From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Progressive health care reform groups demanded on Thursday that Washington's NBC television affiliate refuse to air a 30-minute infomercial funded by a conservative group opposed to creating a public insurance plan," Politico reports. "The Service Employees International Union sent a letter to NBC4, arguing that the station has a responsibility to pull the documentary-style commercial paid for by Conservatives for Patients' Rights."

• "The average family with health insurance in 2008 paid a 'hidden health tax' of $1,017 to cover the health-care costs of the uninsured, according to a report released Thursday by advocacy group Families USA," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The report by the group, which promotes universal health insurance, found that a total of $42.7 billion in care for those without insurance was passed on to health insurers. The insurers, in turn, passed on the costs through higher premiums, the report said."