Solving the Political Paradox of Health Care Reform
After decades of effort, the enactment of universal health insurance coverage is actually in sight.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
3,561 - 3,580 of 3,591 Results
After decades of effort, the enactment of universal health insurance coverage is actually in sight.
Labor leaders are worried as congressional Democrats weigh various health care overhaul proposals. Unions oppose taxation of employee benefits and want a strong public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, but some Democrats say they're open to compromises on both issues to attract Republicans and fiscal conservatives in their own party. Unions have pledged to spend $80 million in their campaign to influence legislation.
Women of color in America are 11 times more likely than their white counterparts to contract AIDS, according to a study released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
President Obama is promising fiscal conservatives in Congress that health reform won't be financed by deficit spending. He needs the support of moderate and conservative Democrats who are wary of a vast expansion of government-underwritten health care. Strict new budget rules may help persuade skeptics that a health care system overhaul is affordable.
Surgeon and author Atul Gawande's recent article in The New Yorker is generating intense discussion about the cost of medicine and exerting a powerful influence over the health reform debate.
Senate Democrats release health care bill leaving out--for the moment--two of the most contentious items, while promising more talks with Republicans. Meanwhile, in the House, chairmen of three committees brief fellow Democrats on the contours of their bill.
Officials said Tuesday that the time is now to tackle ethnic, economic and gender disparities in health care as they ready a major overhaul of the nation's health care system.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus says the bill soon to come out of his committee will include comparative effectiveness requirements.
House and Senate Democrats are gearing up for what could be a crucial, month-long drive to craft health care legislation before the July 4 recess.
Kaiser Health News' Mary Agnes Carey discusses recent and upcoming activities on the Hill -- part of a weekly series of video reports.
Taxing employee health benefits might fund a health care overhaul, but could sink its political chances.
While we desperately need a sustainable health care reform in America to cover all of our people, Congress getting ready to send the president little more than a health care entitlement expansion that will give us a health care system even more unsustainable then the one we now have.
Lawmakers are considering varied approaches to taxing employer-provided health insurance as a means of paying for an overhaul of the health system, Kaiser Health News reports. Proposals include taxing benefits above a certain premium amount, taxing the benefits only of high-income earners, or combining both approaches.
A partial draft of Sen. Edward Kennedy's HELP committee health reform legislation is circulating in Washington.
It's almost crunch time: Influential senators involved in drafting health care legislation say they will begin unveiling bills within days. That means the real debate is about to begin. The big question: Where will the opposition come from and how intense will it be? We consulted policy and political experts to find out what they think will happen next.
Democrats and Republicans moved further apart this afternoon over the possibility of including a public plan in any health care reform legislation.
I was on a phone call with fellow health policy types back during the presidential primary season when the conversation turned to pay-for-performance.
How Congress decides several important issues could affect how millions of Americans get and pay for insurance and medical care.
President Barack Obama urges reform of the U.S. health care system in a meeting at the White House with Senate Democrats.
Already, you can hear the opponents of health care reform making a familiar argument: It will mean huge new taxes. Although they're exaggerating--the tax hikes wouldn't be "huge"--you should be willing to pay these new taxes. Happily.
© 2026 KFF