperative to extend coverage to the country’s 46 million uninsured. Obama also tied the long-term fiscal soundness of the US to controlling medical costs. Health care consumes 18 percent of the US economy and may rise to 34% by 2040, the White House Council of Economic Advisers reported June 2. “I don’t think we’ve ever had anything this large in American history aimed to go this quickly that touches everybody’s lives,” said Robert J. Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a telephone interview. “They’re moving at a pace we’ve never seen before.” The US will spend more than US$2Tthis year on health care, the Health and Human Services department reported in February. Today, the Senate Health committee will begin debating a bill that includes “gateways” where consumers may compare coverage plans. The Senate Finance Committee later this week will unveil a bill that among its provisions will call for taxes on health benefits, and House committees will release a draft of their own comprehensive measure that would create a government-backed plan to compete with private insurance.

Popularity: 4% [?]

US President Barack Obama warned credit-card issuers they will face new regulations and scrutiny to keep consumers from being hit by “unfair” rate increases and abusive fees and penalties. Obama said he told 13 executives from the industry, including representatives from Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. and New York-based American Express Co. that while credit cards are an important source of finance for families and small businesses, consumers too often must negotiate confusing terms that end up costing them more money than they expected. “The days of any time, any reason rate hikes and late fee traps have to end,” Obama said after meeting with the executives yesterday at the White House. “No more fine print, no more confusing terms and conditions.” Card issuers are under fire for policies that impose large late fees and boost interest rates on delinquent customers amid higher unemployment and a recession. The Federal Reserve already has issued new rules, due to take effect in 2010. Lawmakers in the US House and Senate also are considering legislation to provide more consumer protections. American Bankers Association President Ed Yingling, who was among those at the meeting, said afterward that Obama was “very clear” about his desire to make disclosures easier to understand and about the practices he wants ended.

Popularity: 6% [?]

US President Barack Obama said last week that the recession-hit US economy was showing “glimmers of hope” despite remaining under strain and promised further steps in coming weeks to tackle the financial crisis. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Obama told reporters after a meeting with economic and regulatory teams plus Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. But he added, “We’re starting to see progress.” Obama spoke a day after encouraging trade and jobless figures pushed stocks higher, and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers predicted the economy would emerge from a sense of “freefall” by the middle of the year.

Popularity: 5% [?]

US bank Wells Fargo & Company forecast a record profit last week, South Korea steered clear of recession, and Chinese export data beat expectations, all offering hope that the worst of the financial crisis had passed. Encouraging data on US trade and jobless claims helped Wall Street stocks end up for a fifth week on Thursday, while White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers predicted the economy would emerge from a sense of “freefall” in months as stimulus and rescue efforts took effect.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Barack Obama is poised to sign an executive order on Monday lifting restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. The move comes almost eight years after George W. Bush, the former president, imposed strict limits that critics said hindered medical research and hurt US science.

Stem cell research is fiercely opposed by some religious groups because it involves the destruction of human embryos. But scientists and health activists argue it could reveal treatments for conditions ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease. Under Mr. Bush’s restrictions, funding was allowed only for a relatively small number of existing cell lines to prevent taxpayer money being used to destroy additional embryos.

The announcement marks the latest in a series of early steps by the president to roll back his predecessor’s legacy. Some science advocates had grown nervous about why the stem cell research ban was not overturned in the first wave of announcements but the White House issued assurances that it was coming soon. Mr. Obama has already thrilled the science community by appointing Steven Chu, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, as energy secretary, and reversing the Bush administration’s skeptical attitude towards climate change.

However, the stem cell ruling threatens to alienate evangelical Christians at a time when Mr. Obama is facing mounting partisan opposition from the right.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The White House said last week that it strongly believed in a privately held bank system, after rumors that the U.S. government could nationalize banks caused shares in Bank of America and Citigroup plummet. “Let me reassure as best I can on banks,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told a briefing with reporters.

“This administration continues to strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring they are regulated sufficiently by this government.”That’s been our belief for quite some time and we continue to have that.”

Popularity: 8% [?]