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It will take a serious and sustained effort to make co-ops a viable insurance option for consumers and small business owners.
New rules being debated by Congress could mean consumers couldn't be rejected because they have health problems and would include subsidies for lower-income people to buy insurance. But the rules won't solve all the problems faced by those who don't get insurance through their jobs.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans are at risk of losing access to health services as states prepare to make yet another round of budget cuts.
Text of President Obama's proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services.
When a claim is denied, an out-of-network fee is too costly, or an uninsured patient confronts an unclear or towering bill, an advocate may be able to help.
Advocacy groups are lobbying as government advisory panel tackles key question: What benefits must insurers cover?
Insurers sometimes make it difficult for consumers to understand and use their benefits. One U.S. senator has drafted legislation to hold insurers to higher standards, but the industry is already moving to make changes.
Pursuing health reforms that transform current health insurance arrangements into aproaches based on defined contributions will set in motion a competitive dynamic from which all Americans would benefit.
The new health law eliminated lifetime and most annual dollar limits for consumers but some plans cut costs by covering only a defined number of doctor appointments, prescriptions or other services.
Hospitals are using their size and pricing clout to define premiums for people around America, like in the Sutter Health system in California, where hospital prices are among the highest in the nation.
Sutter Health, the most expensive health system in California, is expanding at a rapid pace and transforming itself into an "accountable care organization." Some worry about the nonprofit hospital's growing leverage.
When a little-known GOP Congressman-elect who campaigned against the new health law demanded that the benefits of his new federal health plan start immediately, it was an irresistible opening for some.
But states' increasing use of the private plans is raising questions about whether low-income residents are getting adequate care.
An analysis of Medicare data finds many cancer patients are getting aggressive end-of-life care. The intensive approach might not be best for them and adds to the drain on Medicare's budget.
Millions of Americans might be eligible for rebates starting in 2012 under regulations released Monday detailing the health care law's requirement that insurers spend at least 80 percent of their revenue on direct medical care.
Florida Republican leaders said Tuesday they want to overhaul the Medicaid program and don't want the federal government tying their hands. But their message may fall on deaf ears in Washington.
Prominent hospitals and networks, especially those in the San Francisco Bay Area, can keep raising prices beyond inflation because their sizes or reputations give them clout in negotiating rates with insurers, researchers say. Yet high prices don't always equate with superior care.
Patrick Fry is president and CEO of Sutter Health, one of Northern California's largest provider networks with 22 acute care hospitals and thousands of physicians in affiliated medical foundations.
Though lots of different approaches to controlling health care costs have been discussed, it's hard to know which of them will really work.
With the elections less than one week away, ads making claims about the health law are flooding the airwaves. Many Democrats continue to not mention health reform, while Republicans criticize the law as too large, too expensive and intrusive into Americans' lives.
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