Back in July, before the screaming town hall silliness of Congress’s August recess and before the slow as molasses delivery of Max Baucus’s Senate Finance Committee health care bill, I wrote
a piece about how to gauge the progress of health insurance reform legislation. I pointed out that insiders on Wall Street, who have paid for unfair access to our legislators, would know ahead of the curve which way the reform would go. This way they could nearly guarantee that they would not lose money from their investments into the healthcare sector whether reform passed or was defeated. If it looked like reform was imminent, Wall Street would sell their holdings in healthcare companies driving stock prices of insurers down. If the “Street” figured reform would go down in defeat, they’d buy more of the insurers’ stocks as it would be a safe bet that the gravy train would continue for the highly profitable insurance companies. Back in July, the prices of insurance company stocks were surging. The bankers on Wall Street seemed convinced that the public option – the only serious reform device being considered – was all but dead. What does the insurance sector look like today three months later and weeks from the bill’s eventual passage? Follow me over the jump to see.
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An interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal discusses the likely permanent loss of jobs during the Great Recession of 2009. Obviously, fields closely related to the credit and housing bubbles at the root of the current recession – mortgage brokerages, financial industry, home building etc. – have shed jobs which may never return. Also, jobs in industries that can be automated by ongoing developments in IT – secretarial, mailroom, etc. – are also probably gone for good. Add to this mix, the increasing practice of offshoring tech-enabled jobs to emerging, low-cost labor markets like China and India and it becomes apparent that it may take years for the US to return to employment levels seen pre-recession in 2006.
What was the one bright spot according to the US Labor Department? Jobs in the healthcare field. Training for service in the healthcare field puts you at the forefront of the career market for the next decade. Congratulations! 
I am disgusted with the passage of the Senate healthcare “reform” bill over the weekend. Besides the inclusion of severe restrictions on womens’ rights to abortions which sets back womens’ rights by 25 years, it also passed without any public option or Medicare buy-in. What’s left is a giveaway to the pigs at a trough that I like to refer to as the “death by spreadsheet” industry. Trying hard to believe the spin from Democratic leadership that this is an historic advancement and not a steaming pile of unmentionable garbage? Follw me over the fold for proof that the American people have just been royally screwed over. 
Late last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that a breakthrough deal had been reached on the contentious healthcare reform bill the President has been asking for. But have they compromised away the core of the reform in this bill? Did they deal away the part that really would have put some competition into the market to bring down the absurdly high rates people are faced with to maintain their coverage? Will it make an insurance option available to those for whom today’s coverage is already priced beyond reach? 
Late Saturday night, the US Senate voted to allow debate over their draft of healthcare reform legislation to begin on the floor. This is another big hurdle that proponents of reform have overcome. The Senate version of the bill still contains some version of a public option. It will be interesting to see what amendments are added during the committee process. For supporters of reform who may be feeling that the reform has been too compromised and watered down, follow me over the fold for a great breakdown of what the current draft of the Senate bill includes for all Americans. 
This past Saturday night, the US House of Representatives worked all day and into the evening (it felt good to watch these people work on a weekend for once) and narrowly passed a bill aimed at reforming the broken healthcare system. In the process though, they were forced to insert an amendment (the Stupak amendment) which disallows women who would be enrolled in the public option plan from getting abortions. I am fed up with people inserting their religious preferences into legislation that effects all Americans, religious or otherwise. 
Guest Blogger Zipporah Dvash – Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs and Development, Long Island College Hospital
I have always been amazed by how far medical science and technology has advanced in the space of the last decades and wrote 
It may surprise you to learn that even as layoffs mount and unemployment has passed the 10% mark, there are employers who are having a hard time filling positions that pay $50,000 to $60,000 plus benefits! How is this possible? Join me after the jump to find out. 
Last night, I attended a pro-reform rally at Memorial park in Nyack, New York along the banks of the Hudson in the shadow of the picturesque Tappan Zee Bridge. Nearly 1000 people turned out to support reform of the broken healthcare system and several musical acts donated their performance to rally the crowd. The top act was none other than the legendary proponent of social justice, Pete Seeger. Follow me over the fold for more details about the evening’s events and photos taken by yours truly.