The House Budget Committee is expected to begin marking up the health care reform reconciliation bill on Monday, beginning the next step in the legislative process to get a final health care reform bill sent to the President.  Democrats are still awaiting a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, which is expected to be released at some point this weekend.

The reconciliation bill will contain changes to the Senate bill needed to get the support of House Democrats.  Passing an amended bill under reconciliation rules will allow the Senate to consider and pass the changes under special rules requiring a simple majority to pass rather than a 60-vote majority.  Congressional leaders hope to send a final bill to President Obama no later than the Easter Congressional recess.
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This morning, President Barack Obama completed his first routine periodic physical examination as President at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  The President’s exam included a colorectal cancer screening test.  Dr. Jeff Kuhlman, a Navy captain and Physician to the President, Chief White House Physician and Director of the White House Medical Unit examined the President.  Dr. Kuhlman, issued the following report following the exam:

“The President completed all age-appropriate screening tests, to include colorectal cancer screening.  A CT-colonography was performed with normal results.  Follow-up colorectal cancer screening is recommended in 5 years for routine colon cancer screening.”

Screening is just one important way to prevent colorectal cancer.  Take a few minutes to read more about preventing colorectal cancer.

At 10am (eastern) this morning, the President will host a bipartisan meeting at the Blair House to discuss health reform legislation.  The meeting will be broadcast live – C‑SPAN coverage begins at 9:45am ET on C‑SPAN3, C‑SPAN.org and C‑SPAN Radio.  The entire meeting will also be streamed live on www.WhiteHouse.gov.

View a side-by-side comparison of the House-passed and Senate-passed bills here.  View the President’s health reform proposal here. Read the rest of this entry »

The fiscal year 2011 budget process got underway today when President Obama sent Congress his budget proposal.  The President’s $3.8 trillion budget includes a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending in order to save about $250 billion over 10 years and start narrowing the $1.6 trillion gap between proposed budget outlays and tax receipts.  The freeze caps the overall level of spending so that some programs get increases (for example, cancer research at NIH and NCI receives a funding increase), while other programs (including some of the cancer control programs at the CDC) are cut.  The freeze comes on top of a proposal to eliminate, or scale back, 120 programs in order to save more than $20 billion.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued the following statement of support,

“[u]nder this budget, we will provide the health and human services that Americans depend on more effectively, slashing waste and focusing programs on results.  And we’ll make many of the necessary investments our country has been putting off for years, including investments in fighting health care fraud, strengthening our public health infrastructure, and getting serious about health and wellness,” said Sebelius. “This budget is a big step toward a healthier, stronger America.” Read the rest of this entry »

There are a number of provisions in both the House and Senate health care reform bills that will affect colorectal cancer patients.  Click here to see a chart outlining and comparing these provisions.

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