GOP Health Plan Would Leave 52M Uninsured

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.

Republicans trying to scare US out of discussion

(NEWSER) - When it comes to health care reform, Republicans have become “political terrorists,” trying to scare Americans in an effort to block consensus, writes Steven Pearlstein for the Washington Post. “There is no credible way to look at what has been proposed and conclude that these will result in a government takeover of the health-care system,” Pearlstein writes. That’s a “flat-out lie.” More»

Choice of provider could have big effect on your premiums

(NEWSER) - Yet another factor that could put a crimp in your wallet when it comes to health care: The cost of procedures such as colonoscopies, mammograms, and Pap smears vary wildly across the nation, according to a new report picked up by USA Today . Researchers found that colonoscopies, for instance, could total anywhere between $786 and $1,819, depending on such factors as where you live and whether you have it done in a hospital or a doctor's office. More»

Illegal immigrants, those without insurance, cost millions to care for

(NEWSER) - Look long enough in most hospitals, and you’ll probably find some decidedly unwelcome guests. Hospitals, particularly those in urban centers like New York, are faced with a growing burden from so-called “permanent patients,” who hospitals are stuck caring for even though they are well enough to be released, the New York Times reports. Hospitals by law cannot release a patient to a shelter or to the streets, so if patients have nowhere to go the hospital is stuck keeping them—and footing the bill. More»

Donald Berwick says 20-30% of health care spending helps no one

(NEWSER) - Between 20% and 30% of all US health care spending is pure “waste,” according to departing Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick. “Much is done that does not help patients at all, and many physicians know it,” Berwick said in an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, his last day on the job. He cited overtreatment of patients, the failure to coordinate care, complex administrative systems, burdensome regulations, and fraud as the main reasons for the “extremely high level of waste.” More»