Republicans Spurn Once-Favored Health Mandate
The last time Congress debated a health overhaul, when Bill Clinton was president, several senators who now oppose an individual mandate actually supported a bill that would have required it. In fact, says Len Nichols of the New America Foundation, the individual mandate was originally a Republican idea.
Medicare Pay Fix For Doctors Hitches Ride On Jobs Bill
Physicians are the immediate beneficiaries of a provision in the jobs bill that would postpone a 21 percent cut in the amount Medicare pays them.
GOP Struggles For Consensus On Health Care
Republicans have some ideas for how their stalled health overhaul can get started again: Find some bipartisanship. The problem is that most Republicans don’t agree on many of the proposals fellow party members are shopping around Capitol Hill. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Health Care Overhaul May Be Mortally Wounded
A political change of temperature has lawmakers scrambling for a new strategy on a health overhaul. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
House, Senate View Health Exchanges Differently
One key element of both the House and Senate health bills would create health insurance “exchanges” where individuals and small businesses could purchase health insurance. However, the House and Senate versions would work in very different ways. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Congress Doing Health Care The Hard Way
Congress is still on holiday break, but President Obama and Congressional leaders are at work starting to merge the House and Senate health care overhaul bills. Congress watchers say looking back at how the debate got to this point may provide some important clues as to where it might lead. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
When Senate’s Done, Health Bill Work Continues
As the Senate lurches towards a final vote on its health overhaul bill, some people are daring to look ahead to the last step in the painstaking process: marrying the Senate and House bills.
Fact Check: Taxes And Health Reform
As part of a continuing series, “Is That So?” NPR examines a claim from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. She said that if the Democrats’ health bill passes, some taxes would increase right away, while benefits wouldn’t start until 2014.
White House Defends Overhaul’s Cost-Cutting
Tiring of gripes that overhaul proposals won’t slow health spending, the White House chose the afternoon before the long Thanksgiving weekend to tell reporters, essentially, “They will, so.”
For Public, Affordability A Key Issue In Health Bill
The debate in Washington over how much the health care overhaul bills will cost has largely centered on the bottom line for the federal government. But polls repeatedly show Americans are much more concerned about how a reshaped health care system will affect their own family’s financial situation.
John Dingell: The House’s Link To Health-Care History
The health care legislation in the House has John Dingell’s name on it. The Democrat from Michigan is the longest-serving member in the history of the House, and he was there when Medicare was passed. Dingell’s father first introduced a bill calling for universal health coverage in the 1930s. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Abortion Language Creates Snag For Health Bill
Lawmakers thought they had crafted “abortion-neutral language,” essentially maintaining the status quo, but neither side of the debate is happy. And the issue is causing headaches for the Catholic Church, where opposition to abortion is running headlong into support for a health overhaul.
In Health Debate, Both Sides Vie For Seniors’ Support
Nearly all seniors are covered through Medicare, but legislators still need their support for a health care overhaul bill. Democrats have packed their bills with perks for seniors in an effort to win their backing, but they’re not doing a good p.r. job, one public opinion expert says. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Politics Aside, Annual Medicare Fix Is Same Old Story
When Congress tried to fix a glitch in Medicare that threatens to cut payments to doctors, senators refused to take up the bill because it didn’t include a way to offset the estimated $245 billion, 10-year cost. Both Democrats and Republicans are claiming that previous “fixes” for the Medicare doctor fee problem were paid for, but actually they weren’t.
Opponents Try To Undo Health Bill Deals
While top members of the House and Senate are struggling to put together health care overhaul bills on Capitol Hill, elsewhere in Washington, patient advocates and other groups are trying to take apart some of the deals already cut with top health care industry groups.
Congress Wrestles With Yearly Medicare Fee Cuts
Medicare payments to doctors are scheduled to be cut more than 20 percent on Jan. 1, which could lead many doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients altogether. To stop the cuts, Congress must find a way to offset the estimated $245 billion cost over 10 years. This story comes from our partner NPR News
Medicare Makes Patients Happy, But Can It Last?
As part of the series, “Are You Covered?” KHN and NPR profile Audrey Bernfield, 71, a two-time breast cancer survivor. When her cancer returned, her Medicare coverage enabled her to choose her own doctors, move closer to her family and get the best treatments for her situation. She says she prefers Medicare over a private insurer. Medicare Coverage Explained | Video Profile
Can Obama Pay For His Health Bill?
President Obama said in his speech Wednesday that most of his health care plan “can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system.” Economists say there are ways to squeeze savings out of the existing health care system, but they might not make people happy.
In Health Care Debate, Fear Trumps Logic
Every effort to remake America’s health care system since the 1930s has been scuttled by the same technique – scaring the public. The opponents have been different, ranging from the AMA to the insurance industry to conservative ideologues. But the playbook has remained the same. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
Kill Grandma? Debunking A Health Bill Scare Tactic
Some analysts say false claims that the health bill encourages seniors to end their lives early were purposely spread to undermine the bill. In fact, the bill would pay health care providers to discuss a patient’s health care wishes. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
