Next week voters in Ohio, Mississippi and Maine will face a number of controversial ballot measures — from collective bargaining to health care to voting and abortion. In Ohio, a law limiting the collective bargaining of public employees is up for repeal. In Mississippi, they are fiercely debating whether a fertilized egg should be declared a person. Anna Sale, reporter for WNYC's political website It's a Free Country, joins previews these issues and talks about the potential impact on the 2012 election.

A new report ranks America's 405 best hospitals based on their quality of treatment for heart attacks, pneumonia, and other critical ailments. Some of the nation's leading health care providers are not on the list. Dr. Mark Chassin, president of the Joint Commission, the hospital certification organization that conducted the study, said, "We recognize that improvement has been happening across the country on these measures, but there are some hospitals that have achieved extraordinary levels of performance."

Cuts to entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid are continue to be used as bargaining chips as the debate over the budget rages on in Washington. Already some states have begun cutting back their Medicaid programs. 

But a new study out today in the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that people on Medicaid see doctors more regularly, and are more financially stable and less depressed than the uninsured. These findings could be crucial selling points as lawmakers debate the effectiveness versus cost of the health program.

Another judge has struck down the Obama administration’s sweeping health care reform law. So far two federal judges have ruled in favor of the law’s legality, while two have ruled it unconstitutional. Twenty-six states' attorneys general brought this latest lawsuit and it’s unclear how the ruling will be interpreted in each of them. This time Judge Rodger Vinson, of Federal District Court in Pensacola, Florida ruled that the mandate to buy health insurance was so intertwined with the rest of the law that the entire act was unconstitutional.

Scenes of fear, pain, and trust between doctors and patients give viewers an intimate look at what happens at the hospital in "Boston Med," a new documentary series on ABC. The show is neither "reality TV" nor the fictionalized medical fantasy land that we see on "Grey's Anatomy" and "House." In fact, it's a very real documentary that provides an unflinching look at the relationships between doctors and patients. We talk to the show's executive producer and one of the featured doctors about gaining access and building trust, and why they made this documentary.

• Washington Takeout: Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich points out that within the halls of Congress, disagreements over health care reform go way beyond the public option. Look for fierce disagreement over abortion and its funding to enter the debate soon.
• Business Takeout: New York Times finance reporter Louise Story previews what Obama's pay czar will tell Congress later today about "excessive pay" on Wall Street and what he's planning to do about it.
• Sports Takeout: The Takeaway's sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin previews the start of the World Series. Will the NY Yankees' star pitcher C.C. Sabathia rout the Philadelphia Phillies in their attempt to hold onto baseball's crown?

Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) has been getting a lot of attention lately for his leadership in the health care debate ... not all of it good. Our Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich explains how isolated Baucus is these days on Capitol Hill.

As part of our week-long series of health care roundtables, we’re talking with small business owners about how they want to see reform take shape. Small businesses employ about half of all American workers but only 62 percent of these businesses provide heath insurance. We speak to John Costin, who lives in Kennebunk, Maine and owns Veneer Services Unlimited; Dan Sherry from Barrington, Illinois, who runs two small businesses with his wife; and ReShonda Young from Waterloo, Iowa, who runs the family business, 'Alpha Express.'

Click here to access the other round tables in this series

For this week's agenda segment, Marcus Mabry from The New York Times, and the BBC’s Jonathan Marcus look at the next chapter in the health care debate, growth of the GDP, and how questions about the Afghan presidential elections will be resolved.

Health care, health care, health care. It’s all you see on the news, read in the papers, and hear on the radio. Will it pass? When? What will it look like if it does? What will things look like if it doesn't? We've been looking both at the broad strokes and picayune details of the various plans; today, we take a look at the potential ramifications of this debate on the political landscape.

The Democrats practically swept the 2006 elections and handily won the 2008 presidential elections, while the Republicans struggled with an identity crisis. But with this health care battle, has the G.O.P. found the grounds for a resurgence? Joining us with their take are Reihan Salam, from the New American Foundation, and Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University.

Over the weekend, representatives of the Obama administration started signaling that various aspects of proposals to reform health care may be more negotiable than previously expected. Teddy Roosevelt first inserted national health coverage as a party plank 97 years ago, in 1912 – as the debate grinds on in D.C., on the air, and across the country, is it "déjà vu all over again?"

In a town hall debate symbolically held in Grand Junction, Colorado, the President gave signs that the public option, previously cited as a critical piece of any reform of the health care system, may not be an absolute deal breaker. We talk to Julie Mason, White House reporter for the Washington Examiner and Dr. Michael Pramenko, a family physician in Grand Junction.

Every day, there's more news from Capitol Hill on health care reform. Different lawmakers propose changes to three different bills, with updates as key players refine their positions. Last week, some of the "Blue Dog Democrats" succeeded in pushing the vote on healthcare reform until after the Senate's August recess.

Having trouble understanding this complicated process? The Takeaway has a guide for you. (And if you have more questions, get in touch!) Here are the key points to the major health care plans proposed, the stage of the process they're in, and even a bit about how bills become laws. Here's what we know about the House's H.R. 3200, and the Senate's H.E.L.P. (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee bill. ...(continue reading)

The health care reform battle has left the Beltway and has headed home with the members of Congress. The debate has gotten increasingly vitriolic as town halls have been swarmed with organized angry protesters trying to shout down Democratic Congressmen. Today The Takeaway talks to the person in charge of fighting back. Linda Douglass is director of communications for the White House Office on Health care Reform.

Here's a video of Linda Douglass addressing a story that makes it look like the President intends to eliminate private health care coverage:

For The Takeaway's weekly wrap-up we talk about two stories that dominated the headlines all week—health care and beer. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden sat down with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley for a beer at the White House to try and settle their differences. And a new health care deal got closer to passing through Congress this week, but it won’t happen before the recess as the president had hoped. Here to analyze the week’s events is The Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich, and Callie Crossley, media analyst at Harvard University and media critic for Meet The Press on WGBH Boston.

The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman, who drafted the health care bill, and Blue Dog Democrats, the fiscally conservative wing of the Democratic party, reached an agreement yesterday that would slash approximately $100 million dollars from the health care reform bill. This has enraged some progressive Democrats in the House, who want a public option included in the bill. One of those progressive House Democrats joins us from Washington, D.C.: Congressman Anthony Weiner, Democrat from New York's 9th District.

One of the most expensive health-care markets in the country is Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in McAllen, Texas. Eighty-two percent of the hospital is owned by doctors who also practice there. That same hospital is one of the largest sources of campaign contributions to Senate Democrats. Is this a conflict of interest or just good business practice? The Takeaway talks to Kevin Sack, a National Correspondent for The New York Times who is covering the story.

For more, read Kevin Sack's article Texas Hospital Flexing Muscle in Health Fight, about what the hospital hopes to influence with it's large campaign contributions.

Yesterday afternoon President Obama held a town hall meeting with members of the AARP. His mission was to sell seniors on his plan to reform the nation's health care. He answered tough questions on insurance, prescriptions, and Medicare. To examine how health care reform could affect older Americans, The Takeaway talks to Reba Moon, a 61-year old small business owner in Alberton, Georgia; Gene Barratt, a 79-year old retiree in New York, and Dr. Leo Cooney, a Professor of Geriatrics at Yale University School of Medicine.

Last night in a primetime press conference, President Obama pitched his plan to overhaul the nation’s health care system. For a performance review, The Takeaway talks to T.R. Reid. He is a veteran reporter and the author of the forthcoming book: The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care.

Here the president addresses possible sacrifices for health care reform:

Last night President Obama addressed the nation during a primetime news conference. The number one item on the president's agenda was health care reform, but other issues popped up, too. The Takeaway's Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich was there for it all and he joins the show with his analysis. Also joining the roundtable conversation are Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard, and David Wall Rice, a professor of psychology at Morehouse college and author of Balance: Advancing Identity Theory by Engaging the Black Male Adolescent.

Here the president addresses concerns about Medicare in the health care debate:

A large part of the health care debate is about the numbers. How much will health care legislation cost the federal government? Will you be paying more or less? To help figure out what health care would cost for both the average citizen and the U.S. government, The Takeaway talks to David Herzenhorn, congressional reporter for The New York Times.