Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: health insurance

health insurance stories: 171 news summaries

81 - 100 of 171 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

Medical Bills Linked to
62% of Bankruptcies

Many bankrupt despite having health insurance, researchers find

Jun 4, 09 8:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Medical bills were a factor in 62% of American personal bankruptcies in 2007, marking a 50% rise over 6 years, a study found. Some three-quarters of these families couldn’t stay afloat despite having health insurance, Reuters reports. “Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health care costs • health insurance • bankruptcy • research • medical bills

 Universal Health Care 
 Plan Looks Likely 



Compromise bill may include an 'Orbitz for insurance'

Jun 1, 09 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama's overhaul of the American health care system is quietly taking shape, and Democrats and Republicans both say a consensus plan looks likely. Politico reports on what the health reform bill, which must be passed by August, might look like: Guaranteed insurance for all Americans, who will probably be... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Congress • health insurance • health care reform • insurance industry • Obama administration

OPINION

 Kennedy: 
 An Outline for  
 Health-Care Reform 

Sen. offers 5 key elements of coming legislation

May 28, 09 1:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - The US health-care system that “shortchanges millions of Americans” is “about to change,” writes Ted Kennedy in the Boston Globe. The senator lays out five key elements of legislation he’s working on with “colleagues on both sides of the aisle”:
  1. Americans will have “
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Congress • health insurance • public health • Ted Kennedy • legislation • health care reform

Insured Foot Bill for Uninsured Patients' Care

Companies pass along 'hidden health tax' of $1K+ per family

May 28, 09 11:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - If you have health insurance, you’re paying a “hidden tax” to care for the uninsured, says a nonprofit advocating government-backed health care. The group says insurance companies pass on the cost of treating the uninsured to their subscribers, to the tune of $1,017 per family last year,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • health care reform • Families USA

OPINION

Obama Must Tax Employer Health Insurance

To pay for new system, he must tax old 'crazy' one: Reich

May 26, 09 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - During the campaign, Barack Obama was scathing about John McCain’s plan to tax employer-provided health benefits. But Obama’s going to have to bite the bullet and tax them himself if he wants to pay for his own health care initiative, writes Robert Reich in Salon. Now that Congress... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • health insurance • taxes • health care reform • Robert Reich • Obama administration

OPINION

Did Our Health Care System Kill Jay Bennett?

Musician's death
has scary implications for the rest of us

May 26, 09 12:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - The death of 45-year-old musician Jay Bennett, former member of the band Wilco, is “intolerably sad”—but its implications about our current health care system are also “downright scary,” writes the Cajun Boy on Gawker. Bennett, fired from Wilco in 2001, sued the band’s frontman... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • death • health care reform • hip replacement • Jay-ZTV • Jay Bennett • Wilco

Pfizer Offers Free Lipitor, Viagra to Jobless

70 drugs available to those who lost jobs since Jan. 1

May 14, 09 10:27 AM CDT
(AP) - Pfizer is unveiling a new program that will let people who have lost their jobs and health insurance keep taking some of its medications—including Lipitor and Viagra—for free for up to a year. The world’s biggest drugmaker will provide more than 70 of its prescription drugs free... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • Pfizer • Viagra • unemployment • Lipitor • pharmaceutical industry • jobless • Jay-ZTV

OPINION


Bully for Health Care Players Joining in
Cost Cutting

But is the gift on offer
a Trojan horse?

May 11, 09 10:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - The last time Democrats tried to reform health care, the insurance industry crushed them, spooking the public with its infamous "Harry and Louise" campaign. This time, it’s offering to help, along with doctors, hospitals, unions, and medical-device makers. “On the face of it, this is tremendously good... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care costs • health insurance • health care reform • Paul Krugman • Obama administration • Jay-ZTV

OPINION

 6 Steps 
 to Reform 
 Health Care 
 Now: Kennedy 

Senator lists needed steps for system overhaul

May 4, 09 10:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - This is the year to end an “American tragedy” and overhaul health care, Sen. Ted Kennedy writes in Politico. The Census Bureau said last year that 46 million Americans had no health insurance--and the economic crisis has added another 4 million to the ranks of the uninsured. It’s... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • Ted Kennedy • health care reform • uninsured

Liberals to Obama: Don't
Sell Us Out on Health Care

President considering compromise on key public insurance measure

Apr 21, 09 9:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Progressive groups are worried that President Obama is going to go wobbly on them on health care. The Washington Post reports that the president has signaled he's open to compromise on the inclusion of a public insurance plan. Key conservatives like Sen. Charles Grassley hate the idea of a public... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • Charles Grassley • labor unions • health care reform • Tom Daschle • President Obama • Andy Stern


 Broke Feminist 
 Faces Health 
 Care Battle 

Family tragedies have left Michelman with nothing

Apr 19, 09 4:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - When Kate Michelman had mounting bills as a pregnant single mother of three in 1969, she lobbied for abortion rights and became one of America's top feminists. Now, treading water financially again, she's girding for a new fight—over health care. Her daughter is paralyzed and her husband has health... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care costs • health insurance • Parkinson's disease • feminists • paralysis • NARAL • Kate Michelman

(Newser) - One is a 59-year-old liberal who used to advocate for senior citizens. The other is a 75-year-old conservative businessman. But together senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Robert Bennett of Utah may have crafted a bipartisan health plan with legs, writes Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal. Their... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • Robert S. Bennett • universal health care • health care reform • Ron Wyden

(Newser) - The push for health care reform got a significant boost today: Big insurers say they are willing to stop charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions, the New York Times reports. In the surprise move, industry leaders say they are willing to give up the practice if Congress... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • health insurance • health insurance premiums • health care reform • health insurers

Mass. Seeks New Way to Pay for Health Plan

Most insured state
in nation burdened
by priciest care

Mar 16, 09 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Three years ago, Massachusetts politicians began what may be the gutsiest health care experiment the country has ever seen, bringing near-universal coverage to the state in record time. There’s just one problem: they put off any attempt to control costs, the New York Times reports. Massachusetts’ health care is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Mitt Romney • health care costs • health insurance • Massachusetts • universal health care • Deval Patrick

(Newser) - If you want to understand the phrase “too big to fail,” look no further than AIG, the Los Angeles Times reports. With $1.1 trillion at the end of 2007, operations in 130 countries and 74 million customers, AIG is so entrenched in the global financial system that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • insurance companies • AIG • bailout • life insurance • airlines • financial crisis • TARP

(Newser) - Health-care policy debate in America is usually framed around the 45 million (and rising) uninsured, but rarely do policymakers bring up the additional 25 million facing the “shadow problem” of under-insurance, Time reports. These people pay more than 10% of their income on out-of-pocket medical costs, often on flimsy... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health • health insurance • health insurance premiums • children's health care • Bill Maher Grid

Republicans Hope for 1994 All Over Again

But Dems are in a
better position than
they were under Clinton

Feb 23, 09 2:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama is banking on change, but Republicans are betting things haven’t changed much at all. They’re hoping to bounce back from the political wasteland using the same playbook that swept them into power in 1994, Jeanne Cummings writes in Politico. The strategy: Unite against Democrats' economic policy,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Newt Gingrich • health insurance • Bill Clinton • health care reform • Grover Norquist • economic stimulus package • political strategy • Republicans

Back-Room Consensus: Require Health Insurance for All

Kennedy leads meetings with industry

Feb 20, 09 11:55 AM CST
(Newser) - A series of unprecedented back-room meetings among the biggest players in health care is close to a consensus: Any new legislation will require that every American have insurance, the New York Times reports. The next part, of course, is trickier: figuring out how to enforce it, how to make it... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • insurance companies • business • Ted Kennedy • health care industry • Medicaid • labor unions • health care reform

McDonald's Won't Pay Hospital Bills of Hero Employee

Worker got shot protecting customer

Feb 19, 09 5:18 PM CST
(Newser) - It doesn't pay to be a hero, sometimes. A McDonald's employee who stepped in to prevent a man from beating up a woman in the restaurant got shot multiple times and ended up with $300,000 in medical bills. Now McDonald's says it's won't pay up because his injuries "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • McDonald's • medical bills • hero

(Newser) - Clenched jaws abound during this recession, and a combination of stress-related damage and layoff victims rushing to be treated before they lose their insurance is helping keep dentistry afloat as the economy dives. Dentist's offices last year reported the highest profit margins of any industry, including top moneymakers like accounting... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • recession • unemployment • dentists • dentistry • profit margins • what recession?

81 - 100 of 171 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next >>


from our news partners