health care costs

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Medical Bills Linked to 62% of Bankruptcies

Many bankrupt despite having health insurance, researchers find

(Newser) - Medical bills were a factor in 62% of American personal bankruptcies in 2007, marking a 50% rise over 6 years, a study found. Some three-quarters of these families couldn’t stay afloat despite having health insurance, Reuters reports. “Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations,...

In a Shift, Obama Willing to Require Insurance for All

(Newser) - President Obama has begun wading into the murky details of health care reform. In a letter to Democratic leaders, the president said he could accept a law that requires all Americans to buy insurance—provided it has a "hardship waiver" for those who can't afford it, reports the New ...

Why Our Health Care System Is a Mess

(Newser) - For a clear example of our warped health care system, look no further than McAllen, Texas. The border town is second only to Miami in how much it spends on health care per person—$15,000 per Medicare enrollee, twice the national average. The problem? Atul Gawande of the New ...

Terminally Ill Patients Avoid Hospice Talk

Doctors, poorly trained in breaking bad news, also procrastinate

(Newser) - Doctors and patients are prone to procrastinate when it comes to tough end-of-life decisions, according to a Harvard study. Researchers found that only about half of the 1,517 terminal lung cancer patients surveyed had discussed hospice with their doctors within four to seven months of their diagnosis. Hospice care...

Soda Tax Makes Good Sense
 Soda Tax Makes Good Sense 
OPINION
May 20, 2009 10:49 AM CDT

Soda Tax Makes Good Sense

(Newser) - The soda tax is a great idea, and its probable death at the hands of lobbyists serves to highlight all the problems with our tax system, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. The current system doesn’t raise enough money, and it’s “complex in all the...

Cut Down on C-Sections, Experts Tell US Women

Hospitals profit from unnecessary cesareans

(Newser) - American women are risking their health and driving up medical costs by having too many cesarean sections, the Los Angeles Times reports. The most common operation in the US, the C-section is used in 31% of births and accounts for 45% of rising birth costs. It can also lead to...

To Cut Deficit, Rein in Health Costs: Orszag
To Cut Deficit, Rein in Health Costs: Orszag
OPINION
May 15, 2009 10:35 AM CDT

To Cut Deficit, Rein in Health Costs: Orszag

Budget director makes White House's case for cutting expenses

(Newser) - With the future of Medicare and Social Security in the headlines, the Obama administration is jumping at the chance to push its health care reform agenda. Up today: budget director Peter Orszag. "Slower growth rate in overall health-care spending would help to promote and sustain a slowdown in...

Health Care Reform: What We Can Agree On
 Health Care Reform: 
 What We Can Agree On 
analysis
May 13, 2009 1:54 PM CDT

Health Care Reform: What We Can Agree On

High costs hurt all of us—here's how we can cut them

(Newser) - The issue of health care reform crops up regularly, then disappears—but now it may have a foothold, writes Karen Tumulty in Time. That’s because the focus of the issue is on the current system’s huge cost to everyone. Much of the spending may be unnecessary, and a...

Congress Weighs Soda Tax
 Congress Weighs Soda Tax 

May 12, 2009 7:41 AM CDT

Congress Weighs Soda Tax

A few cents on every can could improve health

(Newser) - With health care reform expected to run the government around $1.2 trillion, Congress is looking for ways to pay for it. A new idea bouncing around Capitol Hill is a soda tax, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Soda is clearly one of the most harmful products in the...

Bully for Health Care Players Joining in Cost Cutting

But is the gift on offer a Trojan horse?

(Newser) - The last time Democrats tried to reform health care, the insurance industry crushed them, spooking the public with its infamous "Harry and Louise" campaign. This time, it’s offering to help, along with doctors, hospitals, unions, and medical-device makers. “On the face of it, this is tremendously good...

Health Care Groups to Offer Obama $2T in Savings

(Newser) - Top health care industry reps meeting with President Obama today plan to say they can reduce costs by $2 trillion over the next 10 years to help him overhaul the health care system, Bloomberg reports. Committed to reforming health care this year, the coalition, which brings together insurance, hospitals, pharma,...

Doctor Shortage Could Hurt Obama Health Care Plans

More primary care physicians are needed to serve aging population, uninsured

(Newser) - President Obama's ambitious plants to expand health care for millions of currently uninsured Americans while simultaneously meeting the needs of aging boomers, may be stymied not only by politics-as-usual but a shortage of primary care physicians, the New York Times reports. Officials are weighing several options, including increasing Medicare payments...

Broke Feminist Faces Health Care Battle

Family tragedies have left Michelman with nothing

(Newser) - When Kate Michelman had mounting bills as a pregnant single mother of three in 1969, she lobbied for abortion rights and became one of America's top feminists. Now, treading water financially again, she's girding for a new fight—over health care. Her daughter is paralyzed and her husband has health...

India's Medical Innovators Have Much to Teach US

Experts search for better, cheaper methods

(Newser) - Sure, US hospitals lead the world in the latest technology—but they could learn a thing or two from India’s improving health care system, where pioneers are demonstrating how to give superior care without unnecessary costs, the Economist reports. “In our country’s patient-centric health system, you must...

Many Medicare Patients Leave Hospital, Then Quickly Return

Readmissions cost US billions a year

(Newser) - One-third of all Medicare patients hospitalized each year are readmitted within 90 days of being discharged, costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually, a new study found. Meanwhile, half of patients who went back in the first month after treatment had not seen a doctor in the interim. "Given the...

Alzheimer's Makes Care 3 Times as Costly

(Newser) - The health-care costs of Alzheimer’s patients are more than triple those of other older people, and that doesn’t include billions of hours of unpaid care from family members, a new report suggests. Compared with other people aged 65 and older, those with the mind-destroying disease are much more...

Mass. Seeks New Way to Pay for Health Plan

Most insured state in nation burdened by priciest care

(Newser) - Three years ago, Massachusetts politicians began what may be the gutsiest health care experiment the country has ever seen, bringing near-universal coverage to the state in record time. There’s just one problem: they put off any attempt to control costs, the New York Times reports. Massachusetts’ health care is...

Prez Won't Fight Tax on Health Benefits

Plan echoes McCain proposal slammed by campaigning Obama

(Newser) - Despite attacking John McCain for the idea on the campaign trail, President Obama will not oppose taxing some worker health benefits to fund health care reform, reports the New York Times reports. On the stump, Obama called a similar plan “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” While...

Report: US Gets Less Health for More $$$

Other nations in better health despite spending less

(Newser) - If the global economy were a 100-yard dash, the US would start 23 yards behind its competitors because its health care costs too much—about $2.4 trillion a year—and delivers too little, says a report out today. The authors and leading CEOs say the US funnels away resources...

White House Health Forum Convenes Today

Forum will give the floor to ranging viewpoints

(Newser) - President Barack Obama has invited to the White House more than 120 people with wide-ranging views on how to fix the US health-care system, one that still leaves millions uninsured despite being the world's costliest. The group of doctors, patients, business owners, and insurers is to gather for a forum...

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