Obesity rates for kids have tripled over the last three decades.

Anthony Coley
Special to CNN

The convenience store near my house is where I first became aware of the problem.

There, an overweight girl, maybe 10 years old, had just persuaded her mother to buy her potato chips and a Slurpee.

It was 11:15 at night.

From that moment forward, I saw overweight and obese kids everywhere: At church, in Wal-Mart, at the movies. Everywhere.

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President Obama campaigns with Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley on Sunday in Massachusetts.

Dana Bash and Ed Henry
CNN

Faced with the once-unthinkable prospect of losing the Massachusetts Senate race, Democratic officials on Capitol Hill are quietly talking about options for passing health care reform without that critical 60th Senate vote.

Top White House aides insist they are not engaging in any talk of contingency plans, because they believe Democrat Martha Coakley will beat Republican Scott Brown in Tuesday's crucial Senate battle.

"We are not having any discussions like that," White House spokesman Bill Burton told CNN. "We believe she is going to win."

Asked about potential contingency plans as Air Force One returned to the Washington area after President Obama's Sunday campaign rally for Coakley in Boston, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs insisted to reporters the plan is to still pass health care reform with 60 votes. "We think Coakley will win this race," Gibbs said.

But Democratic sources on Capitol Hill say "what-if" discussions are taking place about how they could proceed with health care if Coakley is defeated, and they privately admit none of their alternatives is very good. According to senior Democratic congressional officials, here are options under discussion:

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AC360

The House- and Senate-passed health reform bills are based on the plan set out by President Obama in his campaign. View a side by side comparison of it's key provisions here.

°

Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh
CNN Capitol Hill Team

President Obama gave his blessing Tuesday for congressional Democratic leaders to bypass formal House and Senate talks to meld their health care bills, according to two congressional Democratic leadership sources.

The two sources told CNN that Obama and Democratic congressional leaders will instead hold informal negotiations to sidestep possible Republican delays of the process, likely shutting out Republicans from talks on the final health care bill.

Avoiding a formal conference has long been expected, and is not uncommon, but one of the Democratic leadership sources said the president used Tuesday evening's White House meeting with Democratic congressional leaders to formally clear the idea.

To hold a formal conference, conferees - members of the House and Senate - must be appointed by both bodies with resolutions passed by the Senate and the House.

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Medical student Luis Manriquez said he's been told that primary care doctors are less respected as physicians.

Parija B. Kavilanz
CNNMoney.com

Luis Manriquez and Katherine Glass share a common - and increasingly rare - ambition: They both want to become family doctors.

"As a primary care doctor, you are a gatekeeper of the medical system," said Manriquez, 26, who with Glass is a first-year student at the University of Washington School of Medicine. "Primary care is where you can have the most immediate impact in affecting patients' lives by managing their health."

Still, Manriquez realizes that he's setting himself for considerable challenges.

For one thing, as a family doctor, Manriquez will probably make one-fourth the salary of a specialist while trying to pay down $140,000 on average in medical school debt.

"That's why only the most committed pursue primary care. Kudos to them," said Jonathan Weiner, professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

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The Senate plans to vote on its health care bill before Christmas.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta | BIO
AC360° Contributor
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent

Late last night, I finally finished reading the senate bill and the manager’s amendment. I will admit: it was tough to get through and took me back to my medical school days. At some point, I would love to know how many people have read it or understand it well enough to formulate a decision. That is not, however, where I want to go today.

Instead, I want to try and summarize the hundreds of blog comments I have received. It appears most people are in favor of addressing the access issues of the uninsured and the underinsured. Most seem to think that is a noble, worthwhile and perhaps even moral goal. The largest concerns seem to revolve around cost and concerns about the possibility of worse care.

More specifically, there were many comments about the increase in taxes necessary to pay for this. That will likely happen for a segment of the population making over a certain amount of money. That amount is still being debated. There is a plan to decrease Medicare spending by close to 500 billion over 10 years. Supporters say this will finally remove inefficiencies. Critics charge it will lead to worse care for seniors. There could be a tax on Cadillac health plans. If your plan costs more than $23,000 to cover your family – not what YOU pay, but the total cost of the policy, there will be a 40% excise tax on any amount over that $23,000 amount. No doubt, most agree it is going to cost a lot of money to insure 31 million more Americans.

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The Senate hopes to vote on its health care bill before Christmas

CNN’s Political Unit

Senate Democrats claimed a major victory this weekend after voting to end debate on their version of the health care bill.

The Senate is on track to hold a final vote on Christmas eve, but there's still a long way to go before a bill is on President Obama's desk.

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about what's in the House and Senate health care bills and what's next.

Where does the health care debate stand?

The House passed its version of health care reform last month. The Senate, which follows different procedures than the House, is slated to vote on its version of the health care bill before Christmas.

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta | BIO
AC360° Contributor
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent

As we continue this discussion, there are a few emerging themes. So, to keep the direction focused, I will try and take on one at a time.

The topic I would like to explore today is “personal responsibility.”

In many different ways, it seems you have questions about this topic. So, let me attempt to summarize it this way.

Will increasing access to health insurance make people more responsible about their health? Should it? And, will it improve their health overall? It is an important question to me as a doctor, because the measure I care most about is a healthier society, and the corresponding health of individuals.

There is no question that people who have unlimited resources, in terms of money and insurance, are often the unhealthiest of all. So, it would seem that access to health insurance alone does not equate to good health. On the other hand of course, over 40 million people don’t currently get a chance to test that theory.

Personal Responsibility.

How would you define the current obligation of any individual for their own health? And, if you would believe in the power of personal responsibility, how do we get better at it as a nation?

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