Will Health Care Savings Be Used To Reduce The Deficit?
As health care legislation falters, health groups worry that proposed spending cutbacks might be used to narrow the budget gap, not expand coverage.
All Coverage
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Republicans Spurn Once-Favored Health Mandate
The last time Congress debated a health overhaul, when Bill Clinton was president, several senators who now oppose an individual mandate actually supported a bill that would have required it. In fact, says Len Nichols of the New America Foundation, the individual mandate was originally a Republican idea.
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High-Tech Medicine Contributes To High-Cost Health Care
The U.S. leads the world in creating state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic treatments with the potential to work miracles for patients. But is the overuse of pricey technologies in preventive medicine driving up health care costs unnecessarily?
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Opinion Column
Don’t Stop Now
Too many Democrats seem not to grasp the choice before them – the legislation simply has too much to offer to believe for a minute that doing nothing is the better choice.
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Medicare Pay Fix For Doctors Hitches Ride On Jobs Bill
Physicians are the immediate beneficiaries of a provision in the jobs bill that would postpone a 21 percent cut in the amount Medicare pays them.
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How Health Overhaul Would Affect The Uninsured
As a part of our “Are You Covered?” series, KHN and NPR also examine how the health overhaul would impact the uninsured.
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Facing Shortage, Kansas Seeks To Increase Doctor Training
Kansas is going to need more doctors to meet the growing needs of an aging population, officials here say.
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For Senior Care, Sometimes It Does Take A Village
Nearly three years ago, Harry Rosenberg and his wife, Barbara Filner, met with nine of their neighbors about starting an aging-in-place “village” in Bethesda, Maryland. The idea: If neighbors could help one another with basic services such as transportation and simple home maintenance and with friendly visits, people could stay in their homes longer as they aged.
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Sebelius To GOP: ‘Don’t Get Wrong Impression’ About Obama Health Summit
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.'”
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Opinion Column
Yes, Let’s Talk About Those Republican Ideas
For most of last year, Republicans spent their time attacking Democratic plans for reform, rather than describing their own. But now they’ve put a plan on the table. Showcasing that plan–and comparing it to what the Democrats have proposed–might help clarify a few things.
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Millions More Children Added To Medicaid, CHIP Rolls In 2009
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).
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Should Health Insurance Companies Be Allowed To Sell Individual Policies Across State Lines?
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.
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Government Health Spending To Top Private Sector By 2012
A new study by federal officials finds that state, local and federal health spending has steadily increased. And, the nation’s health spending as a share of the economy jumped in 2009 by 1.1 points to 17.3 percent.
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Opinion Column
The President’s Budget and Health Care Reform
It’s not that President Obama and his advisors don’t recognize their budget problem. They speak frequently about the dangers of business as usual. The problem is that the president’s stated solution will never work.
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The Debate Over Selling Insurance Across State Lines
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.
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Obama’s Budget Increases Funding for Medical Research That Compares Treatment Options
The president has long championed comparative effectiveness research, saying it would provide crucial information to determine which regimen or drug should be used. But critics fear that could lead to an effort to cut costs and restrict patients’ choices.
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Transcript: Health On The Hill – Obama’s Budget Proposal, Continuing Negotiations On Health Reform
President Obama’s budget request for fiscal 2011 would give states an additional $25 billion in Medicaid funding to help cover rising program costs.
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Health On The Hill – February 1, 2010
President Obama’s budget request for fiscal 2011 would give states an additional $25 billion in Medicaid funding to help cover rising program costs. Meanwhile, House and Senate Democratic leaders continue negotiations on how to pass health care overhaul legislation this year, although lawmakers’ focus has shifted in part to finding ways to improve the economy and increase jobs.
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Opinion Column
Obama’s Respite Care Plan: Part of the Problem, Not a Solution
Families should be freed from the whims of politicians and the inevitable battles over government dollars by passing a national long-term care insurance program, such as the proposed CLASS Act.
