Public Doesn't Want to Pay for Health Care Fix

Poll shows 49% in favor of new law, to 40% opposed

(NEWSER) - The ink is barely dry on the new health care reform law, but the public has already come around on it, says a new USA Today/Gallup poll . Among those surveyed, 48% called the law “a good first step,” saying more should be done to reform the system. Roughly half said they were either “encouraged” or “pleased” by the bill’s passage, compared to only 40% who were “disappointed” or “angry.” More»

(NEWSER) - Current health care legislation would require every American to buy health insurance, but would do little or nothing to control the skyrocketing premiums they’d have to pay, the LA Times reports. Versions of the bill try to address the problem indirectly—with a public option in the House bill and nonprofit co-ops in Baucus’s Senate bill—but no one is proposing the direct premium controls states have on other mandated insurances, like auto insurance. 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»

Newt Gingrich is 20 points behind him in new poll

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney appears poised for a crushing victory in Nevada, leading Newt Gingrich there by a whopping 45% to 25%, according to a new poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal . Romney's total is powered by Nevada's comparatively large Mormon population, 85.5% of which says it intends to vote for him. Gingrich, meanwhile, is polling best among those who identify themselves as strong supporters of the Tea Party, with 37% to Romney's 27%. 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»