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The president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota says health care reform measures in Congress would accelerate increases in insurance costs.
In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making "immoral" and "obscene" returns while "the bodies pile up."
Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo? Answer: They're all more profitable than the health insurance industry.
Where someone lives makes a difference in whether or not that person has health insurance.
The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose modestly again this year, but researchers predict a return to bigger increases that may eventually produce crippling premiums if left unchecked.
Lawmakers in many states enjoy free or heavily subsidized health insurance paid for by tax dollars, even as the recession claims the jobs and health benefits of millions of workers who elected them. The disparity is creating a backlash in some states to cut back lawmakers' health benefits. Here is a look at those benefits at a glance.
Waiting in line at the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, Lawrence Cafero Jr. can't help but feel a bit guilty.
Hawaii ranks at the top in a number of key health categories:
Hawaii's decades-old law aimed at increasing health coverage by requiring companies to provide insurance to their workers has brought something less than universal health care to the 50th state.
The percentage of Americans with private health insurance has hit its lowest mark in 50 years, according to two new government reports.
A long-awaited federal law that shields people from genetic discrimination plants its first layer of protection Thursday.
Activists backing President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are asking the Justice Department to open a wide-ranging investigation of what they say is monopoly-like power in the hands of major insurers.
American workers — whose taxes pay for massive government health programs — are getting squeezed like no other group by the nation's health insurance woes.
One of President Barack Obama's leading economic advisers says the White House is opposed to taxing health insurance. But Christina Romer is not ruling it out.
Cassandra J. Kelsey has tried to cut back on all her expenses since losing her job in January. But suffering from degenerative arthritis, she can't do without health care.
A South Carolina health insurer has added a twist to its customer service by opening a strip-mall store to sell policies and answer questions.
Newly unemployed Americans will have to spend about 30 percent of their jobless benefits on average to pay for health insurance through their former employer, according to a new report.
John McCain's health plan would bring about a dramatic shift in how millions of people get health insurance coverage. He would let people shop around for plans offered by insurers in other states. New Yorkers could look to Alabama, for example, or any other state when shopping for coverage.
Health insurance premiums rose a modest 5 percent this year for coverage that's getting skimpier, researchers say.
The Southwest has the lowest rate of health insurance coverage in the country, with 30 percent of non-elderly adults and 18 percent of children uninsured, according to a new government study.
The Bush administration overreached last year when it limited states' ability to extend health coverage to moderate-income children, government auditors said in a letter released Friday.
Thomas Mahoney came out of a seizure last December surrounded by paramedics ready to take him to the hospital by ambulance. Mindful of the cost, he asked his mom and girlfriend to drive him instead, slipping in and out of consciousness along the way.
Democratic lawmakers on Friday cited the slowing economy as a reason that the House should override President Bush's veto of a bill that would increase spending on a popular children's health insurance program.
The modest spending increase that Congress approved for a popular children's health insurance program will maintain coverage for those already enrolled. But many lacking insurance will have to look elsewhere.
Another set of cooked booksSENATE Majority Leader Harry Reid is touting the Senate's latest health-care bill as costing $849 billion over 10 years. But this uses the same accounting trick as past versions: 99 percent of the costs don't kick in until the fifth year of that "10-year" period.
Married couples face extra tax in Senate health care billSenate Democrats' health care bill would create a new marriage penalty by imposing a tax on individuals who make $200,000 annually but hitting married couples making just $50,000 more.
Business Sours on Overhaul as Legislation Veers to Left Chances of business supporting the Obama administration's health overhaul are fading fast, after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill took a liberal turn.
Reid pushes for votes on health-care bill - CBO analysis of public option is an obstacleSenate Majority Leader Harry M.
improving public understanding of insurance—what it does and how it works.improving public understanding of insurance—what it does and how it works.
Health bill nears debate after positive CBO reviewCongressional budget crunchers said Thurday the Democrats' latest health care plan would hold down federal red ink for at least 20 years, an assessment that gave supporters hope as the Senate moved gingerly toward a historic debate.
Senate unveils health-care bill - PACKAGE COSTS $848 BILLIONSenate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid presented an $848 billion health-care overhaul package on Wednesday that would extend coverage to 31 million Americans and reform insurance practices while adding an array of tax increases, including a rise in payroll taxes for high earners.
Major reforms delayed until 2014The Senate bill pushes back implementation of major parts of the reform to 2014 -- a change from 2013 under the Finance Committee bill.
The $1.9 Trillion Gimmick - The Democrats' 'doc fix' for Medicare payments would shock MadoffWhat passes for a joke on Capitol Hill these days is that Bernie Madoff, given his experience managing Ponzi schemes, should be put in charge of the federal budget. Nancy Pelosi & Co. seem to have taken it as a serious suggestion.
I am deeply disappointed in you for voting for the "Greater Health Insurance Industry Profits Act" a.k.a. H.R. 3962, and especially for voting for it with the Stupak anti-abortion amendment attached, after your voting against the amendment's being attached in the first place.
Faith Communities Come Out Against Catholic and Fundamentalist Mangling of Health Care Bill - meanwhile bishops meet to plan their next moveTwo articles: Faith Communities Coalesce Against Stupak
Deep divisions linger on health careAs the Senate prepares to take up legislation aimed at overhauling the nation's health-care system, President Obama and the Democrats are still struggling to win the battle for public opinion.
China questions costs of U.S. healthcare reformGuess what? It turns out the Chinese are kind of curious about how President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans would impact America's huge fiscal deficit. Government officials are using his Asian trip as an opportunity to ask the White House questions.
Permanent 'doc fix' unlikely The American Medical Association gave Speaker Nancy Pelosi a huge boost earlier this month by endorsing her health care bill just days before the big vote. But it doesn't look as if she'll be able to return the favor.
Coburn Vows to Read Health Care Bill on Senate FloorSen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) confirmed Senate Democratic leaders' fears that he will insist that the massive health care reform bill be read aloud on the Senate floor.
Liberals Press Reid on Public OptionA clutch of Senate liberals pressed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to stand firm behind a public insurance option Monday afternoon in the face of filibuster threats from Republicans and Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.).
CMS: House health bill will hike costs $289BThe House-approved healthcare overhaul would raise the costs of healthcare by $289 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Abortion deal spins a very tangled webTaxpayers currently provide deep subsidies for health insurance plans that cover abortion — a little-recognized fact responsible for much of the angst over an anti-abortion amendment attached to the House health care bill.
Memo to the Tea-Baggers: God and Country Aren't with YouYou don't appear to know what "freedom" means. There must not be a tea-bagger alive who has ever had to sit all night in the Charity hospital in a city like New Orleans, waiting for the morning shift to call their number.
RNC Subsidizes Abortions for 18 years --- and countingThe debate over financing of abortions -- the basis for the offensive Stupak amendment -- is all about money being fungible.
Stewpack Isn't Gonna Like This: RNC's insurance plan covers abortionThe Republican National Committee's health insurance plan covers elective abortion – a procedure the party's own platform calls "a fundamental assault on innocent human life."
Study: Lack Of Insurance May Have Caused 17,000 Child Deaths Over 20 Years "An estimated 17,000 children in the United States might have died unnecessarily over nearly two decades because they didn't have health insurance, according to a report from researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore," reports U.S. News and World Report.
RNC insurance plan covers abortion The Republican National Committee's health insurance plan covers elective abortion – a procedure the party's own platform calls "a fundamental assault on innocent human life."
Pelosi's New Payroll Tax: A Whip for Socialized Medicine Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, set out a startling scenario in floor debate Saturday before the House approved the health care bill pushed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Illegal Immigration May Be a Rift IssueAbortion will not be the only social issue dividing Congress as it seeks to construct a compromise health care bill capable of passing both houses.
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