Might turn on CSPAN if I can handle it.

One they ran a few minutes ago showed JFK in 1962 at MSG trying to make the case for Medicare, noting how "Most of Europe has universal health already, Britain for some 30 yrs now".

Nothing in this Act shall require an otherwise qualified health plan, including an Exchange-participating plan, to cover any items or services to which the issuer, plan sponsor, or purchaser has a moral or religious objection, provided the plan is at least actuarially equivalent to a qualified health plan that covers the essential health benefits

Doesn't this open the door to practically any refusal of service based on religion???

FDL says the pro-choice caucus was not even shown a copy of the EO before it was announced.

The Act maintains current Hyde Amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those restrictions to the newly-created health insurance exchanges. Under the Act, longstanding Federal laws to protect conscience (such as the Church Amendment, 42 U.S.C. §300a-7, and the Weldon Amendment, Pub. L. No. 111-8, §508(d)(1) (2009)) remain intact and new protections prohibit discrimination against health care facilities and health care providers because of an unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.

Large portions of the EO (assuming the text I'm reading from is accurate), like the above quote, seem to be in the nature of a signing statement that purport to explain/clarify the Senate bill anti-choice provisions.  (Without a comparison to the Senate bill, "purports to" is the best analysis I can make.)

What the EO does re: funding in general:

I hereby direct the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS to develop, within 180 days of the date of this Executive Order, a model set of segregation guidelines for state health insurance commissioners to use when determining whether exchange plans are complying with the Act's segregation requirements, established in Section 1303 of the Act, for enrollees receiving Federal financial assistance. The guidelines shall also offer technical information that states should follow to conduct independent regular audits of insurance companies that participate in the health insurance exchanges. In developing these model guidelines, the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS shall consult with executive agencies and offices that have relevant expertise in accounting principles, including, but not limited to, the Department of the Treasury, and with the Government Accountability Office. Upon completion of those model guidelines, the Secretary of HHS should promptly initiate a rulemaking to issue regulations, which will have the force of law, to interpret the Act's segregation requirements, and shall provide guidance to state health insurance commissioners on how to comply with the model guidelines.

More "signing statement" language on community health centers:

The Act establishes a new Community Health Center (CHC) Fund within HHS, which provides additional Federal funds for the community health center program. Existing law prohibits these centers from using federal funds to provide abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), as a result of both the Hyde Amendment and longstanding regulations containing the Hyde language. Under the Act, the Hyde language shall apply to the authorization and appropriations of funds for Community Health Centers under section 10503 and all other relevant provisions.

Again, short of comparisons and legislative analysis, I have no way of knowing if the EO gives a correct statement of the law, including Hyde and "longstanding regulations" to which the EO refers.

I have read that Hyde doesn't automatically cover all Federal spending and needs to be legislatively extended to apply to specific programs and spending.  IF that's true, the EO expands the reach of Hyde without requiring that legislative extension.

What the EO does:

I hereby direct the Secretary of HHS to ensure that program administrators and recipients of Federal funds are aware of and comply with the limitations on abortion services imposed on CHCs by existing law. Such actions should include, but are not limited to, updating Grant Policy Statements that accompany CHC grants and issuing new interpretive rules.

Senate Republicans found a provision in the new House health care bill that likely makes it ineligible for expedited 'reconciliation' procedures in the Senate. Dems refused to meet with GOP and Parliamentarian.... Developing....

Now, I'm not well-versed in what kinds of things they could do, but if someone has an idea, it would be interesting to discuss. And yes, it's Drudge, but who knows with these things?

It's only flaw being, of course, the grammatically jarring "thinking that I might have drove you too far."