Doctors, Hospitals, Insurers, Pharma Come Out Ahead With Health Bill
Hospitals and drug makers are among the biggest winners in the legislative bonanza.
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Hospitals and drug makers are among the biggest winners in the legislative bonanza.
Gold Dust Saloon owner Ruth McDonald uses an innovative "three share" model to provide health coverage for her workers. The restaurant is one of 30 employers in a Colorado program that provides low-cost coverage to small businesses.
Now that the health care bill is law, an array of groups -- representing doctors, insurers, small businesses and others -- have switched to their post-passage game plans. Among their top goals: Helping shape the all-important regulations being written by the Obama administration.
Under the health bills being debated in Congress, young adults would be required to buy insurance - but they could buy low-cost "catastrophic" plans, requiring high deductibles. That's igniting a fierce debate whether young adults - sometimes known as the "young invincibles" - would benefit from such plans.
The Obama administration says the new health overhaul law bans insurers this year from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing illnesses. Insurers say that's not their interpretation of the law.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that President Obama's Feb. 25 bipartisan summit is to "get Republicans to re-engage in the process. It is not acceptable that half the legislative body pushed away from the table months ago and said 'we do not want to participate.'"
In a test of the Obama administration's ability to smoothly implement the sweeping health care overhaul law, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have just 90 days to launch an insurance program for people who can't get private coverage because of health problems.
A new study shows that, compared to last year, an additional 2.6 million children are now enrolled in the federal-state coverage programs, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
With health care legislation stalled, the GOP is touting its plan which includes allowing Americans to buy health coverage from another state. Democrats include a version in their bills. Critics say this would erode consumer protections.
With health care legislation stalled, the GOP is touting its plan which includes allowing Americans to buy health coverage from another state. Democrats include a version in their bills. Critics say this would erode consumer protections.
In their push to pass a sweeping health care overhaul this weekend, House Democrats unveiled a package of legislative fixes to lure undecided or opposed members of their party to the "yes" category.
Three veteran state insurance commissioners said they'd welcome federal advisory help, but draw the line at giving the government authority over rates, a power they say states should retain exclusively.
Officials at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce predict that House and Senate negotiators would finish their work and get a final bill to President Barack Obama by mid-to-late February.
Both the House and Senate health care overhaul bills require most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty. Yet government mandates don't necessarily ensure compliance: Not all Americans buckle up, or get their children vaccinated.
Despite the economic downturn that's busting budgets, 26 states this year made it easier for low-income children, parents or pregnant women to get health coverage.
Tax agency would be responsible for checking whether individuals get required insurance, distributing billions of dollars in subsidies and collecting new taxes and penalties.
Comparing plans can save hundreds of dollars for some consumers but many people are overwhelmed at the prospect of making such a change. Seniors have until the end of the year to revise their coverage.
Levies on liposuction, breast augmentation and other cosmetic procedures would generate billions of dollars to help cover the uninsured.
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.
The Democrats' health overhaul legislation is in trouble for many reasons, including key policy decisions that led many Americans to wonder whether they would wind up worse off.
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