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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: health insurance

health insurance stories: 169 news summaries

1 - 20 of 169 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 9 Next >>

 Reid Rolls Out 
 Senate Health 
 Bill for Sat. 
 Showdown 

Public option weaker than House's, abortion restriction less severe

(Newser) - Harry Reid rolled out the Senate’s combined health care reform bill last night, earning oohs and ahhs from fellow Democrats, particularly over the price tag, and setting the stage for a cloture vote Saturday. The bill would cost a svelte $849 billion over 10 years while reducing the deficit... More »

Analysis

Abortion Amendment Not a Big Deal, by the Numbers

Only 13% of abortions are billed to private insurers

(Newser) - The Stupak-Pitts amendment clamping down on abortion funding by insurers isn’t the game changer it's been made out to be: It would affect only a tiny minority of women. Though 50% of privately insured women have plans that include abortion coverage, many, perhaps most, don't use it because of... More »

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RNC Insurance Plan Covers Employees' Abortions

A Steele spokesman says it's going to be changed

(Newser) - With abortion emerging as a sticking point in the health care debate, Politico has dug up a zinger on the Republican National Committee: Its own employee insurance policy covers elective abortions. "We are taking steps to address the issue," says an RNC spokeswoman, adding that the policy goes... More »

 GOP Wants to Resurrect 
 That Town Hall Feeling 

Party hopes to drum up anger over health bills

(Newser) - Republicans are hoping to re-create the late-summer town hall meetings at which angry voters lashed out over proposed health care legislation. Sen. Lamar Alexander tells Politico the party is planning 50 phone and in-person gatherings over the next few weeks. "If every American has a chance to read the... More »

BLOWBACK DEPT.

Dems Who Dissed Health Bill Feel Their Party's Wrath

39 House Democrats voted against it

(Newser) - They can't win. The 39 House Democrats who voted against the health care bill may have thought the move would win them the favor of their often Republican-heavy districts; instead they're fending off attacks from constituents and interest groups from the left, Politico reports. In Florida, about 60 people protested... More »

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(Newser) - Some 2,266 US veterans under 65 died last year because they didn't have health insurance, a team from Harvard Medical School estimates. Although most vets get medical care through the VA, there are about a million and a half, under 65, who were not wounded and are "too... More »

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 Senate Health Bill 
 Runs Into Abortion Divide 

Both sides have vocal opponents, could halt bill without compromise

(Newser) - With a last-second concession barring federal dollars from funding abortions, Nancy Pelosi largely skirted the full brunt of the issue, but Harry Reid may not be so lucky. The Senate majority leader likely won't get the 60 votes he needs without similar language— which a Planned Parenthood VP calls a... More »

 Abortion Dispute Could
 Derail Health Care Bill

Some Dems vow to block final passage

(Newser) - The abortion funding ban included in the health-care bill passed by the House Saturday could doom it down the road, as abortion supporters in the Senate threaten revolt, and those who voted for it in the House vow they won't back the final bill if it's still included, the Washington... More »

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 Healthcare 
 Bill Boosts 
 Pay for 
 Prayer 

Insurance firms urged to cover praying healers

(Newser) - A little-noticed provision in a Senate version of the pending health care bill would require insurance companies to consider paying for prayer as a medical expense. The addition was inserted by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and backed by Democrats John Kerry and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the home state... More »

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water works



 Grayson 
 Weeps on 
 House Floor 

Bemoans casualties of lack of health insurance

(Newser) - Alan Grayson continued with his penchant for the dramatic yesterday, shedding copious tears on the House floor as he read letters from families of people who died because they didn't have health insurance. “For god's sake, I look forward to a time when we have finally done our jobs,... More »

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How Insurers Got Their Way With Reform

Early, sophisticated lobbying effort paid off for health care industry

(Newser) - Though the final bill is still being hammered out, health reform appears to have given the insurance industry most of its wishes. Everyone will be required to buy insurance, there won’t be any limits on premiums, and any public option will likely be weak. They pulled off these anticipated... More »

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investigation

Insurers Drop Rape Victims Who Take HIV Meds

Assaulted women locked out of health care

(Newser) - Sexual assault victims prescribed precautionary HIV/AIDS meds risk being denied health insurance—because they have a pre-existing condition. The vast majority never develop the disease, but many have lost their insurance altogether, the Huffington Post reports. Others have been denied mental health care for PTSD that arose after they were... More »

Husband Enlists to Get Wife Back Into Chemotherapy

Unemployed Wis. man couldn't afford ballooning health costs, signs on with Army

(Newser) - Out of a job and unable to find work as the recession grinds on, a Wisconsin man desperate to find affordable chemotherapy for his cancer-stricken wife turned to Uncle Sam, but not for a handout—Bill Caudle, 39, enlisted in the Army. “Seventy percent of the reason is for... More »

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Health Reform Could Mean More Treatment Denials

None of the current bills force insurers to actually treat patients

(Newser) - Health care reform would force insurers to accept everyone, even those with pre-existing conditions; but it wouldn’t actually force them to treat those patients. None of the reform bills pending on Capitol Hill would restrict insurers’ ability to deny procedures for their customers, the LA Times reports. In... More »

 Dems Lash Out at 
 Insurance Industry 

They move to eliminate anti-trust exemption

(Newser) - All-out war broke out between the Democrats and the insurers today, with Chuck Schumer calling for an amendment to the health care bill that would remove the industry’s long-standing anti-trust immunity. Schumer called the exemption “one of the worst accidents of American history,” blaming it in part... More »

House, Senate Dems Split on 'Cadillac Tax'

As finance committee votes, caucus divided on how to fund reform

(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee is poised to send its bill to the full legislature today, but its provision taxing "Cadillac" insurance plans is raising hackles in the House. Max Baucus and other senators say taxing high-cost plans will raise $200 billion, a quarter of the legislation's price tag, and... More »

analysis

Industry Report Distorts Health Reform Cost

Insurance firms' numbers blindside Baucus bill's backers

(Newser) - A new report that says the Senate Finance Committee’s reform bill would raise private insurance premiums is riddled with troubling exceptions, writes Jonathan Cohn. The report, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, estimates the costs of premiums over time if the bill is implemented, but it doesn’t take... More »

Insurance Group Bashes Baucus Bill With Report

White House betrayed by 'hatchet job' predicting cost hikes

(Newser) - The White House is steamed this morning over a report, sponsored by the insurance industry, saying the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill would cause premiums and costs to rise. The report was commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry group that has until now supported reform... More »

Want to Save Dad? Insurance Won't Let You

And Congress fatcats need to overhaul this 'disgrace' now: Kristof

(Newser) - So dear old dad desperately needs a kidney, and the docs say you're the best fit. Tough luck, writes Nicholas Kristof in a look at the case of David Waddington, whose two sons can't donate—because pre-donation screening might reveal to insurance companies that they have the same genetic condition... More »

ANALYSIS

Over a Lifetime, Being a Gay Couple Can Cost $470K Extra

Detailed analysis takes health insurance, taxes, other benefits into account

(Newser) - An exhaustive analysis of the lifetime costs a committed gay couple faces compared to those of a heterosexual marriage finds that, in the worst case, the gay couple pays out nearly $470,000 extra. The study by the New York Times assumed the couples were together until one partner died,... More »

1 - 20 of 169 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 9 Next >>