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Health Care Costs

Started by S Goldstein; Last updated Feb 28, 08 11:39 AM CST by D Lim | View history

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Health Care Costs

The price tag for getting treated shouldn't make you feel worse than the disease...right?

Stories

Stories 81 - 100 of 107

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September 2007
- Health Insurance Premiums Soar
  
  Bloomberg | Sep 12, 07 1:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Health insurance premiums zoomed 6.1% this year, far outrunning inflation and worker earnings, a new study has found. Since 2001, premiums for family coverage have risen 78% percent, while wages have increased by only 19% and inflation by 17%, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows. Still, this year's hike is the smallest in eight years. More »
- Two Docs' Heads Are Better Than 1
  
  CNN | Sep 7, 07 1:56 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When diagnosis is difficult, the procedure is risky, or less-invasive alternatives are available, a second opinion is essential. CNN lists five diagnoses that should send up red flags: Heart-bypass surgery: Alternatives may be better for some patients. Hysterectomy: The uterus isn't always the problem, and when it is, less dramatic alternatives are available. More »
August 2007
- Cancer Society Takes on Health Care Policy
  
  New York Times | Aug 31, 07 1:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The American Cancer Society’s next ad campaign won’t tackle the tobacco wars or advocate mammograms, the Times reports. Instead, the group will devote its entire $15 million ad budget to the nation’s health care crisis. The move follows recent research linking detection delays with lack of coverage, which “will be a bigger cancer killer than tobacco,” the society predicts. More »
- US Poverty Rate Dips, but Uninsured Swell
  
  Washington Post | Aug 29, 07 4:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The US poverty rate has finally taken a downturn for the first time in 10 years, census figures show. The poverty rate was 12.3% in 2006, down from 12.6% the previous year, and annual household income rose to $48,200. But the news isn't all rosy: the number of people without health insurance soared to a record 47 million, and income inequality has never been greater. More »
- 10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs
  
  MSNBC | Aug 17, 07 5:38 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Avoid financial injury by following these ten tips from MSNBC : Shop for tests. Different labs may vary widely in costs. Negotiate. Hospitals may waive or reduce a co-pay fee if the patient can prove that it's a hardship. Question the necessity of follow-up appointments, X-rays or MRIs. More »
- US Lags in Life Expectancy
  
  Associated Press | Aug 12, 07 1:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The US has slipped to 42nd place in international rankings of life expectancy, the AP reports. Two decades ago, the US was in 11th place. The downgrade is partially due to the fact that the more countries are included in the survey, but rising health insurance costs, skyrocketing obesity rates, high infant mortality, and racial disparities are most likely to blame for putting the US behind most industrialized nations. More »
- Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs
  
  New York Times | Aug 8, 07 6:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Scores of prescription drugs are getting cheaper, as name-brand patents expire and open the door to generic imitators. That's bad news for pharmaceutical companies, the Times reports, but it means that an aging population ever more reliant on drugs will be paying as much as 80 percent less for them. More »
- Why Small Government Has Collapsed
  
  American Prospect | Aug 8, 07 6:08 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Democrats have never been so well positioned to sell big-government liberalism—as the other side looks pathetically out of step with Americans’ desires to expand health care and bolster infrastructure, says the American Prospect ’s Paul Waldman. After the Minnesota bridge collapse, the public is ready for the party that says “we’re all in it together” rather than “we’re all on our own.” More »
- Grocery Chain Offers Free Rx Meds
  
  Associated Press | Aug 6, 07 3:17 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pharmacies in Publix supermarkets across five Southern states will distribute seven antibiotics free to patients with prescriptions, the chain said today. The CEO allows that one goal is to drive customer traffic, but it's also an example of the private sector assisting access to affordable health care, the AP reports. Wal-Mart and Kmart recently started selling uber-cheap meds. More »
- House Passes Health Plan for 4M More Kids
  
  New York Times | Aug 2, 07 4:37 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The House has passed a sweeping expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program that will extend covered to 4 million uninsured kids using revenue from cigarette taxes and cuts in subsidies to private Medicare plans. The bill, which was approved 225-204, is a step toward universal coverage over Republican objections, reports the New York Times. More »
July 2007
- Hospitals Make Progress Against Infections
  
  New York Times | Jul 27, 07 12:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Infections picked up in hospitals kill nearly 100,000 people in the US every year and are on the rise, but some institutions seem to have found a remedy: simple hygiene. The Times visits the VA hospital in Pittsburgh, which has slashed the rate of virulent bacterial infections by using simple, cheap measures such as making hand sanitizer widely available. More »
- 8 Yanks Graduate From Cuban Med School
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jul 26, 07 6:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine graduated its first batch of American students this week, helping raise the eight-year-old school's profile. There are 90 more already enrolled in the free program, which comes with an exemption to the ban on travel to Cuba for Americans. Students are selected by the US Congressional Black Caucus and a non-profit group, Pastors for Peace. More »
- Good for the President, Not for the People?
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | Jul 25, 07 4:58 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Even as Bush knocks “government-run health care,” San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Lazarus points out, he receives a generous helping of it: The president's colonoscopy last week was of course performed by first-rate taxpayer-funded professionals at a taxpayer-funded facility. More »
- House Dems Call for Expanded Health Care Bill
  
  New York Times | Jul 23, 07 9:29 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Senate reached a rare bipartisan agreement to beef up insurance coverage for low-income kids, and now House Democrats are proposing a health care plan with an even wider scope. Their plan yokes the children's coverage to big changes in Medicare, and is sure to heat up the confrontation between the White House and Congress over health care, the New York Times reports. More »
- UAW Gears Up for Contract Talks on Health Care
  
  New York Times | Jul 19, 07 9:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The United Automobile Workers Union starts high-stakes contract talks with Detroit automakers tomorrow, at a time when the union counts more retirees than active workers in its ranks—meaning higher health-care costs—and the American automotive industry is in dire financial straits. The talks are being called "the most important in a generation," the Times reports. More »
- Bush Rejects Plan to Expand Health Care for Kids
  
  Washington Post | Jul 19, 07 10:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Bush rebuffed a health care compromise yesterday that would expand a program that provides coverage to poor children. The Senate's bipartisan proposal would insure 3.3 million more kids, but Bush says he'll veto any expansion of government health care on philosophical grounds—despite pleas from within the GOP. More »
- Moore Ready to Rumble
  
  Michaelmoore.com | Jul 14, 07 10:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In an open letter to CNN, Michael Moore takes issue with what he considers to be a biased report on his movie Sicko . He demands an apology and promises to become CNN's "worst nightmare" unless one is forthcoming promptly. More »
- Uninsured Ignore New Health-Care Law
  
  Christian Science Monitor | Jul 2, 07 5:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A law requiring Massachusetts residents to have health insurance kicked in yesterday, but two-thirds of the 372,000 residents who need coverage haven't signed up, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Massachusetts is a pioneer in universal health care, and most people eligible for subsidized care have insurance, but some 6% of the state's population currently goes without. More »