The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Texas is one of the 17 states that has asked the federal government to delay the insurance rebate program. But consumers and advocates want the new law to kick in on time in 2012.
Advocate of health overhaul uses a comic-book style narrative to describe the federal law and its provisions.
But officials say that for the first time in years premiums for people in private insurance plans rose faster than what was spent on their care, according to KHN’s Marilyn Werber Serafini.
KHN’s Shefali S. Kulkarni interviews Dr. Anne Beal, COO of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
KHN boils down the weekend’s GOP presidential debate marathon to just the discussions of health care issues, including Medicare, premium support and contraception.
In Saturday night’s ABC News/Yahoo debate, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and moderator George Stephanopoulos had a few disputatious moments on social issues which included abortion, Roe vs. Wade and contraception.
While health care issues did not take up much of Sunday morning’s debate, the candidates agreed that Medicare should be a Rep. Paul-Ryan-style “premium support” system and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney said that, in the future, he believes wealthy Medicare recipients should have to pay more for the program.
Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Thursday that the state must offer the same level of subsidized insurance to legal immigrants as to citizens. The decision affects roughly 40,000 residents and could cost the state at least $150 million per year.
Employers, insurers and hospitals are banding together in several areas of the country to tackle cost and quality issues.
Kansas and Oklahoma are the seventh and eighth states to get the thumbs down from the federal government on their requests to phase in new regulations that could result in health insurance rebates to consumers.
