The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
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.
Tax agency would be responsible for checking whether individuals get required insurance, distributing billions of dollars in subsidies and collecting new taxes and penalties.
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.
Reforms in the pipeline would leave millions of Americans with too little government help to buy insurance, some experts say.
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.
Don Emmanuel Kayembe, 2, was born with heart defects and congenital developmental issues while his mother, Jeanne d’Arc Kayembe, was in the United States on a tourist visa. She struggled to oversee his medical care while also trying to find a way to stay here.
House and Senate lawmakers are beginning to resolve differences between the two chambers’ health care overhaul plans. Those differences include the size of the bills, language governing abortion funding and how the bills would be financed. While the House bill includes a government-run health insurance option the Senate bill does not. Negotiations are expected to continue throughout January.
House and Senate lawmakers are beginning to resolve differences between the two chambers’ health care overhaul plans. Those differences include the size of the bills, language governing abortion funding and how the bills would be financed. While the House bill includes a government-run health insurance option the Senate bill does not. Negotiations are expected to continue throughout January.
Since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid nearly 45 years ago, the government has separated acute medical care from personal assistance and long-term care, placing many of the most vulnerable people in the nation at risk. An obscure provision of the Senate health bill attempts to crack that barrier.
Over the next few weeks, as the House and Senate forge a compromise between their respective health care reform bills, most of the attention will be on the high-profile issues like abortion and taxes. But there are myriad other issues that, although less visible to the public, could go a long way towards determining the success of health care reform. High on this list is the seemingly technical question of what Medicaid pays primary care physicians.
The Senate’s Christmas Eve vote makes historic legislation to transform our health care system likely. Politicians, who rightly note that this legislation would affect nearly all Americans, could also point out that the people least affected may not be Americans at all, but those in the country illegally.
The Food and Drug Administration is trying to get some unapproved drugs off the market. But sometimes the brand-name replacement is much more expensive.
The Senate health care reform bill contains none of the features needed for real reform. The principal lobbyists have all scored impressive victories.
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey calls in from Capitol Hill to discuss next steps, now that Senators have passed a health care bill.
Now that the Senate has passed a hotly debated health care bill, Congress is headed to the next step: House-Senate negotiations in January to try to hammer out a final version. Here’s where things stand and how you might be affected.
Polls show opposition and unease about the Democrats’ health overhaul bills, but these snapshots of public opinion aren’t necessarily good indicators of how voters will feel later about the legislation and the politicians who are trying to push it through Congress.
All 60 members of the Democratic caucus closed ranks behind the bill. And the man getting the credit for bringing them on board is the leader of the Democrats’ supermajority, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid.
The Senate continues to debate health care reform with passage of the Democrats’ health care bill expected by Christmas Eve.
The Senate continues to debate health care reform with passage of the Democrats’ health care bill expected by Christmas Eve. Key differences between the two bills — in the areas of abortion, financing and a government-run “public plan” health insurance option — would need to be resolved in a House-Senate conference deal, and approved by both chambers before reaching President Obama’s desk.
