Finally Friday News

The Washington Post explores what the Republicans really can do to undermine health reform. No repeal; maybe a tweak here and there, and they surely can gum up the works. But will the American people reward them for creating gridlock? Here's the LA Times's take. And here's Politico's version, which says Senate Minority Leader McConnell knows repeal is unlikely, but they will try to take it apart piece by piece. Huffington Posts says it will be a "shadow war" that characterizes health reform as a spending bill, and repeal or frustrate pieces of it in the name of cutting the deficit. Of course, Senator McConnell is quite frank about his goal, which is to make sure President Obama does not get re-elected -- it really has nothing to do with principled disagreement with health reform.

The Wall St. Journal says a bigger obstacle to reform may be at the State level, with Republican Governors vowing to frustrate the implementation effort. (I must say, though, that the complaint about unfunded mandates is really hollow in light of the many, many millions of dollars that already have been granted to the States to pay for implementation.)

Here's another wonderful essay by Dr. Pauline Chen -- this one about the patient's experience with new treatments which have side effects that are difficult to live with.

And here's a story of a patient who fell through the cracks -- went to the emergency room and didn't see a doctor for TWO DAYS! The hospital calls it a Swiss cheese event. Is that supposed to be funny?

Here's an online guide to Medicare enrollment as the open enrollment start date of November 15 approaches. If you're on Medicare, please review your plans and do your homework to make sure you're in the best plans for you. You won't get another chance for a year.

That's it to start the day. Have a good one. Jennifer