What Insurers Are Trying to Get Out of Health Reform

Insurance companies have always been an effective villain in the health-care reform debate, but this year the industry thought things might be different. Recognizing the growing sentiment for some kind of change and fully aware that universal coverage would help bulk up their rolls as baby boomers age into the Medicare system, private insurers early on declared their support for President Obama’s health reform effort

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Al Qaeda No. 2 slams Obama’s first months in office

Al Qaeda’s second-in-command has accused President Obama of supporting a Palestinian state that would do the bidding of Israel. “Obama wants a Palestinian state that works as a branch for the Israeli government,” Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a nearly 90-minute video called, “The Realities of Jihad and the Fallacies of Hypocrisy.” The latest in a series of such videos was posted Monday on radical Islamist Web sites by al Qaeda’s production company, As-Sahab Media.

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If a Health-Care Bill Passes, Nurse Practitioners Could Be Key

As the House and Senate prepare to embark on their summer recess without having passed any health-care-reform bills, President Obama’s dreams of radically restructuring the system have, at least for now, bumped up against the reality of Washington politics. But even if Congress manages to overcome the many obstacles and pass some kind of meaningful reform this fall, the goal of covering some 50 million currently uninsured Americans will encounter a whole new range of hurdles.

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Media Freak-outs: Every Week Is Shark Week

Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock once sagely declared, “Live every week like it’s Shark Week!” But what does that mean? You could say it means to seize the day, to live as if at any moment, a hammerhead might chomp through your torso.

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Obama and Cabinet to assess performance at 6-month mark

Halfway through the first year of his historic administration, President Obama will give himself an early report card this weekend, assembling his Cabinet officials to review their performance and set new goals for the months ahead. All 22 Cabinet-rank officials will meet to discuss “priorities for the administration’s agenda moving forward,” a White House official said. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will kick off the two-day assessment with a dinner for the Cabinet on Friday evening at Blair House, the building across the street from the White House that hosts many foreign dignitaries when they visit Washington.

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Obama’s former doctor critical of White House health care plan

President Obama often talks about all of the forces lining up against his health care plan. But there’s one critic who has remained relatively mum in the debate. David Scheiner, a Chicago, Illinois-based doctor, has taken a hard look at the president’s prescription for health care reform and sees bad medicine

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Obama Health-Care Interview: On His Push for Reform

TIME senior writer Karen Tumulty sat down with President Barack Obama on Tuesday afternoon to talk about his work both in public and behind the scenes to push a health-care-reform measure through Congress. Here’s an excerpt of the full transcript, which will be published on TIME.com on July 30.

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