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Bartering for health care rises

With no health insurance and little money, Gilberto Carrasco, a Reno, Nev., auto mechanic, didn't see much point in getting a physical. At 50, he felt healthy and couldn't afford treatment even if a doctor found a medical problem.

17 Jun 2009

HIV Medicine Association supports public plan option to ensure patients' needs are met

As Congress drafts health care reform legislation, HIV clinicians urge lawmakers to include a public plan option to ensure affordable access to comprehensive care for HIV patients - nearly 30 percent of whom have no insurance. The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) believes that a public plan option can help offer everyone the chance to benefit from early and reliable access to lifesaving HIV care and treatment.

16 Jun 2009

Access issues persist for Indians, rural Americans, immigrants

Several reports today focus on inadequate health care for certain population groups within the United States.

15 Jun 2009

Medical isotope shortage hurts hospitals and disrupts medical tests

Reuters reports that "a North American shortage of medical isotopes has forced many U.S. hospitals to begin rationing scores of diagnostic tests, and doctors said on Friday they see no quick solution."

15 Jun 2009

Obama considers taxing health benefits to pay for reform

As President Obama looks for a way to pay for health care reform in the United States, key Democrats advocate taxing employer-provided health benefits, The Washington Post reports.

15 Jun 2009

Medicare tapped for savings to cover reform costs, again

In his weekly Internet and radio address Saturday, President Obama announced a plan to cut $313 billion in Medicare and Medicaid spending over the next decade as a way to raise money for overhauling the health care system and covering millions of the uninsured, the Los Angeles Times reports.

15 Jun 2009

Administration could find compromise in ‘co-op’ plan

"With Republicans fighting the idea of a government-run health insurance plan, members of President Barack Obama's team said Sunday that they are open to a compromise: a cooperative program that would expand coverage with taxpayer money but without direct governmental control," the Associated Press reports. The non-profit, health insurance cooperatives were suggested in Congress by Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the concession could be a path to bipartisan health reform legislation (Elliott, 6/15).

15 Jun 2009

MedPAC: Medicare must reinvent its payment systems to improve quality, save money

A low-profile commission that advises Congress on Medicare has renewed its call for lawmakers to reinvent from the ground up the way doctors, hospitals and other providers are paid.

15 Jun 2009

Prevention efforts have little success in reducing illness, cost

As health reform heats up, many lawmakers agree that the government should take a larger role in preventing disease. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that "many previous government prevention efforts aimed at costly chronic diseases have had little success in reducing illness or costs."

13 Jun 2009

Insurers, business owners and doctors increase lobbying as details of health plan emerge

Insurers, business owners, and doctors -- three principal interest groups in health reform -- are stepping up their opposition and lobbying efforts as details of the health plans emerge.

13 Jun 2009

Medicare reimbursement issues enter health reform debate

New legislation introduced yesterday would attempt to shift Medicare reimbursement policy to reward patient health outcomes, rather than the volume of services provided, MinnPost, a nonprofit online news organization, reports. "We need to be sure to keep score," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who introduced the bill, according to MinnPost. "That means measuring outcomes and rewarding providers that deliver quality results."

13 Jun 2009

Lawmakers want Federal rules to cover home health care workers and end-of-life care

Lawmakers want federal rules to cover home health care workers while Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., plans to introduce legislation in Congress today to better educate the public on end-of-life care.

13 Jun 2009

A group of health CEOs want to end Medicare fee-for-service payments

A group of more than a half dozen CEOs from some of America's largest health care providers on Friday called for an end to fee-for-service payments under Medicare, and for incentives to create administrative efficiencies to lower costs to help pay for America's health care reform.

13 Jun 2009

Penn conducts largest national study on hospital patient satisfaction as it relates to nurse work environments

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing conclude patients report higher satisfaction in hospitals that offer better work environments for nurses or fewer patients-to-nurse ratios, according to a new study published in today's issue of Health Affairs.

13 Jun 2009

Putting a price tag on health reform spreads unease

Taxes, fees for business and spending cuts could help lawmakers pay the $1-trillion-plus cost of health reform, but those possibilities have spurred a behind-the-scenes lobbying fight on Capitol Hill, and caused a fair share of anxiety among many interest groups, the Los Angeles Times reports.

11 Jun 2009

Medicare payment rates cause concern

Legislation in Congress would boost Medicare payment rates for some doctors who claim they are are routinely underpaid for services in California. Meanwhile hearings in South Dakota focus on Medicare reimbursement issues in rural areas.

11 Jun 2009

Use Medicare to hold industry to cost and quality promises

On June 1, leaders of the health care industry reaffirmed their pledge to reform a health care system that is rife with inefficiencies, costs too much, and fails to deliver the quality of care Americans expect.

11 Jun 2009

Democrats target a dozen GOP senators in quest for health reform deal

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and other Democratic leaders are targeting more than a dozen moderate and conservative Republicans as they pursue a bipartisan deal to extend health care coverage to nearly 46 million uninsured Americans.

11 Jun 2009

KHN's Mary Agnes Carey discusses the latest developments in Senate, House reform bills

Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee today released their health care reform bill called "Affordable Health Choices Act." Kaiser Health News Senior Correspondent Mary Agnes Carey discusses the bill with the Kaiser Family Foundation's Jackie Judd.

10 Jun 2009

HELP Committee postpones day of reckoning

Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released their health care proposal today, but left out for now the two elements Republicans dislike the most -- a new government-run insurance plan and a requirement that employers provide coverage or pay a penalty.

10 Jun 2009