Orrin Hatch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday adopted a measure aimed at rewarding healthy behavior in a sweeping healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama as lawmakers pushed to complete the legislation. The Senate Finance Committee voted for an amendment offered by Republican Senator John Ensign and Democrat Thomas Carper that would allow health plans to provide financial incentives for people to quit smoking, exercise more and engage in other healthy activities. "I believe that the key to achieving savings is to provide rewards for people who engage in healthy behaviors," Ensign argued. The measure passed on a 18-4 vote despite concerns ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel rejected a Republican effort on Wednesday to further restrict abortions in a sweeping healthcare overhaul as it inched closer to finishing work on the bill. The Senate Finance Committee defeated two attempts by Republican Senator Orrin Hatch to strengthen the measure's anti-abortion provisions, with Democrats arguing the amendments would create new limits on a woman's right to an abortion. Democrats on the panel also beat back a Republican attempts to repeal a $6.7 billion fee on insurers, a key element of the overhaul proposed by Chairman Max Baucus, and to strengthen provisions to deny benefits to illegal ... Read Full Story

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has requested an investigation into last-minute changes the Bush administration made to speed up oil-shale development in the Rocky Mountains. Salazar says he's asking his department's inspector general, Mary Kendall, to look into the changes. Salazar says that in the final days of the Bush administration, the Interior Department locked in a bargain royalty rate on 30,000 acres of existing oil-shale leases for oil companies. Salazar says the changes were made Jan. 15 without any public notice. In addition, Salazar said Tuesday he was opening a second, more environmentally sensitive round of oil-shale leasing for Colorado, Utah and ... Read Full Story

With bipartisan farewells to liberal lion Edward Kennedy still in the air, Democrats and Republicans rejoined the fight over the health care reform that the late senator called "the cause of my life." The bitterly-divided US political world closed ranks during four days of mourning for Kennedy, who was buried Saturday at Arlington National Ceremony amid an outpouring of praise and remembrance for the last scion of a legendary political dynasty. But Kennedy's departure showed no signs of softening entrenched positions on health care, the cause dearest to the Massachusetts senator and the defining legislative challenge facing President Barack Obama. "Obviously we've lost a ... Read Full Story

With bipartisan farewells to liberal lion Edward Kennedy still in the air, Democrats and Republicans rejoined the fight Sunday over the health care reform that the late senator called "the cause of my life." The bitterly-divided US political world closed ranks during four days of mourning for Kennedy, who was buried Saturday at Arlington National Ceremony amid an outpouring of praise and remembrance for the last scion of a legendary political dynasty. But Kennedy's departure showed no signs of softening entrenched positions on health care, the cause dearest to the Massachusetts senator and the defining legislative challenge facing President Barack Obama. "Obviously we've lost ... Read Full Story