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Alzheimer's is thought of as a disease of the elderly, but hundreds of thousands of cases are in men and women under 65. Because the disease makes it difficult to work, these people often lose their jobs - and their health insurance.
The Congressional Budget Office took center stage this week when its assessment of a health overhaul plan fueled criticism of its cost. Little known outside of Washington, the CBO is an arbiter of the cost and impact of legislation -- meaning it will continue to play a critical role in the health reform debate. Senate Finance Committee Democrats, meanwhile, vow to re-tool their as-yet-unreleased proposal to make it less costly.
Even as Congress eyes Medicaid as an option to cover the uninsured, governors are expressing deep concerns about the expense and whether they would end up holding the bag. Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Carol Steckel says it would be "impossible" for states to handle the costs of expanding Medicaid.
Once a senior begins receiving long-term care services, she and her family often are in for two shocks. The first is that Medicare won't pay beyond perhaps a few months after a hospitalization. The second is that while Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor, may help, chances are it will only do so for nursing home residents.
President Obama spoke about health reform at the Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Doctors across the country are reducing their charges and offering payment plans to patients who have lost health insurance or income. This helps people stay well, but it also helps doctors maintain their practices at a time when many financially struggling Americans are deferring care. Patients who don't pay their bills still run the risk of hearing from bill collectors.
Democrats on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today released their health care reform bill called "Affordable Health Choices Act." Kaiser Health News Senior Correspondent Mary Agnes Carey discusses the bill.
House and Senate Democrats are gearing up for what could be a crucial, month-long drive to craft health care legislation before the July 4 recess.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and other Democrats are pursuing a dozen GOP senators they think may vote for a health reform deal. To round up as many as 70 votes for a bipartisan majority, Baucus signaled a willingness to compromise on a key feature sought by President Obama and other Democrats: a government-run insurance plan as consumer option.
"Ad Audit" is KFF Health News's new feature examining advertising campaigns designed to influence the health reform debate. In this campaign, called "What If?", Health Care for America Now, an advocacy group funded by unions and other organizations favoring major health care changes, pushes one of the most controversial elements of the Democratic-backed legislation: a new government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.
With many people strapped for cash, barter "exchanges" for health care is providing a temporary safety net of sorts for some workers who have lost their jobs and health coverage. And in some cases, people who have inadequate insurance are using barter to get critical services, such as dental and vision benefits.
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.
The over-65 crowd, with its outsized political clout, will have a big say in the fate of any health overhaul. And that helps explain a recent agreement on drug discounts involving the pharmaceutical industry, the White House and Congress.
Small companies, who traditionally have been wary of government action on health care, are more receptive than in the past to legislation that would make changes in health care. But they still have fundamental disagreements over how aggressive the government should be in imposing new rules and revamping the system.
The Maine senator, a moderate Republican on the Finance Committee, is in an influential position as the only GOP member so far to vote for reform. She doesn't want a government-sponsored public plan to compete with private insurers but may support it as a fallback option if the private sector doesn't perform adequately.
A low-profile commission that advises Congress on Medicare recommends, as it has in the past, that the way health providers are paid be revamped. Congress is showing interest in the issue as it grapples with broader health reform.
Sen. Ted Kennedy is vowing to make long-term care insurance part of health reform. But even he has an uphill struggle to make sure it's included in any broad-based bill.
With the health care debate about to erupt on Capitol Hill, a look at three ways it could turn out.
If Congress wants all Americans to get health insurance, it will have to win over people like Gary Cloutier, owner of Cloots Auto Body Shop in Westfield, Mass. He says he just can't afford it.
President Barack Obama today addressed the annual meeting of the American Medical Association. He discussed the future of the health care system and asked for their help with health reform.
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