Health Care Costs

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February 2008
- Hillary's Health Plan Covers 22 Million More
  
  New York Times | Feb 4, 08 8:53 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have health plans that sound similar but are vastly different in effect, the New York Times ' Paul Krugman writes. Obama wants to make coverage affordable in the hope that Americans will sign up—a change that seems unlikely considering current coverage patterns. But Hillary's plan would mandate care, cover 22 million more Americans, and make health care nearly universal. More »
January 2008
- Arnold's Health Plan Terminated
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jan 29, 08 3:40 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plans for a near-universal health care insurance system in California have been terminated after a year-long effort to win the support of lawmakers. The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by California's Senate Health Committee, with only 1 of 11 senators voting in favor of the plan, reports the Los Angeles Times . Senators blasted the proposal, which was passed last month by the state Assembly, as "fairy tale" reform. More »
- Partisan Rift Stalls Health Reform, for Now
  
  Associated Press | Jan 20, 08 7:29 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A partisan split over health care will likely stall all attempts at reform, at least until a new president takes office next year, the AP reports. Bush's health secretary, Mike Leavitt, opposes Dem ideas about negotiating drug prices and boosting dollars for children's care. “I’m not expecting too much cooperation or bipartisanship,” said Texas GOP Rep. Joe Barton. More »
- ER Waiting Times Tripled Since 1997
  
  Reuters | Jan 16, 08 4:51 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - With emergency room visits and hospital overcrowding on the rise, waiting times have grown dangerously long—36% longer than they were in 1997. A new study in medical journal Health Affairs cites especially troubling waits for heart attack victims, with 25% waiting at least 50 minutes to see a doctor in 2004. The average heart attack patient waited 8 minutes in 1997 and 20 minutes in 2004. More »
- Candidates Talk Health Care, But Not Their Own
  
  NPR | Jan 14, 08 7:52 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - With health insurance heating up campaign trails, NPR takes a look at how the candidates are covered, and finds not all of them forthcoming. Sitting senators are eligible for a federal plan, which is good but no panacea—packed with co-pays and deductibles. John Edwards reports he and his family are covered through his campaign. But Romney, Huckabee, and Thompson declined to share details about their own coverage, or those of their staffs. More »
- US Health Care Spending Tops Record $2T
  
  Bloomberg | Jan 9, 08 4:40 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - US health-care spending in 2006 increased 6.7% to a record $2.1 trillion—an average of $7,000 for every person in America. Medicare spending jumped 19%, its fastest growth rate in 25 years, according to the latest government statistics published yesterday in the journal Health Affairs . The Medicare boost was due largely to shifting 6.2 million low-income seniors from Medicaid drug programs to a subsidized Medicare prescription plan. More »
- Was Company at Fault in Teen's Death?
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 7, 08 2:20 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Seventeen-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died waiting for a liver transplant in December, has become the poster girl for John Edwards' call for a government-run health plan. Insurance giant Cigna denied her family's claim for the procedure, then reversed its decision a month later. She died shortly thereafter. But the story isn't as clear-cut as Edwards suggests in his stump speeches, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
- Safari With That Liposuction?
  
  CNN | Jan 3, 08 4:57 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Americans looking to get cosmetic surgery are eschewing expensive procedures at home and opting for "medical tourism," traveling abroad for cheaper procedures—that sometime come with exotic vacation perks. Countries including South Africa, Argentina, Thailand, Brazil and Singapore are marketing their health services to Americans with the promise of lower prices—and, CNN reports, a vacation getaway. More »
- New Tech Tracks Things Left Behind
  
  Chicago Tribune | Jan 2, 08 2:12 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Hospitals are turning to technology to cut down on incidents of doctors sewing up surgical patients with sponges and other items left inside, the Chicago Tribune reports. A bar-coding system to ensure what goes in comes back out is one solution; another involves tagging items with chips that allow them to be detected with a radio-frequency wand. More »
December 2007
- Rule Threatens Retiree Health Benefits
  
  New York Times | Dec 27, 07 5:00 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A new policy will let employers cut or drop medical benefits for retirees once they pass the age of 65 and qualify for Medicare. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has created a specific exemption from age discrimination rules that will allow employers to create two classes of retirees with different benefits, the New York Times reports. More »
- 'They Took My Daughter Away From Me'
  
  Los Angeles Times | Dec 21, 07 7:15 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The family of a 17-year-old whose insurer had refused to OK a liver transplant plans to sue the company in the wake of the girl's death, the Los Angeles Times reports. Leukemia patient Nataline Sarkisyan died after Cigna HealthCare refused to fund the transplant despite doctors’ recommendations. After online and public protests, the company relented, but the decision came too late. More »
- Uninsured Cancer Patients Die More Often
  
  Associated Press | Dec 20, 07 4:26 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Cancer patients without health insurance are 1.6 times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than the insured, the AP reports. A new study by the American Cancer Society examined records for 600,000 patients under 65 in 1,500 US hospitals and found that 35% of the uninsured were dead after five years, whereas only 23% of those with private insurance or Medicaid had died. More »
- Calif. Closer to Expanding Health Care
  
  Los Angeles Times | Dec 18, 07 5:35 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The lower house of the California legislature yesterday approved a $14.4 billion bill to expand health care to millions of residents, a move analysts say could spark similar actions nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports. But first skeptical state senators and voters must weigh in. The plan would require most Californians to buy insurance, and aid some with tax credits and subsidies. More »
- Bush Vetoes Kids' Health Bill Again
  
  New York Times | Dec 12, 07 6:49 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - President Bush today vetoed for the second time expansion of a federal program that provides health insurance to poor and middle-class children, the New York Times reports. Bush called the proposed overhaul fiscally irresponsible, because it would cover too many undeserving recipients and raise taxes. Democrats will now try to push through a one-year extension of the bill at its current funding. More »
November 2007
- Take 2 and IM Him in the Morning
  
  Yahoo! | Nov 18, 07 10:43 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Eschewing traditional practice, a Brooklyn doctor is using the Internet to generate and conduct much of his business, Yahoo News reports. For $500, patients get three yearly examinations from Jay Parkinson, and can email or text him during the business day. "I'm not so much an online doctor," Parkinson says. "I am a doctor who utilizes good communication for my patients." More »
- Bowing to Critics, Wal-Mart Overhauls Health Plans
  
  New York Times | Nov 13, 07 10:55 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Wal-Mart’s reputation for high-cost, low-benefit employee health care has led to battles with politicians, communities, and organized labor. The bad publicity hurt its reputation and, ultimately, its bottom line. Now, reports the New York Times , the nation’s largest private employer has a new prescription for health care, offering employees more affordable plans. More »
October 2007
- Firms Help Workers Kick Butts
  
  New York Times | Oct 26, 07 10:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Smoking, everybody's favorite target, is now drawing fire from employers looking to cut medical costs by helping workers kick the habit, the New York Times reports. Employers gain significantly when employees quit, because a typical smoker racks up $16,000 in additional lifetime medical costs and saps productivity with smoking breaks and absenteeism. More »
- Clinics Test Prepaid Health Plans
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 22, 07 2:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Primary care is increasingly out of reach for patients and unprofitable for physicians, but a prepaid plan at a walk-in clinic could provide a solution, one doctor says. Vic Wood charges a monthly fee for basic and urgent care, allowing his practice to stay afloat and his uninsured patients to get medical treatment. But it's not all good news, the Journal reports. More »
- War Has Just Begun on Kids Health Care
  
  Salon | Oct 20, 07 10:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When the vote to override President Bush's veto of a children's health insurance bill failed in the House this week, it marked a campaign watershed, Salon 's Walter Shapiro writes, predicting that it will be replayed endlessly in attack ads as congressional races heat up. The lines are drawn: Democrats will frame the issue as saving kids vs. saving money. Republicans will champion fiscal restraint: covering only the poorest children. More »
- Smoking Has Its Price, and It's $1,200 a Year
  
  South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Oct 10, 07 6:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A South Florida Sun-Sentinel writer is crying foul over his newspaper's parent company charging a “tobacco use fee”—a health plan add-on that punishes employees for smoking. Michael Mayo says he “was completely shocked” to learn his employer would extract $100 a month from any employee who smokes or requests insurance coverage for a family member who does. More »