US Health Care Spending Tops Record $2T

Related Newser Stories

• Recession-Battered States Slash Medicaid

  Dec 26, 08 7:14 CST
  As states across the country struggle to cope with staggering budget shortfalls, 19 of them have cut back on Medicaid, reports the Washington Post. The states, along with DC, are lowering payments to hospitals and nursing homes, ending coverage for less common treatments, and booting some citizens out of the program entirely. "It's not a pretty list at all," said the director of Utah's Medicaid program.
  More »

• Money or Your Life? Brits Weigh Drug Cost Vs. Benefit

  Dec 3, 08 11:38 CST
  A British government institute that approves drugs based on cost-benefit analysis is coming under fire at home even as other countries are seeing it as a model for bringing down costs, the New York Times reports. Though the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence often balks at expensive life-prolonging medications—denying one cancer patient a $54000 treatment that would have given him six months—some see it “as the only workable paradigm” of US reform. More »

• Medicaid Spends Millions on Drugs FDA Never Approved

  Nov 23, 08 8:02 PM CST
  Taxpayer dollars still pay for unapproved prescription drugs that have sold for decades and are linked to dozens of deaths, the AP reports. In the past 5 years, at least $200 million has been paid for drugs like cold and pain medications that were never approved by the FDA, yet are covered by Medicaid. The problem dates back to 1962, when a bill "grandfathered" drugs already on the market, allowing them to exist without FDA approval.
  More »

• Senate Dem Unveils Broad Health Reform

  Nov 12, 08 7:21 CST
  Barack Obama made health care reform a key plank of his campaign, but even before he's been inaugurated Congressional Democrats are introducing legislation to transform the system. Leading the charge is Max Baucus, the Montana senator who leads the finance committee. His plan, which he'll introduce today, guarantees health insurance for all citizens—by expanding Medicaid and Medicare, easing purchases of private insurance, and changing rules for employers.
  More »

• Pinched Patients Skimping on Vital Medication

  Oct 22, 08 12:58 CDT
  Cash-strapped consumers nationwide are risking their health by cutting back on prescription drugs, the New York Times reports. Some try to stretch out their supply by splitting their pills in half or taking them every other day. Others choose for themselves which medications to stop taking, increasing the chances of serious—and costly—health problems in the future.
  More »