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The Democrats final health bill negotiated by the House, Senate and White House and released today contains a scaled-back tax on high-cost insurance policies. Here is a brief guide to these types of insurance plans.
The Democrats final health bill negotiated by the House, Senate and White House and released Thursday contains a scaled-back tax on high-cost insurance policies. Here is a brief guide to these types of insurance plans.
Congress has extended the COBRA subsidy periods again and again, helping many laid-off workers keep health insurance but sowing confusion as well.
A proposed tax on high-cost insurance plans could make it more difficult for small businesses to purchase health coverage. Even though many businesses don't offer rich benefits, their plans may be costly because the covered employees are predominantly older, sicker or female, three categories that currently result in higher premiums. Other provisions in health overall legislation could mitigate the impact of the tax, however.
With comprehensive health care legislation foundering, House Democrats are turning to a narrower piece of legislation they hope has populist appeal: repealing the antitrust exemption for health and medical liability insurers. Policy makers disagree on the effect the repeal would have.
Some lawmakers are considering a scaled-back health bill in place of the comprehensive legislation now stalled in Congress. But there's debate about whether popular insurance reforms, such as requiring insurers to accept applicants with health problems, can be successful without an unpopular individual insurance mandate.
Legislation would restore Medicaid rights to citizens of the Marshall Islands and two other nations who have the unique ability to travel and work freely in the U.S.
The COBRA subsidy extension now pending in Congress could be considered in the Senate this weekend.
Advocates for women are fighting to end gender rating in larger businesses as health overhaul legislation moves through Congress. But insurers say it's necessary to use gender as a means of setting rates for this market.
While many states bar carriers from rejecting people who receive treatment for domestic violence, others permit it. Now there's a move to prohibit the practice as part of a health care overhaul.
At least 25 million Americans are underinsured - their health benefits don't adequately cover their health costs. The major proposals being debated in Congress would require insurers to provide a minimum set of benefits, which would take care of most patients' needs.
For two families, "gold-plated" health insurance has made a huge difference in the health care they receive. But it's not always the rich who get these benefits, and they worry about what a possible tax on plans would do to their health coverage.
The little-known crime of medical identity theft can cause havoc - victims end up with big bills and wrong medical records. A new federal "Red Flags Rule" would require physician offices, among other businesses, to spot phony IDs. Doctors protest that the regulation could have "serious adverse consequences" for patients, even as the government tries to protect them.
To raise money to help pay for a health overhaul, Sen. John Kerry is proposing taxing insurance companies on expensive "Cadillac" policies. A new group of opponents is emerging: employers who "self-insure." They say they shouldn't have to pay taxes on the benefits they give their workers.
Small business organizations are encouraging members to make their views about health overhaul proposals known through emails, letters, phone calls and personal visits to Capitol Hill. But small business, a powerful constituency in every congressional district, no longer speaks with one voice on health care.
Democrats in Congress, surprised by the high cost estimates for their health care proposals, are looking at a wide range of options for raising money and reducing costs. Some of the revenue raisers have been rejected in previous years, but now all ideas are on the table because of the big amounts needed to pay for a health care overhaul.
Surgeon and author Atul Gawande's recent article in The New Yorker is generating intense discussion about the cost of medicine and exerting a powerful influence over the health reform debate.
The man originally designated to run President Obama's health reform effort debated President Bush's HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt about possible overhaul legislation.
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