Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Care Summit – Excerpts of Opening Remarks
This video highlights President Obama’s opening remarks at the White House health care summit.
Democrats Face Internal Battles Over Health Care
Democrats can’t use reconciliation to pass a bill until they end disputes within their own ranks.
Health Care No Stranger To Congressional Budget Reconciliation Process
To get health reform passed, Democrats could use a process called budget reconciliation, which allows them to advance the bill with a simple majority. Republicans say the process was not designed for such a large bill, but reconciliation has often been used to move major health policy.
The Antitrust Exemption For Health Insurers: Meaningful Or Not?
With comprehensive health care legislation foundering, House Democrats are turning to a narrower piece of legislation they hope has populist appeal: repealing the antitrust exemption for health and medical liability insurers. Policy makers disagree on the effect the repeal would have.
Analysis: Health Lobbyists’ Powerful Impact On Reform Bills
A Center for Public Integrity analysis shows that more than 1,750 a diverse list of companies and organizations hired about 4,525 lobbyists to influence health reform bills in 2009.
State Regulators Criticize Obama Plan To Create Federal Authority Over Health Insurance Rates
Three veteran state insurance commissioners said they’d welcome federal advisory help, but draw the line at giving the government authority over rates, a power they say states should retain exclusively.
Just days before a bipartisan White House summit on health care, President Obama unveiled a proposal that closely tracks the Senate-passed health legislation with some modifications.
Health On The Hill – February 22, 2010
Just days before a bipartisan White House summit on health care, President Obama unveiled a proposal that closely tracks the Senate-passed health legislation with some modifications.
Full Text: Obama’s Health Care Proposal
Read the full text of President Obama’s health care proposal, which he will bring to his Thursday health ‘summit’ with Congressional leaders.
Health On The Hill – February 16, 2010
President Obama has scheduled a bipartisan summit for Feb. 25 to discuss ways to pass health care overhaul legislation this year. On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders in both chambers are trying to resolve differences between House and Senate-passed health care bills and make progress on the issue once lawmakers return from the President’s Day recess.
The Health Reform That Scares Both Parties
Twenty-seven years ago, President Ronald Reagan and a Congress split between Republican and Democratic control agreed to a radical new payment scheme for Medicare. The resulting legislation trimmed billions of dollars from the federal budget and caused medical inflation to plummet, yet still maintained quality of care.
Will Health Care Savings Be Used To Reduce The Deficit?
As health care legislation falters, health groups worry that proposed spending cutbacks might be used to narrow the budget gap, not expand coverage.
Republicans Spurn Once-Favored Health Mandate
The last time Congress debated a health overhaul, when Bill Clinton was president, several senators who now oppose an individual mandate actually supported a bill that would have required it. In fact, says Len Nichols of the New America Foundation, the individual mandate was originally a Republican idea.
Too many Democrats seem not to grasp the choice before them – the legislation simply has too much to offer to believe for a minute that doing nothing is the better choice.
How Health Overhaul Would Affect The Uninsured
As a part of our “Are You Covered?” series, KHN and NPR also examine how the health overhaul would impact the uninsured.
Sebelius To GOP: ‘Don’t Get Wrong Impression’ About Obama Health Summit
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that President Obama’s Feb. 25 bipartisan summit is to “get Republicans to re-engage in the process. It is not acceptable that half the legislative body pushed away from the table months ago and said ‘we do not want to participate.'”
Yes, Let’s Talk About Those Republican Ideas
For most of last year, Republicans spent their time attacking Democratic plans for reform, rather than describing their own. But now they’ve put a plan on the table. Showcasing that plan–and comparing it to what the Democrats have proposed–might help clarify a few things.
Should Health Insurance Companies Be Allowed To Sell Individual Policies Across State Lines?
With health care legislation stalled, the GOP is touting its plan which includes allowing Americans to buy health coverage from another state. Democrats include a version in their bills. Critics say this would erode consumer protections.
The President’s Budget and Health Care Reform
It’s not that President Obama and his advisors don’t recognize their budget problem. They speak frequently about the dangers of business as usual. The problem is that the president’s stated solution will never work.
The Debate Over Selling Insurance Across State Lines
With health care legislation stalled, the GOP is touting its plan which includes allowing Americans to buy health coverage from another state. Democrats include a version in their bills. Critics say this would erode consumer protections.
