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Next year's rising health costs may not be slowed by reform

"Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9 percent cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report Thursday from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers," the Associated Press reports.

18 Jun 2009

New polls find support for health reform, fear of costs

A series of new polls this week show support for major health care reform, but trepidation about certain policy proposals, and anxiety about quickly growing health care costs, the possibility of losing coverage, and the federal budget deficit in general.

18 Jun 2009

Republicans scold HELP Democrats over reform bill's price tag, government control

"It was particularly devastating on Wednesday when [Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah]" – a longtime friend of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., – "warned Democrats on the panel that they have already made some grave errors in their effort to write legislation overhauling the health care system," reports the New York Times in The Caucus Blog.

18 Jun 2009

Timeline for health legislation slips as HELP, Finance Committees hit snags

Senators delayed work Wednesday on one health care reform bill and hit partisan roadblocks on another as key lawmakers insisted they are still on track to have a bill on the floor by the middle of summer, The Washington Post reports.

18 Jun 2009

Senate Health Committee begins amending reform bill

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee began amending their version of sweeping health overhaul legislation Thursday, days after a Congressional Budget Office report found the bill would cost $1 trillion over ten years, leaving 37 million people uninsured and Senate Republicans skeptical, the Associated Press reports.

18 Jun 2009

Costs are soaring even as California considers further cuts to care programs

In Los Angeles County, being disabled can cost a year's income. That's because the annual cost of in-home care services for seniors living alone is now $319 more than this group's median income of $17,029.

18 Jun 2009

Can the private sector deliver public services?

The private sector has an important role to play in the delivery of public services, according to a new report by Professor Paul Grout of the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO). However, he argues that the desire to be profitable can be damaging in some cases, generally in public services where staff are motivated, not just by financial reward, but also by a desire to serve the greater public good.

18 Jun 2009

Penn researchers: Nursing needs a bailout, federal scholarships needed to fix nursing shortage

Researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing say having enough nurses to meet a national shortage is a "mathematical improbability" unless nursing schools admit more students through federal financial support in a potential bailout, according to an article in today's issue of Health Affairs.

18 Jun 2009

Call to protect hospitals, schools from impact of disasters

WHO and UNICEF today called on governments to strengthen risk reduction measures in four key areas so that health and education systems are able to cope with disasters, including the risks from climate change. These areas are:

18 Jun 2009

Health reform: The reality show

The health care reform discussion is beginning-at last!-to get real. On June 9, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee released a draft bill, and the Congressional Budget Office published an estimate that the bill would cost $1 trillion over 10 years and leave 35 million uninsured.

18 Jun 2009

Former Senators unveil bipartisan health proposal, would tax benefits, mandate coverage

Three former Senate majority leaders today unveiled a bipartisan health care reform package that would tax health benefits and includes individual and employer mandates.

18 Jun 2009

House GOP leadership outlines bill, responds to Senate Democrats struggle to keep costs down

Politico reports that "while Senate Democrats marked up a $1 trillion health care package Wednesday morning, House Republicans unveiled an outline of their own plan."

18 Jun 2009

Finance Committee 'slows down' its health legislation schedule

According to The Hill, "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Wednesday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of his healthcare bill has prompted him to rein in costs and admitted that could delay action on the legislation. His goal is to bring the cost of his panel's sprawling healthcare reform bill down from $1.6 trillion to $1 trillion, and to pay for it entirely with tax increases, spending cuts and other offsets."

18 Jun 2009

A rocky start for Senate panel's health reform debate

The Wall Street Journal reports that "the first meeting of a Senate panel to formally consider health-care legislation got off to a rocky start Wednesday as Republicans launched an attack on the bill's hefty costs and lack of detail on contentious provisions."

18 Jun 2009

Senate Health Committee to begin reform mark up today, finance to follow next week

Senate Democrats are scrambling to reduce the price tag of reform proposals, which initial estimates place at $1.6 trillion, The Wall Street Journal reports.

18 Jun 2009

Lobbyists strike at wellness programs

Wellness programs are not faring well as a campaign is mounting to strike a provision for them from reform legislation. Roll Call reports that "innocuous sounding 'wellness programs' that many employers would like to see included as part of health care reform legislation have sparked a lobbying campaign by disease groups, consumer organizations and unions.

18 Jun 2009