Health Care For America Now

NEWS

Health Overhaul Fails Without U.S. Plan, Rangel Says (Update2) - Bloomberg

An overhaul of the health care system won’t pass the U.S. House of Representatives unless it includes a government-financed insurance plan for consumers, the head of the House’s tax-writing committee said.

Warring Sides on Health Care Carry Their Fight to TV and Radio Ads - New York Times

The battle over the future of health care has taken to the airwaves, with interest groups spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on television and radio advertisements supporting or attacking legislation they expect to emerge from Congress.

Massachusetts, Model for Universal Health Care, Sees Ups and Downs in Policy - New York Times

Despite a weakening economy, Massachusetts continued to measure gains in the share of residents who reported having a steady source of health care in 2008, its second year of near-universal coverage, a new study has found.

U.S. group finds insured paying more for uninsured - Reuters

U.S. families with health insurance are paying an estimated $1,017 more in annual premiums to compensate providers for healthcare to the uninsured, a report released on Thursday said.

Californians crossing border to Mexico for health care - McClatchy

Nearly a million Californians, perhaps hundreds of thousands more, cross the border to Mexico every year because they cannot afford the rising cost of health care in the United States, according to UCLA researchers.

Insurer offers ways for U.S. to save on healthcare - Reuters

The U.S. government can save $540 billion in healthcare costs in the next decade by taking 15 steps, such as pushing use of high quality, cost-efficient doctors, a major health insurer said in a report on Wednesday.

Health insurers bulk up 1Q spending on lobbying - Associated Press

Big health insurers have punched up lobbying spending this year as the debate over a potential overhaul of the nation's health care system heats up in Washington.

OPINION

Health bill would fix what's broken - Senator Kennedy

OVER THE LAST YEAR, I've seen our healthcare system up close. I've benefitted from the best of medicine, but I've also witnessed the frustration and outrage of patients and doctors alike as they face the challenges of a system that shortchanges millions of Americans.

Budgetary Treatment of Health Reform Proposals - CBO Blog

The Congress is currently considering various approaches for instituting major changes in the nation’s system of health insurance. Some of those proposals would significantly expand the federal government’s role in that system, thus raising the question of how such changes might be reflected in the federal budget. CBO has just released a brief describing the approach that CBO will take in judging the appropriate budgetary treatment.

Anti-Trust Law May Not Prevent Health Industry From Reducing Health Care Costs - Think Progress

Several weeks ago, the health care industry visited the White House and pledged to “work together” with President Obama and Congress “to provide quality, affordable coverage and access for every American” and lower health care spending by $2 trillion. But New York Times’ Robert Pear is reporting that the nation’s anti antitrust laws may prevent the health care industry from voluntarily reducing costs.

Yeah, We Need That Public Plan - The New Republic

I am writing this while listening to one of those 3-hour conferences with health policy experts who are brainstorming how to make private health insurance markets work as well as humanly possible, on the provisional assumption that there is no (or a very weak) public plan.

UnitedHealth Knows How to Save $500 billion In the Medicare Program–So Why Do They Need the Extra Private Medicare Payments? - Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review

If United Health knows how to save $500 billion in Medicare costs why has it been lobbying for years to maintain the hundreds of billions of dollars in extra payments private Medicare plans–of which United is the biggest player–get from the government?

Canada's healthcare saved her; Ours won't cover her - Los Angeles Times

San Marcos resident Maggie Yount wasn't surprised when the letter from insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross arrived the other day. Yet she couldn't help but be frustrated.