Today鈥檚 early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including examinations of health policy references in yesterday鈥檚 Democratic convention speeches.
: Obama, Biden Make their Case For Four More Years
Spilling well past the hour of prime-time coverage allotted by the major TV networks, Obama offered a long list of achievements including passage of his sweeping healthcare overhaul, an end to the war in Iraq, the routing of Al Qaeda and a lessening of the U.S. dependency on foreign oil. 鈥� He did not give much detail on the goals a second Obama administration would pursue, though he vowed to 鈥� defend Medicare from efforts to turn it into a voucher program and oppose any attempts to privatize Social Security (Barabak, 9/6).
: Obama States His Case For A Second Term
At times scathing in his criticism, Obama said the Medicare voucher plan endorsed by Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, would leave America鈥檚 seniors 鈥渁t the mercy of insurance companies (Parsons, Hennessey and Memoli, 9/6).
For more headlines 鈥�
: In Convention Speeches, Obama And Romney Set Up Contrasts On Key Political Issues
On Medicare 鈥� Obama: Said he would never let Medicare be turned into a program in which seniors get a voucher that they in turn use to help buy private health insurance. Said he would reform Medicare but do it by reducing the cost of health care. Romney: Focused on criticizing Obama鈥檚 health care overhaul, which takes nearly $700 billion out of the program over the coming decade by lowering payments to certain providers, mainly private insurers and hospitals. Has promised to overhaul those payment cuts (9/7).
: Political Conventions Get Deeply Personal
From heart-rending tales of premature babies to tactfully described female disorders, the organizers of the Republican and Democratic conventions have featured deeply personal stories of health struggles that in previous years might have been more at home on 鈥淭he Oprah Winfrey Show鈥� than at the podium of a national political event. 鈥� But the testimonials had a different purpose this week in Charlotte, where Democrats assembled to formally re-nominate Obama, and to take advantage of an engaged prime-time audience to push their talking points about women and the health-care law (Somashekhar, 9/6).
: Checkpoint: A Night Of Speeches Under A Magnifying Glass
Mr. Biden criticized the Romney campaign on Medicare, saying, 鈥淲hat they didn鈥檛 tell you is what they鈥檙e proposing would cause Medicare to go bankrupt by 2016.鈥� But the actions he described would not end Medicare in four years. At issue is the Medicare trust fund 鈥� and what would happen to it if President Obama鈥檚 health care law were to be repealed, as the Republicans have vowed to do. 鈥� The solvency of the trust fund has long been in question. Mr. Obama鈥檚 health care law extended its solvency by curbing the growth of projected spending 鈥� the $716 billion Medicare cut that has been debated in the campaign 鈥� and by raising some revenues. As the 2011 annual report of the Medicare trustees put it, the financial status of the 鈥渢rust fund is substantially improved by the lower expenditures and additional tax revenues instituted by the Affordable Care Act.鈥� Absent those savings, the trust fund will be exhausted sooner. What would happen then?聽 (Cooper, 9/6).
: Fact Checking Obama鈥檚 And Biden鈥檚 Speeches At The Democratic Convention In Charlotte
In their defense of the administration鈥檚 policies Thursday night, President Obama and Vice President Biden sometimes took license with the facts or left out important information. Here are some highlights (Kessler, 9/7).
: Schumer Wants Vote Soon On The Ryan Budget To Put GOP ON Defensive About Medicare, Medicaid
Sen. Chuck Schumer says he wants the Senate to vote soon on the Ryan budget to put Republicans, including presidential running mates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, on the defensive. The New York Democrat told The Associated Press Thursday that another public discussion and vote, this time on the Senate floor, would force the Republican ticket mates and GOP congressional candidates to defend the proposal鈥檚 changes to government aid to seniors and the poor (9/6).
: Democrats Target Two GOP Congressmen From California With TV Ads
One ad slams Denham as a 鈥渃areer politician鈥� who voted for a plan that would 鈥渆ssentially end Medicare鈥� and cost seniors $6,400 more each year.鈥澛� The other accuses Bilbray of cozying up to special interests, alleging he has 鈥渞aised thousands from Big Oil鈥� and other interests he once lobbied for (Merl, 9/6).
: Romney Cedes Ohio TV Airwaves To Obama (At Least For Now)
Yet for reasons that his advisors declined to discuss, Romney has ceded the advertising airwaves to Obama over the last week in Ohio and other battleground states. 鈥� The Cleveland area is a Democratic stronghold where Obama trounced his Republican rival John McCain four years ago. But with 1.5-million television households in the Cleveland media market, which also covers the heavily populated Akron area, it is an essential part of any Romney scenario for winning Ohio (Finnegan, 9/6).
: Ryan Does Not Bite Back After Clinton Attack
A day after Bill Clinton attacked Representative Paul D. Ryan鈥榮 Medicare plan by saying 鈥渋t takes some brass鈥� to make the claims he has, Mr. Ryan did not mention the former president at a rally here on Thursday. Instead, Mr. Ryan repeated a staple of his stump speeches, telling supporters, 鈥淭his debate about Medicare is a debate we want, it鈥檚 a debate we鈥檙e going to have and it鈥檚 a debate we鈥檙e going to win鈥� (Gabriel, 9/6).
: With Medicaid, Long-Term Care Of Elderly Looms As A Rising Cost
Medicaid has long conjured up images of inner-city clinics jammed with poor families. Its far less-visible role is as the only safety net for millions of middle-class people whose needs for long-term care, at home or in a nursing home, outlast their resources (Bernstein, 9/6).
: Report: About 30 Cents Of Every Health Care Dollar Wasted; US Can Cut Costs Without Rationing
The U.S. health care system squanders $750 billion a year 鈥� roughly 30 cents of every medical dollar 鈥� through unneeded care, byzantine paperwork, fraud and other waste, the influential Institute of Medicine said Thursday in a report that ties directly into the presidential campaign (9/6).
: Insurance Chief Answers Industry Bias Charges
She has been at the center of at least three public firestorms 鈥� for removing consumer protections in health insurance rules approved by her predecessor, for attending a campaign fund-raiser held by an insurance company and for suggesting that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association raise premium rates (Aaronson, 9/6).