Health On The Hill – January 19, 2010
The outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race could play a pivotal role in efforts by President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass a health care overhaul bill this year.
All Coverage
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Opponents Threaten Constitutional Challenge To Individual Mandate
A major component of the Congressional health bills is a requirement that nearly everyone buy health insurance. But conservatives who oppose health reform have threatened a challenge on constitutional grounds.
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Opinion Column
How Does U.S. Long-Term Care Stack Up Against the Rest of the World?
There are two important lessons from the European experience with long-term care.
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Big Bills For A Small Heart: The Lemacks’ Story
A Virginia family got permission for out-of-network care for their son’s heart defect but still ended up drowning in debt.
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The Price They Paid
The Lemacks got permission for out-of-network care for their son Joshua’s heart defect, but the Virginia family still ended up drowning in debt.
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Obama, Democrats Compromise On ‘Cadillac’ Tax, Eager To Move Past Health Bill
President Obama was upbeat about negotiations on health legislation as he addressed the Democratic Caucus last night. With him are House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)
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Feds Vs. States: Who Should Run Proposed Health Insurance Marketplaces?
The final decision on who should supervise health exchanges is critical to health plan choices available to consumers, the cost of the premiums and the clout regulators may have.
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Opinion Column
Individual Mandate Would Impose High Implicit Taxes on Low-Wage Workers
A Cato Institute new study finds implicit marginal tax rates would hover near 70-80 percent over broad ranges of income. In many cases, they would exceed 100 percent, financially penalizing those who try to climb the economic ladder.
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Florida Officials Say They Will Resist Some Requirements In Health Overhaul
Florida’s Republican attorney general opposes the individual mandate and a state insurance official says significant changes in state laws would be needed to meet federal requirements if overhaul passes.
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Chamber Of Commerce Says Health Fight Over – But Sees Room To Maneuver
Officials at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce predict that House and Senate negotiators would finish their work and get a final bill to President Barack Obama by mid-to-late February.
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House, Senate View Health Exchanges Differently
One key element of both the House and Senate health bills would create health insurance “exchanges” where individuals and small businesses could purchase health insurance. However, the House and Senate versions would work in very different ways. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
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Transcript: Health On The Hill – January 11, 2010
With House members returning to town, negotiations continue between House and Senate Democrats over differences in the two chambers’ health care bills.
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Health On The Hill – January 11, 2010
With House members returning to town, negotiations continue between House and Senate Democrats over differences in the two chambers’ health care bills. Key differences include financing, the level of subsidies provided to help people afford coverage and whether or not to include a tax on high-cost health insurance plans.
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Opinion Column
Transparency and Sausage Making
Compared to George W. Bush’s administration, President Obama has made significant gains in legislative transparency.
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Unemployment Report: Health Care Jobs Grew As Other Sectors Withered
Friday’s unemployment report revealed that since Dec. 2007 the health sector added 631,000 jobs, even as the economy tanked.
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Opinion Column
An Entitlement Certain to Grow In Spite Of ‘Firewalls’
Even if all of the offsets work out as planned, which is not likely, the House and Senate bills would still create substantial budgetary risks because of the pressures for entitlement expansion they would unleash.
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IRS Faces Tough New Duties Under Health Overhaul
Tax agency would be responsible for checking whether individuals get required insurance, distributing billions of dollars in subsidies and collecting new taxes and penalties.
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Congress Doing Health Care The Hard Way
Congress is still on holiday break, but President Obama and Congressional leaders are at work starting to merge the House and Senate health care overhaul bills. Congress watchers say looking back at how the debate got to this point may provide some important clues as to where it might lead. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
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Caught In The Middle: Making Too Much – And Too Little – To Benefit From Health Care Changes
Reforms in the pipeline would leave millions of Americans with too little government help to buy insurance, some experts say.
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House Health Care Bill Offers Insurance Help To Some Migrants From Pacific Islands
Legislation would restore Medicaid rights to citizens of the Marshall Islands and two other nations who have the unique ability to travel and work freely in the U.S.
