Health Care Costs

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(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 »

(Newser) - The GOP is losing its grip on the big-business vote, and Democrats need to seize the opportunity to move in, argues the American Prospect 's Paul Waldman. Health-care reform is the perfect peg for the left to woo Wall Street, and with single-payer systems far cheaper than the current mess, wise Democrats should be able to convert even the hardest-hearted CEO. More »

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced legislation yesterday to provide health insurance to the nearly 7 million Californians without it. Under his plan, all residents would be required to buy insurance, and the state would help low-income people pay for it. Businesses would have to provide insurance or help subsidize it. To help pay for the $14 billion expansion, Schwarzenegger wants to lease the state lottery to a management company. More »

(Newser) - Dems are likely loading political ammo after audits show that Medicare providers have cut thousands from coverage and snubbed those who complain. What's more, HIV/AIDS patients have been booted, standards flouted and phones left ringing. Dems have long opposed efforts to "privatize Medicare," but feds say the changes improve choice and slash prices, the New York Times reports. More »

(Newser) - The White House will work with Democrats toward a compromise on children's health insurance, Health Secretary Michael Leavitt said today. "If it takes more money, we'll put it up," he said, though he didn't specify how much. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is trying to get the 14 GOP votes the House needs to override Bush's veto of the bill, the AP reports. More »

(Newser) - The United Auto Workers have decided to sit down with Chrysler next, hoping to extend the terms of the contract negotiated with GM last month, Bloomberg reports. At Chrysler, the UAW will be dealing with a CEO who's been on the job just two months—Robert Nardelli, former chief of Home Depot—and new owners, private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which bought the struggling company from DaimlerChrysler earlier this year. More »