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Chairman and CEO Ron Williams calls expanding access essential, but not a complete victory if affordability for the average American is not addressed Hartford, Conn., December 24, 2009 — Aetna (NYSE: AET) today commended the U.S. Senate for taking action to significantly expand access to health care coverage for millions of Americans. While noting progress toward meaningful reform, Aetna Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams said that more needs to be done to deliver on the full promise of health care system reform. “Today, the Senate took an important step, but reform that doesn’t deal with affordability, tied to health...

There may be an ornament with the face of China’s evil Mao Zedong on the White House holiday tree, but for many of the rest of us there’s an elephant right in our living room. The elephant in our living room is what moseyed in when the mainstream media took a holiday and the mask of President Barack Obama began to crack. How long have we known in our hearts that Obama is not an American? How long have we known that even though he professes to be one, Obama is not a Christian, nor even a Christian sympathizer and...

Well, this morning is the biggest Senate vote of all-time ever. Or at least the next one ever. On healthcare. no longer called healthcare reform. [snip] Yes, as Arianna Huiffington points out here, this Senate bill leaves absolutely no special interest behind. Not a one But ..a series of legal challenges are certain. . Good news for any involved attorney with holiday bills. And if happy Harry Reid and nattering Nancy Pelosi amend the bill's language in anticipation of the emerging legal concerns, then the carefully-calculated political deal -- or sale, depending on your viewpoint -- could crumble. [snip] "This...

Self-Evident Truths: Sen. Dianne Feinstein says it comes under the Commerce Clause. Rep. Steny Hoyer says it's mandated by the "general welfare" clause. Despite liberal wishes, health care is not a right. The "living Constitution" that Democrats and their court appointees have given us may be the death of our freedoms. Their constitution adapts to the times and serves the whims of the elitists. The Constitution is supposed to limit government powers. It does not allow government to do anything it feels like doing. Cass Sunstein, the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is the author of...

If only Harry Reid was capable of a Grinch-like epiphany. Senate Democrats are celebrating this morning for passing their version of health care reform, but voters still don’t like much of what they see. At the start of the week, 41% of voters nationwide were in favor of the health care bill, but 55% were opposed. This is the fifth straight week with support for the legislation between 38% and 41%. Rasmussen Report is continuing to track support for the plan on a weekly basis and will have new numbers on Monday morning. Part of the opposition comes from a...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats are poised to pass a landmark health care bill that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in U.S. history. Ahead lie complex talks with the House to reach final legislation in the new year. "We stand on the doorstep of history," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. "We recognize that, but much more importantly, we stand so close to making so many individual lives better." The vote Thursday on the bill extending health care coverage to some 31 million uninsured Americans brings Obama...

At least 10 states are now raising questions about the legality of the deal that Senator Ben Nelson, a Democrat, cut for his home state of Nebraska during the health care negotiations. Under the agreement, which is on the verge of being approved Thursday by the Senate, Nebraska is permanently exempt from paying for its expansion of Medicaid, shoving that cost onto taxpayers in every other state. Mr. Nelson was able to exercise such leverage because in exchange, he was providing the magical 60th vote that Democrats needed to advance their health care bill. The deal has enraged other Senators,...

At 7:16 a.m., the Senate passed on a 60-39 party line vote a sweeping health care bill that will tighten insurance regulations, provide insurance for 31 million more Americans and cost $871 billion over the next decade. "This is for my friend Ted Kennedy, aye," said Sen. Robert Byrd as he cast his vote.

Early this morning, after weeks of raucus debate and exhausting negotiations, the U.S. Senate passed a historic health-care reform bill. The gravity of the rather solemn moment, however, was momentarily broken when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the main architect of the bill's passage, accidentally voted against it. With the debate on the bill entering its 25th day and the Senate's storied polite decorum eroding, the roll was called for a vote at 7:05 a.m.... Reid, clearly weary from the process, stood when his name was called and said "nay." Realizing what he had done, he quickly switched his vote...