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New York (CNN) — Former President Bill Clinton has shown “no evidence of heart attack or damage to his heart,” and his prognosis is excellent after undergoing a procedure Thursday to restore blood flow in one of his coronary arteries, according to his doctor.

Clinton, 63, was hospitalized at New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Columbia campus after experiencing brief periods of discomfort in his chest over several days, according to Dr. Allan Schwartz, the hospital’s chief of cardiology.

Full Story at CNN.com

A little more than a week ago, few Americans had heard of Rep. Alan Grayson, who represents the Orlando area, and more than a handful of his congressional colleagues may not have been able to pick the 6-foot-4, 51-year-old out of a lineup.

But that was before the combative Bronx-born congressman and Harvard-educated lawyer took to the floor of the House of Representatives last week, shocking the few Republicans within earshot when he dramatically declared the GOP health care plan is “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.”

The after-hours tirade quickly made the rounds online and on television the next morning, energizing Republicans and Democrats alike — many of whom from both parties appear eager to keep the rhetoric surrounding the health care debate at a fever pitch. Video Watch the congressman on the House floor »

Full Story at Blogs from CNN.com

In the midst of perhaps the most contentious national debate since the Vietnam War, President Obama has nominated a paid consultant for Burger King to be the nation’s top doctor.

Can you spell tone-deaf?

Dr. Regina Benjamin has been paid 10-thousand dollars since last year to serve on a scientific advisory board for the company that brings us the Whopper and the B-K Triple Stacker.

According to the Washington Times, Burger King says the doctor was on the company’s nutritional advisory panel… which is meant to “promote balanced diets and active lifestyle choices.”

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – The stubborn yet false rumor that President Obama’s health care proposals would create government-sponsored “death panels” to decide which patients were worthy of living seemed to arise from nowhere in recent weeks.

Advanced even this week by Republican stalwarts including the party’s last vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, and Charles E. Grassley, the veteran Iowa senator, the nature of the assertion nonetheless seemed reminiscent of the modern-day viral Internet campaigns that dogged Mr. Obama last year, falsely calling him a Muslim and questioning his nationality.

Full Story At News.Yahoo.com

WASHINGTON – The Obama White House left open the possibility Sunday that the president would break a campaign promise and raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 to support his health care overhaul agenda.

White House adviser David Axelrod said the administration wouldn’t rule out taxing some employees’ benefits to fund a health care agenda that has yet to take final form. The move would be a compromise with fellow Democrats, who are pushing the proposal as a way to pay for the massive undertaking without ballooning the federal deficit.

Full Story At CNN.com

One of the Democratic advisers told CNN there is fear within the party that the president’s signature issue is “on the rocks” because of dramatically high cost estimates for separate bills being drafted by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts and Max Baucus, D-Montana.

The Congressional Budget Office’s estimate for the Kennedy bill — that it will cost $1 trillion and yet leave millions of Americans without health insurance — has given Republicans strong political ammunition to charge reform may be too expensive at a time of massive federal deficits.

“We’re going to need the White House to step it up a little bit and get more engaged,” said a second Democratic adviser, who acknowledged concerns that Republicans are gaining steam in the message battle. “We’ve got some time to sort this out, but decision time is just around the corner.”

Full Story At CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Americans want, deserve and demand health care reform.

Wednesday, I and my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives are unveiling common sense health care reforms that focus on increasing the affordability, accessibility and availability of quality health care.

Our plan will lower costs, make health care more convenient for patients and improve quality at a price our country can afford.

Our chief concern is making health care affordable for all Americans. To do so, we believe in reforming before spending. The system now is so complex and unwieldy that billions of dollars are wasted every year. In fact, Americans pay more for their health care per person than anyone else in the world; twice what the Canadians do and two-and-a-half times what the British spend. It makes no sense.

Full Story At  msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – The strain of flu virus that is alarming the world is so new and poorly understood that it justifies the U.S. government’s multi-pronged efforts to fight it, President Barack Obama said Saturday.

Swine flu, or H1N1 flu as the government calls it, has caused only one confirmed U.S. death. But medical authorities fear it could become much worse, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, and that’s why he has thrown substantial federal resources into the campaign against it.

Full Story At news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON – Here’s the best-case scenario for the government’s plans to spend $19 billion on computerized medical records: seamless communication among doctors and patients, and far fewer mistakes.

And the worst-case: $19 billion goes down the drain.

The medical industry is hoping for the first outcome, even while some fear the second, as the Health and Human Services Department tries to get hundreds of thousands of doctors to quit using paper files and join the digital age.

The money for the massive undertaking is in the economic stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed into law last month.