Health care issues: The cost of health insurance

October 22nd, 2009 Health care issues: Who stands to gain, loseA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Which industries stand to gain or lose most from a health care overhaul? THE POLITICS: The final tally on winners and losers won't be in until a final bill emerges, which is why lobbying is intense. Any measure that creates millions of additional insured people will mean more paying customers for health insurers, hospitals, doctors and drugmakers.

October 21st, 2009 Health care issues: Who's insured, and howA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: How many people have health insurance now, and how would that change if the system is overhauled? THE POLITICS: One of the driving causes behind the longtime effort to overhaul health care is the desire to reduce the number of families that lack health insurance. The number of people without insurance rose to 46.3 million in 2008, or about 15 percent of the population, according to the Census Bureau.

October 20th, 2009 Health care issues: How the US system evolvedA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Why is the United States the only wealthy industrialized nation that does not have universal health coverage? THE POLITICS: Health insurance in the United States is provided primarily by employers. The government picks up coverage for retirees and the disabled through Medicare, for the poor through Medicaid, and for military veterans and members of Indian tribes.

October 15th, 2009 Health care issues: A premium cost generation gapA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Should older Americans have to pay higher insurance premiums than younger Americans? THE POLITICS: The double-edged sword of the health care debate is the so-called age gap in insurance premiums. Americans between the ages of 50 and 65 who purchase their own insurance typically pay much higher premiums than younger people.

October 9th, 2009 Health care issues: Paying for abortionsA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Would new health care legislation allow abortions to be funded with tax money? THE POLITICS: Abortion opponents say proposed government-sponsored health insurance plans would change federal policy by paying for abortions in many cases. For years, a restriction in the law that governs Medicaid — health insurance for the poor — has barred federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother's life.

October 5th, 2009 Health care issues: Insurance market overhaulA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Are changes in the insurance industry enough to fix problems in the nation's health care system? THE POLITICS: To help expand health coverage, President Barack Obama is seeking changes to underwriting practices that can prevent Americans from obtaining affordable insurance. His proposals would ban higher premiums, caps or denial of coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition or when a person gets sick.

September 24th, 2009 Health care issues: Shopping for insuranceA look at key issues in the nation's health care debate: THE ISSUE: Is there an easier, more transparent way for consumers to shop for health insurance? THE POLITICS: Most Americans under age 65 get insurance coverage through their employers. Small-business employers, however, increasingly find policies unaffordable.

September 16th, 2009 Health care issues: What's the best treatment?A look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Researching which treatments work best and how much they cost, and how doctors and patients should use that information. THE POLITICS: On the surface, it seems like common sense: How different health conditions are treated — whether with surgery, drugs or managing diet and exercise, for example — should depend on what works best and costs least.

September 12th, 2009 Obama to attend health care rallyWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is traveling to Minneapolis for a rally on health care reform. Minnesota is an example of where Obama wants the rest of the country to go on health care.

September 9th, 2009 A look at the points in Obama's speechA look at key points in Obama's health care speech: —Individuals would be required to carry basic health insurance. Those who can't afford it would get a hardship waiver.

September 9th, 2009 Individuals would have to carry health insuranceWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says individuals would be required to carry basic health insurance under his overhaul plan and businesses would have to offer workers health care or pay for part of insurance cost for their workers. Obama said those who could not afford coverage would have a hardship waiver, and 95 percent of all small businesses would be exempt because of their size and narrow profit margin.

September 8th, 2009 Health care issues: The public insurance planA look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Should Americans have the option of getting health insurance from a government plan that competes with private companies? THE POLITICS: Many Democrats want to do away with private insurance and replace it with something resembling Medicare coverage for all, but that's not politically feasible. Offering the choice of a government insurance plan was a compromise within the Democratic Party.

August 16th, 2009 Obama targets insurance companies.GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — President Barack Obama on Saturday criticized what he termed as the "scare tactics" of opponents to health care reform.

August 14th, 2009 Obama defends health care plan amid cost questionsBELGRADE, Mont. — At a town hall style meeting, a Montana man bluntly challenged President Barack Obama's contention that he can overhaul health care without raising Americans' taxes to pay for it.

August 14th, 2009 Obama assails health insurance companiesBELGRADE, Mont. — President Barack Obama says Americans are being held hostage by health insurance companies that deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions or cancel coverage when people get sick.