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Mary Agnes Carey of KHN, Carrie Budoff Brown of Politico and the Hill's Jeffrey Young discuss details of health overhaul bills in the House and Senate as Congress pushes towards having legislation on the floor before the August recess.
Political scientist Hacker, who created his signature idea for a public health insurance program a decade ago when he was a graduate student, describes it as an effective way to use market forces to expand coverage and bring down spiraling costs. Now, to his surprise, it has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the health care debate.
Sen. Ted Kennedy's long-term care insurance proposal leaves an important question unanswered: How much would the the premium be?
While lawmakers are targeting rising costs and growing numbers of uninsured, a new crop of health care-focused documentaries offer a darker, more conspiratorial view: Powerful vested interests lusting for profits are responsible for the country's medical malaise.
Exclusive: The hospital industry is nearing a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats to accept Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Such an agreement, coming on the heels of one with the drug industry, would increase momentum for overhauling the health care system by providing additional funds to finance the effort.
Much of the health care reform debate centers on the Democratic push to create a government-run insurance option for working age Americans and their families. But shouldn't policymakers take a hard look at Medicare--the largest health insurance program in the country--before moving ahead to create something similar for everyone else?
The idea of insurance co-ops is gaining ground as an alternative to a government-run plan.
Medicaid is front and center in the debate on overhauling the U.S health system and expanding coverage to the uninsured. With 60 million enrollees, Medicaid dwarfs other insurance programs, including its cousin, Medicare, which covers 44 million elderly and disabled people. Here's a chance to test your knowledge of Medicaid.
Medicaid's role in health reform is emerging as a flash point, exposing policy and political rifts not only between the two parties but also among Democrats themselves.
In an interview with KFF Health News's Jenny Gold, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's senior manager of health policy, James P. Gelfand, says that an employer mandate would hurt employers and employees: "It makes people who don't make a lot of money worth less to their employers." The Chamber also vehemently opposes a "public plan" but endorses many other ideas to reform the U.S. health care system.
Wal-Mart made big news when it announced Tuesday that it was joining forces with the Service Employees Internation Union and a liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress, to support a requirement that employers make some financial contribution toward their workers' health care. KFF Health News's Jordan Rau talked with Wal-Mart's David Tovar about the decision.
Patients who are readmitted to the hospital soon after they're discharged cost the health care system billions of dollars a year in unnecessary spending. These "frequent fliers," as doctors sometimes call them, illustrate the worst aspects of poorly coordinated care. Innovative programs may serve as models for fixing the problems.
A new report proposes a fail-safe mechanism to ensure that any health care overhaul wouldn't add to the federal deficit.
Some experts think incentives will encourage doctors to deliver quality care with fewer resources.
Advocates say e-prescribing is a key advance toward health care's digital future because of its potential to reduce medical errors, cut drug costs and save doctors and patients time and money. But kinks need to be worked out to spur more rapid acceptance.
You can sum up Obama's strategy for health reform as "WWCD": What Wouldn't the Clintons Do. And it's working well so far. It seems likely that Obama will have a bill to sign by year's end. But will it be legislation that people actually like?
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