health insurance

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If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems
If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems
OPINION
Jun 22, 2009 10:48 AM CDT

If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems

Public wants a public option; why do 'centrists' oppose it?

(Newser) - Now ought to be a good time to reform health care. With costs up and coverage down, polls show the public overwhelmingly favors change. Unfortunately, “a handful of Democratic senators are still determined to party like it’s 1993,” writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times. These...

Poll Reveals Broad Support for Government Health Care

Results suggest partisan divide

(Newser) - Seventy-two percent of Americans support a government-backed health care plan that would compete with private insurance providers, a New York Times/CBS poll reveals. A majority of Americans also believe the government would keep costs down more effectively than private insurers, and 64% think the government should guarantee its citizens health...

Daschle, Dole Team Up for Outside Health Care Push

Could-have-been '90s partners finally team up

(Newser) - When the Clintons were trying to pass their health care reform bill in the early '90s, Tom Daschle tried desperately to enlist Bob Dole. Now, 15 years later, he finally has. Daschle and Dole, along with former Republican leader Howard Banker, are leading an outside push for a bipartisan health...

Surge in Medical Identity Theft Cripples Credit Ratings

Fraud spreading with use of electronic medical records

(Newser) - Watchdog groups warn that medical identity theft is on the rise with the growing use of electronic records that lack proper safeguards, the New York Times reports. Fraudsters use stolen insurance information or Social Security numbers to get free medical care and the victims are often unaware they have been...

Docs' Group Opposes Public Health Insurance

Powerful AMA pushes against Obama, Dem proposals

(Newser) - Just as Republicans and Democrats head for a showdown on health care reform, the American Medical Association is telling Congress that it will oppose a government-sponsored insurance plan—a key, if the most controversial, piece of plans put forward by Dems with support from the White House. The AMA wants...

Private Health Insurers Back Reform

Firms risk losing customers; aim to avoid single-payer plan

(Newser) - Facing a shrinking customer base, private health insurers are backing reform in the industry—a surprise from the same firms that fought President Clinton’s health care effort, the Los Angeles Times reports. Insurers are supporting a proposed mandate backed by the  Obama administration that would require everyone to buy...

Medical Bills Linked to 62% of Bankruptcies

Many bankrupt despite having health insurance, researchers find

(Newser) - Medical bills were a factor in 62% of American personal bankruptcies in 2007, marking a 50% rise over 6 years, a study found. Some three-quarters of these families couldn’t stay afloat despite having health insurance, Reuters reports. “Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations,...

Universal Health Care Plan Looks Likely

Compromise bill may include an 'Orbitz for insurance'

(Newser) - Barack Obama's overhaul of the American health care system is quietly taking shape, and Democrats and Republicans both say a consensus plan looks likely. Politico reports on what the health reform bill, which must be passed by August, might look like: Guaranteed insurance for all Americans, who will probably be...

Kennedy: An Outline for Health-Care Reform

Sen. offers 5 key elements of coming legislation

(Newser) - The US health-care system that “shortchanges millions of Americans” is “about to change,” writes Ted Kennedy in the Boston Globe. The senator lays out five key elements of legislation he’s working on with “colleagues on both sides of the aisle”:
  1. Americans will have “better
...

Insured Foot Bill for Uninsured Patients' Care

Companies pass along 'hidden health tax' of $1K+ per family

(Newser) - If you have health insurance, you’re paying a “hidden tax” to care for the uninsured, says a nonprofit advocating government-backed health care. The group says insurance companies pass on the cost of treating the uninsured to their subscribers, to the tune of $1,017 per family last year,...

Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance
Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance
OPINION
May 26, 2009 12:25 PM CDT

Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance

To pay for new system, he must tax old 'crazy' one: Reich

(Newser) - During the campaign, Barack Obama was scathing about John McCain’s plan to tax employer-provided health benefits. But Obama’s going to have to bite the bullet and tax them himself if he wants to pay for his own health care initiative, writes Robert Reich in Salon. Now that Congress...

Did Our Health Care System Kill Jay Bennett?
Did Our Health Care System Kill Jay Bennett?
OPINION
May 26, 2009 12:06 PM CDT

Did Our Health Care System Kill Jay Bennett?

Musician's death has scary implications for the rest of us

(Newser) - The death of 45-year-old musician Jay Bennett, former member of the band Wilco, is “intolerably sad”—but its implications about our current health care system are also “downright scary,” writes the Cajun Boy on Gawker. Bennett, fired from Wilco in 2001, sued the band’s frontman...

Pfizer Offers Free Lipitor, Viagra to Jobless

70 drugs available to those who lost jobs since Jan. 1

(Newser) - Pfizer is unveiling a new program that will let people who have lost their jobs and health insurance keep taking some of its medications—including Lipitor and Viagra—for free for up to a year. The world’s biggest drugmaker will provide more than 70 of its prescription drugs free...

Bully for Health Care Players Joining in Cost Cutting

But is the gift on offer a Trojan horse?

(Newser) - The last time Democrats tried to reform health care, the insurance industry crushed them, spooking the public with its infamous "Harry and Louise" campaign. This time, it’s offering to help, along with doctors, hospitals, unions, and medical-device makers. “On the face of it, this is tremendously good...

6 Steps to Reform Health Care Now: Kennedy

Senator lists needed steps for system overhaul

(Newser) - This is the year to end an “American tragedy” and overhaul health care, Sen. Ted Kennedy writes in Politico. The Census Bureau said last year that 46 million Americans had no health insurance--and the economic crisis has added another 4 million to the ranks of the uninsured. It’s...

Liberals to Obama: Don't Sell Us Out on Health Care

President considering compromise on key public insurance measure

(Newser) - Progressive groups are worried that President Obama is going to go wobbly on them on health care. The Washington Post reports that the president has signaled he's open to compromise on the inclusion of a public insurance plan. Key conservatives like Sen. Charles Grassley hate the idea of a public...

Broke Feminist Faces Health Care Battle

Family tragedies have left Michelman with nothing

(Newser) - When Kate Michelman had mounting bills as a pregnant single mother of three in 1969, she lobbied for abortion rights and became one of America's top feminists. Now, treading water financially again, she's girding for a new fight—over health care. Her daughter is paralyzed and her husband has health...

Senate Odd Couple Crafts Health Care Compromise
Senate Odd Couple Crafts  Health Care Compromise
Analysis
Apr 10, 2009 9:49 AM CDT

Senate Odd Couple Crafts Health Care Compromise

(Newser) - One is a 59-year-old liberal who used to advocate for senior citizens. The other is a 75-year-old conservative businessman. But together senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Robert Bennett of Utah may have crafted a bipartisan health plan with legs, writes Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal. Their Healthy...

Insurers Offer to Stop Charging Sick People More

(Newser) - The push for health care reform got a significant boost today: Big insurers say they are willing to stop charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions, the New York Times reports. In the surprise move, industry leaders say they are willing to give up the practice if Congress...

Mass. Seeks New Way to Pay for Health Plan

Most insured state in nation burdened by priciest care

(Newser) - Three years ago, Massachusetts politicians began what may be the gutsiest health care experiment the country has ever seen, bringing near-universal coverage to the state in record time. There’s just one problem: they put off any attempt to control costs, the New York Times reports. Massachusetts’ health care is...

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