The Huffington Post reported on July 29 that Dr. David Scheiner, a physician who has treated Barack Obama for more than 20 years, thinks that the president’s healthcare reform efforts are doomed to fail. “I look at his program and I can't see how it's going to work,” the 70-year-old Chicago doctor told the Post.

The Congressional Budget Office on July 26 published a preliminary analysis of the House Democrats’ healthcare reform proposal known as America’s Affordable Health Choices Act. The CBO made assumptions that led them to conclude a public insurance plan could coexist with private plans.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio held a press briefing on July 15 to highlight a chart illustrating the labyrinthine bureaucracy that would take over America’s healthcare system under the House Democrats’ reform proposal.

Dr. John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog for July 22 makes clear the harsh reality that the only way for President Barack Obama’s version of healthcare reform “to control health care costs is to get doctors to provide less care — fewer tests, fewer procedures, fewer everything.” And who gets the least healthcare of all? Senior citizens.

President Barack Obama’s push for healthcare reform is being stymied for some very different reasons.

Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, spoke on July 20 at the National Press Club. AP reported the same day that when Steele was asked if President Barack Obama’s plan for healthcare reform represented socialism, Steele answered: “Yes. Next question.”

They’re back, and they’ve changed their tune. Harry and Louise, the fictional couple who starred in television commercials about healthcare reform about 15 years ago, have gone from being skeptical to enthusiastic.

The Congressional Budget Office on July 16 warned that the Democrats’ healthcare reform bills won’t reduce the federal government’s spending on medical care. In fact, a July 16 AP report mentioned CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf’s finding that the reform measures will actually increase federal costs.

President Barack Obama has a prescription to fix what ails America’s current healthcare system. He presented his essential ideas during ABC’s Prescription for America TV special on June 24.

A July 13 Washington Business Journal article reported that the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has finally defined its proposed “pay or play” mandate that would require businesses to provide health insurance to their employees. The committee would force businesses with 25 or more employees to provide health insurance coverage or pay a fine for each worker not covered.