The Hunt For Affordable Health Insurance
In a follow-up to an earlier story about the difficulty of finding health insurance for a rural small businessman, an insurance broker helps Larry Harbour of Broken Bow, Neb., find affordable coverage.
All Coverage
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Liberals Brace For Fight Over Scope Of Health Legislation
House Democratic leaders are preparing to unveil a sweeping health overhaul plan that will set the stage for a fight over the most contentious issues. The bill embraces liberal principles even as moderates and conservatives in both parties argue for changes in areas such as taxation and the role of the government in providing insurance.
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Opinion Column
Blue Dogs Should Look Beyond Cost Containment for Progress on Health Care
Make no mistake: It’d be a huge disappointment not to make progress on cost and quality. But incremental progress is still progress.
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What’s An Exchange?
While advocates say insurance exchanges would stimulate price competition and give consumers new choices, there’s also a risk these programs could undermine the employer-based health insurance system. Here are nine questions and answers about exchanges and their role in health reform.
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Exchanges May Play Key Role In An Overhauled Health System
Insurance exchanges are a critical part of proposed health system overhaul legislation. They could transform how insurance is sold. But experts warn that without the right structure and rules, exchanges could undermine the employer-based insurance system.
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“Partnership” Policies for Long-Term Care Hold Promise–and Pitfalls
To encourage people to buy long-term care insurance, more states are starting programs that allow people to keep some assets if they exhaust insurance benefits and need to go on Medicaid. Without such an arrangement, they would have to “spend down” assets to qualify for Medicaid. But, experts warn, the policies need strong inflation protections.
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Opinion Column
Is the Price of Bipartisanship Eliminating Insurance Coverage for Abortion?
If denying important health services to women is the price of bipartisanship, then perhaps winning those one or two Republican votes in the Senate or holding on to some socially conservative Democrats isn’t worth the price of jeopardizing women’s health and well-being.
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New Face Of The Uninsured: Middle-Class Americans
The recession has left a growing number of middle-income Americans without health insurance.
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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?
