Health care issues: Which industries would win or lose if health care system is changedOctober 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.
Health care issues: Who's insured, and howOctober 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.
Health care issues: How the US system evolvedOctober 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.
Hundreds rally in Pa. Capitol to support bills establishing a single-payer health-care systemOctober 20th, 2009 Hundreds rally in Pa. for universal health careHARRISBURG, Pa.
Health care issues: What about a government-run single payer national health system?October 13th, 2009 Health care issues: A single-payer system?A look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Should there be a government-run, single-payer national health care system?
THE POLITICS: A government-run health care system is attractive to many Democrats, who want access to health insurance for all, including about 45 million uninsured Americans. One proposal in Congress would establish a program to provide all people in the United States with free health care through a publicly financed but privately delivered system.
Health care issues: Medicare cutsOctober 6th, 2009 Health care issues: Medicare cutsA look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Will seniors' Medicare benefits be slashed to pay for health care overhaul?
THE POLITICS: Democrats are proposing to reduce the ballooning costs of Medicare to keep the program solvent. They want to root out waste to find the savings, and to reduce payments to some providers.
Health care issues: Are insurance market changes enough to fix the health care system?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.
Health care issues: Expanded Medicaid EligibilityOctober 2nd, 2009 Health care issues: Expanded Medicaid EligibilityA look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Should Medicaid be expanded to cover more people?
THE POLITICS: Proposals in both the Senate and the House support some form of expansion of the federal-state insurance program for the poor. Who pays for Medicaid's expansion is a sticking point.
Health care issues: Using parliamentary maneuversSeptember 23rd, 2009 Health care issues: Using parliamentary maneuversA look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: If Senate Republicans continue to oppose Democratic plans to overhaul the nation's health care system, should majority Democrats employ a process called "reconciliation" to pass parts of it without Republican support?
THE POLITICS: Reconciliation is a procedure used to protect bills from being filibustered to death. It effectively lowers the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to a simple majority of 51.
Health care issues: Calculating the price tagSeptember 17th, 2009 Health care issues: Calculating the price tagA look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Is the Congressional Budget Office doing an accurate job of calculating how much the health care overhaul will cost?
THE POLITICS: Democrats pushing for overhaul of the nation's health care system face a dilemma — they want to cover as many people as generously as possible, while limiting the cost to deflect Republican accusations that they are addicted to spending and tax increases. That makes every dollar count.
Gibbs: Public option just 1 way to achieve goal of health insurance for millions without itSeptember 13th, 2009 Gibbs: Public option 1 way to meet coverage goalWASHINGTON — White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says it's not true that a health care overhaul will affect people who already have insurance. He says President Barack Obama is determined that health care legislation provides Americans with a choice of insurers and competition for the companies that now dominate the market.
McCain says Sen. Kennedy's absence has had a huge impact on efforts to pass health-care reformAugust 23rd, 2009 McCain: Health debate hurt by Kennedy's absenceWASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John McCain says the absence of ailing Ted Kennedy in pushing health-care reform has made a "huge, huge difference" in whether legislation gets passed.
Lessons learned from Mass. groundbreaking experiment with near-universal health careJuly 24th, 2009 Lessons learned from Mass. health care experimentSome of the lessons learned from Massachusetts' landmark experiment with near-universal coverage:
— Individual Mandate: A key to the Massachusetts law is the "individual mandate," the requirement that every resident be insured — either privately or through a subsidized plan — or face financial penalties;
— Affordability: For the individual mandate to work, Massachusetts had to make sure there were affordable insurance options, prompting the creation of a Health Care Connector Authority to refer the uninsured to state-subsidized or lower-cost plans;
— Plugging Holes: Early in the debate, Massachusetts lawmakers decided that rather than reinvent the entire health care system, the law would instead close a series of holes, allowing the vast majority of residents to keep existing plans;
— Business Backing: The Massachusetts law was built on a three-legged stool (government, business and individuals) requiring the support of business leaders, although not all agreed with a provision fining some companies that don't offer insurance.
Actress Edie Falco _ "Nurse Jackie" _ says there are 'holes' in health care systemJune 25th, 2009 Falco urges health care overhaul at Capitol rallyWASHINGTON — Award-winning actress Edie Falco, cable television's no-nonsense "Nurse Jackie," delivered a stern message to lawmakers Thursday: fix health care. "I'm here because I've traveled through the health care system and there are some holes," Falco, a breast cancer survivor, told a Capitol Hill rally for health care overhaul.
President Obama says he won't push health care plan on Congress, ready to hear other proposalsJune 11th, 2009 Obama: Cooperation with Hill needed on health careGREEN BAY, Wis. — President Barack Obama is vowing that he won't run roughshod over Congress in putting together legislation overhauling the country's health care system.
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