Young Adults Biggest Fans of Health Care Reform

...with $4.5K in unpaid medical bills

(NEWSER) - Mary Brown, who became the lead plaintiff in the National Federation of Independent Business' challenge of President Obama's health-care law because she didn't have insurance and didn't want to be forced to buy it, recently filed for bankruptcy … with $4,500 worth of unpaid medical bills. Obama administration lawyers were quick to point out that Brown's own situation is now a good illustration of the "uncompensated care that will ultimately be paid by others." Adds a health law expert, "This is so ironic. It just shows that all Americans inevitably have a need for health care. Somebody has paid for her health care costs." More»

Coverage up among 19- to 25-year-olds, now eligible for parents' insurance

(NEWSER) - Roughly 2.5 million people between the ages of 19 and 25 have gained health insurance since President Obama signed his health care reform bill, more than double the 1 million the White House had been expecting, according to a new administration analysis. The bump is almost entirely due to a provision in a law that allows young people to remain on their parents' coverage until age 26. More»

Don't be taken in by misinformation, warns Paul Krugman

(NEWSER) - Health care reform has made a miraculous comeback but its opponents are going to try to hoodwink the public with misinformation and lies down the home stretch, writes Paul Krugman. He outlines "three big myths" about reform in the New York Times .

• "The government is grabbing control of a sixth of the economy." Private insurance—mostly regulated, subsidized employee plans—only makes up a third of health spending. The only extra place the government is intervening now is the "disastrous" market in which people buy their own plans, he notes.

Fallback measure would cover 15M uninsured

(NEWSER) - The White House has a less ambitious health care plan waiting in the wings if today's health care summit fails to win enough support for sweeping change. The scaled-back plan would provide health insurance to some 15 million Americans, about half the number the larger bill would cover, for a quarter of the comprehensive bill's $950 billion 10-year cost, officials tell the Wall Street Journal. More»

Another 8% to drop coverage entirely, survey reveals

(NEWSER) - Many Americans are happy with their employer-sponsored health care plans and eager to keep them, but they won't be keeping them at the current price, the Washington Post reports. In a survey released yesterday, some 40% of employers said they expect to increase the amount their employees paid for health care next year—raising premiums, deductibles, and the cost of prescription drugs. Some 9% said they expect to tighten eligibility for benefits. Another 8% intend to drop coverage entirely. More»