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Beginning next year, tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money will flow to doctors and hospitals to help them buy computerized medical record systems as part of the economic stimulus package. In a marketing pitch, one company is offering a calculator that shows how much money is on the line for a given facility.
One California cardiology group has confronted steep Medicare cuts with a tactic that may irk patients who already face soaring health costs in that state: Beginning April 1, Pacific Heart Institute, in Santa Monica, will charge some patients annual fees ranging from $500 to $7,500, in addition to the regular fees paid by patients and insurers.
To help pay for his health care overhaul package, President Obama is proposing that wealthy Americans pay Medicare taxes on the money they make on their investments. The proposal would affect millions of people.
As a part of our "Are You Covered?" series, KHN and NPR also examine how the health overhaul would impact the uninsured.
A new study by federal officials finds that state, local and federal health spending has steadily increased. And, the nation's health spending as a share of the economy jumped in 2009 by 1.1 points to 17.3 percent.
Friday's unemployment report revealed that since Dec. 2007 the health sector added 631,000 jobs, even as the economy tanked.
Tax agency would be responsible for checking whether individuals get required insurance, distributing billions of dollars in subsidies and collecting new taxes and penalties.
A poll "shows little movement in measures of public opinion" on health reform. About one-third like the current Democratic bills, another third want reform, but not what Democratic lawmakers have in mind and one-quarter think Congress should not spend time on the issue now.
Physicians' lobby says fixing the 12-year-old formula that sets Medicare payments would prove lawmakers' commitment to reform health care.
It was early summer. A senior federal health official wrote a memo suggesting that living wills -- documents that can convey patients' wishes about when to end life support -- could help curb health-care costs.
Successful demonstration projects are often derailed by objections from hospitals, doctors and other providers --
Legislation to 'fix' Medicare's formula for physician payments is stalled in the Senate with opposition mounting to the fact that the bill comes with a hefty cost, but no plan to pay its price tag.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, joined the Finance Committee's Democrats in a vote today on the proposed health care overhaul. The committee reported the bill out of committee in a historic, 14-9 vote.
Despite TV portrayals of best medicine, health reform proponents says patients could get good treatment -- and cheaper care -- if high tech tests were used more judiciously.
When a claim is denied, an out-of-network fee is too costly, or an uninsured patient confronts an unclear or towering bill, an advocate may be able to help.
This week, progress was made in developing the framework for the $33 billion health information technology initiative created by the stimulus bill. Dr. David Blumenthal, who heads the Office of the National Coordinator, is a key figure in the process. But he still faces one of the most difficult challenges -- convincing doctors that it is in their interest to participate.
A low-profile commission that advises Congress on Medicare recommends, as it has in the past, that the way health providers are paid be revamped. Congress is showing interest in the issue as it grapples with broader health reform.
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