New Face Of The Uninsured: Middle-Class Americans
The recession has left a growing number of middle-income Americans without health insurance.
All Coverage
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Opinion Column
Don’t Count on Congress to Control Health Costs
President Obama has outsourced the writing of health care reform to Congress. What does that mean for the legislation?
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Small Business Owners Deliver Mixed Messages To Capitol Hill
Small business organizations are encouraging members to make their views about health overhaul proposals known through emails, letters, phone calls and personal visits to Capitol Hill. But small business, a powerful constituency in every congressional district, no longer speaks with one voice on health care.
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Hospitals, After Agreeing to Cuts, Push Ahead With a Full Agenda
Hospital officials today agreed to federal-payment cuts to help pay for a health care overhaul. They hope their concessions will build good will with the Obama administration and Democratic lawmakers. They’re pressing for action on a host of other issues, including Medicaid reimbursements and funding for graduate medical education.
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Obama Backs Helping Hand For Long-Term Care
The Obama administration has endorsed a new government social insurance program that would help people put aside money to pay for the high costs of long-term care.
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Alzheimer’s Patients Struggle Without Insurance
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.
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A Passionate Voice For Single Payer
Donna Smith is a cancer survivor whose personal experience with insurance has driven her to become a full-time advocate for a single-payer health system, which would replace private insurers with a single, tax-funded government program.
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True Believers: Selling a Single-Payer System, Despite a Lack of Buyers
Largely ignored by lawmakers and administration officials, advocates of a government-run health system nevertheless are doggedly campaigning for a regime they say would be less expensive and more efficient-as well as morally superior-to the changes being debated in Congress.
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Hospital Deal Could Come Wednesday
The hospital industry is nearing a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats to accept Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Such an agreement, coming on the heels of one with the drug industry, would increase momentum for overhauling the health care system by providing additional funds to finance the effort.
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Transcript: KHN’s Health On The Hill
Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Carrie Budoff Brown of Politico and Jeffrey Young of The Hill discuss health care reform as Congress returns from its July 4th recess.
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Health On The Hill – June 29, 2009
Today, we feature a reporter roundtable with Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Julie Rovner of National Public Radio and Jeffrey Young of The Hill.
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Health On The Hill – July 6, 2009
Mary Agnes Carey of KHN, Carrie Budoff Brown of Politico and the Hill’s Jeffrey Young discuss details of health overhaul bills in the House and Senate as Congress pushes towards having legislation on the floor before the August recess.
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Opinion Column
National Long-Term Care Insurance: How Much Would It Cost?
Sen. Ted Kennedy’s long-term care insurance proposal leaves an important question unanswered: How much would the the premium be?
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Opinion Column
When the Government Runs Health Insurance
Much of the health care reform debate centers on the Democratic push to create a government-run insurance option for working age Americans and their families. But shouldn’t policymakers take a hard look at Medicare–the largest health insurance program in the country–before moving ahead to create something similar for everyone else?
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Hospitals Close to Agreeing to $150 Billion-$170 Billion in Cuts for Health Reform
Exclusive: The hospital industry is nearing a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats to accept Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Such an agreement, coming on the heels of one with the drug industry, would increase momentum for overhauling the health care system by providing additional funds to finance the effort.
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New Kind of Film Noir: Health Care
While lawmakers are targeting rising costs and growing numbers of uninsured, a new crop of health care-focused documentaries offer a darker, more conspiratorial view: Powerful vested interests lusting for profits are responsible for the country’s medical malaise.
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Co-Op Option Offers Compromise In Health Debate
The idea of insurance co-ops is gaining ground as an alternative to a government-run plan.
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Hot-Button Health Issue: Is Medicaid or Private Insurance Better for the Poor Uninsured?
Medicaid’s role in health reform is emerging as a flash point, exposing policy and political rifts not only between the two parties but also among Democrats themselves.
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Medicaid: True Or False?
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.
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Revolving-Door Patients Illustrate Health System Flaws
Patients who are readmitted to the hospital soon after they’re discharged cost the health care system billions of dollars a year in unnecessary spending. These “frequent fliers,” as doctors sometimes call them, illustrate the worst aspects of poorly coordinated care. Innovative programs may serve as models for fixing the problems.
