The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
6,101 - 6,120 of 6,242 Results
Although negotiators are considering various forms of a public option as they try to meld health overhaul bills approved by two Senate panels, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., says it's unlikely the Senate would approve major legislation this year that includes a pure form of the controversial government-operated insurance program.
Majority Leader Harry Reid has been the Democrats' top man in the Senate for nearly five years. But his leadership skills are soon to be tested as he presides over merging the two very different health care overhaul bills. The task has prompted remarks like, "Is he Harry Reid or Harry Houdini?"
After months of publicly supporting health care reform, America's Health Insurance Plans
Successful demonstration projects are often derailed by objections from hospitals, doctors and other providers --
As part of the economic stimulus, the government offered subsidies so laid-off workers could keep their health insurance. For some, the subsidies are running out.
Lyn Robinson owns Zenith Holland Gardens, a wholesale plant nursery. She chooses not to buy insurance and says she likes deciding where and when to spend her medical dollars. Part of our series "Are You Covered?" co-produced with NPR.
As governor of Oregon, Dr. John Kitzhaber presided over a radical change in the state's health care system. Critics said it rationed care while supporters said it expanded health services to poor people. Today, Kitzhaber, running for governor again, has new ideas on how to fix the country's health care system.
With growing signs that health reform bills would do little to "bend the cost curve," Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., want a bipartisan commission to control future Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security costs.
Between the two of them, Martha Martin and her husband Jim work five part-time jobs, but still can't afford health insurance. Last year, the Martins spent 45 percent of their $44,500 income on health insurance premiums and medical bills. Part of our series "Are You Covered?" co-produced with NPR.
Cindy Richards and her husband Scott Fisher at their home in Oak Park, Ill. Richards is a freelance writer and editor who buys health insurance to cover herself and her family.
Senate Finance Committee health care legislation would cost $829 billion over the next decade according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released Wednesday.
KHN's Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin discuss what might happen in the Senate Finance Committee this week and how its health overhaul bill might be combined with the more liberal bill from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
An insurance industry ad takes aim at the Senate Finance Committee bill, warning that many seniors will be required to pay "more than their fair share" for a health overhaul. But that argument turns on its head the real inequity in Medicare.
The federal government could treat Indian Country, at least for health programs, as the 51st state.
All of the Democratic health proposals would expand children's dental care - a serious need. Currently about twice as many children are without dental coverage as those without medical coverage. At the same time, some insurance experts worry that the legislation may have unintended consequences, disrupting adult coverage.
KFF Health News's Eric Pianin talks with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., about his new book, "A Heart to Serve, The Passion to Bring Health, Hope, and Healing."
The relationship between the Democrats and health insurers has turned ugly since the industry began to spurn the health care makeover it once supported. Now, some members of Congress Democrats want to strip the industry's exemption from federal antitrust laws.
When Gracie Scarrow, 94, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure she didn't have the money to pay for the care she needed. With her daughter Lela's help, Gracie turned to Medicaid. The program pays for her nursing home, and they couldn't be happier with the care.
We are not ready for healthy retirement, and we are desperately unprepared for the costly medical and long-term care we are likely to need in old age.
The Senate Finance Committee Thursday agreed to delay the penalties for people who don't comply with a requirement to have health insurance. Some lawmakers want no penalties at all. But insurers worry that weakening the mandate will mean people will delay getting coverage, it would be more difficult to keep costs down.
© 2026 KFF