Latest KFF Health News Stories
Small Businesses Want Relief From High Health Costs–But Differ On How To Get It
Small companies, who traditionally have been wary of government action on health care, are more receptive than in the past to legislation that would make changes in health care. But they still have fundamental disagreements over how aggressive the government should be in imposing new rules and revamping the system.
A Group of Health CEOs Wants To End Medicare Fee-For-Service Payments
Some CEOs of America’s largest health care providers called Friday for an end to fee-for-service payments under Medicare and incentives to create administrative efficiencies to lower costs to help pay for America’s try at health care reform.
FSAs Could End Up On Chopping Block In Hunt For Health Overhaul Money
As Congress searches for funds to pay for health legislation, flexible spending accounts, which allow consumers to use pre-tax dollars to pay for medical bills, emerge as a possible source. The result is a renewed debate over whether the accounts are a legitimate way to help people cover costs or are a tax shelter for the affluent.
Democrats Target A Dozen GOP Senators In Quest For Health Reform Deal
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and other Democrats are pursuing a dozen GOP senators they think may vote for a health reform deal. To round up as many as 70 votes for a bipartisan majority, Baucus signaled a willingness to compromise on a key feature sought by President Obama and other Democrats: a government-run insurance plan as consumer option.
Use Medicare To Hold Industry To Cost And Quality Promises
Affordable health care for everyone is too important for policy makers to sit back and wait for the health care industry to cut costs and improve quality. The industry needs a push, in the form of a little financial pressure. Medicare is the mechanism through which the federal government has leverage to increase the pace of change in the U.S. health care system.
Solving the Political Paradox of Health Care Reform
After decades of effort, the enactment of universal health insurance coverage is actually in sight.
Labor Leaders Wary As Democratic Allies Weigh Health Reform Proposals
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.
Minority Women More Likely Than White Women To Have Major Health Problems
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 Courts Fiscal Conservatives In Reform Push
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.
New Yorker Article Sparks Strong Reaction
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.
HELP Committee Postpones Day Of Reckoning
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.
DeParle, Sebelius: Time To Tackle Health Care Disparities
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.
Baucus: Comp Effectiveness Will Be In Health Reform Bill
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus says the bill soon to come out of his committee will include comparative effectiveness requirements.
Lawmakers Pick Up Pace on Health Legislation
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.
Health On The Hill — June 8, 2009
Kaiser Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey discusses recent and upcoming activities on the Hill — part of a weekly series of video reports.
The Risks And Rewards Of Taxing Health Benefits
Taxing employee health benefits might fund a health care overhaul, but could sink its political chances.
Health Care Reform or Just Expensive Entitlement Expansion?
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.
How Congress Might Tax Your Health Benefits
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.
‘Draft Of A Draft’ Of Kennedy Bill Surfaces
A partial draft of Sen. Edward Kennedy’s HELP committee health reform legislation is circulating in Washington.
How The Opposition Might Emerge In Health Care Debate
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.
