>> See where your federal tax dollars go at USASpending.gov. Freakonomics warns visitors: “if you’re a pacifist, steer clear, or at least keep your blood-pressure pills at hand.”

>> Find out how the health care reform bill’s coming along. Today’s news: To help pay for a revamped health care plan, U.S. hospitals will give up $155 billion in future Medicare and Medicaid payments. In exchange, the hospitals will be reimbursed above Medicare / Medicaid rates if a public health insurance plan’s included in the final bill. Lots of other kinks still have to be worked out of the bill, however, including whether or not to add a tax on some employer-provided health insurance benefits.

>> Confused as to what exactly this public health insurance plan’s gonna look like? That’s because Obama’s been very vague, as John Dickerson points out in Slate. As of now, there’s a big “gap between those who want a pure public option (a Medicare-for-all-type plan that would be separate from Medicare) and those who support a patient-owned cooperative that would be free from government control.”

>> Meanwhile, L.A. County still doesn’t have a Department of Health Services head. “Los Angeles County has lacked permanent leadership for its extensive network of public hospitals and clinics for more than a year, and that appears unlikely to change any time soon.”

Earlier: Finding health care outside employer-based health insurance

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