 Favorites |
 Google |
 Digg |
 Del.icio.us |
 Twitter |
 Facebook |
>> More...
News digest
This frequently updated news digest on the subject of Coverage highlights key articles from major journals and news publications. The digest is a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All rights reserved. Sign up to receive the digest free via e-mail.
| Nov 6, 2009 |
Health Bill Garners Endorsements Wall Street Journal, Naftali Bendavid and Janet Adamy, 11/06/2009 House Democrats' health bill got a boost Thursday with endorsements by AARP and the American Medical Association, which President Barack Obama seized on to push for support with hours ticking down before a scheduled vote Saturday evening on the House floor. |
| Nov 6, 2009 |
Details on Health Care Bills in House, Senate Associated Press, Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/06/2009 House Democratic leaders are offering a $1.2 trillion, 10-year health overhaul bill that expands coverage to millions of Americans. |
| Nov 5, 2009 |
House Dems In Final Push On Health Care Associated Press, Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/05/2009 The House is steaming toward a historic vote on President Barack Obama's remake of the U.S. health care system, with Democratic leaders increasingly confident and the powerful seniors' lobby AARP about to get on board. |
| Nov 5, 2009 |
Haggling Over Abortion Deal in Health Bill New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 11/05/2009 House Democratic leaders struggled Wednesday to strike a deal that would restrict the use of federal money to pay for abortions under sweeping health care legislation headed for debate on the House floor this week. |
| Nov 4, 2009 |
Health Bills Too Timid On Cutting Costs, Experts Say Washington Post, Ceci Connolly, 11/04/2009 Proposals make only trims where broader changes are needed, critics argue. |
| Nov 4, 2009 |
Health Bill Could Slip Into Next Year Politico, Chris Frates & Carrie Budoff Brown, 11/04/2009 Democrats have blown so many deadlines for getting health reform done this year that insiders are increasingly skeptical they can finish by year’s end — and some even suggest the effort might slip to a new deadline, before the State of the Union address. |
| Nov 2, 2009 |
Obama Strategy on Health Care Legislation Appears to Be Paying Off New York Times, Robert Pear and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, 11/02/2009 After months of plodding work by five Congressional committees and weeks of back-room bargaining by Democratic leaders, President Obama’s arms-length strategy on health care appears to be paying dividends, with the House and the Senate poised to take up legislation to insure nearly all Americans. |
| Nov 2, 2009 |
Health Care Plan Hits Rich With Big Tax Increases Associated Press, Stephen Ohlemacher, 11/02/2009 The typical family would be spared higher taxes from the House Democratic plan to overhaul health care, and their low-income neighbors could come out ahead. |
| Oct 30, 2009 |
House Dems Unveil Health Bill, Cheered On by Obama Associated Press, David Espo, 10/30/2009 Cheered by President Barack Obama, House Democrats rolled out landmark legislation Thursday to extend health care to tens of millions who lack coverage, impose sweeping new restrictions on the insurance industry and create a government-run option to compete with private insurers. |
| Oct 30, 2009 |
Business and Drug Groups Blast Bill; Doctors Are Uneasy The Hill, Jeffrey Young, 10/30/2009 Business groups blasted the House healthcare bill released Thursday, and a key trade association for doctors declined to endorse it. |
| Oct 28, 2009 |
Senate Health Care Bill Draws Skeptics, Opponents Reuters, Donna Smith and John Whitesides, 10/28/2009 A health care reform bill with a government-run insurance option faced an uncertain future in the Senate on Tuesday, with many centrist Democrats uncommitted and Senator Joe Lieberman strongly opposed. |
| Oct 27, 2009 |
Public Option Push in Senate Comes With Escape Hatch New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/27/2009 The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, sided with his party’s liberals on Monday and announced that he would include a government-run insurance plan in health care legislation that he plans to take to the Senate floor within a few weeks. |
| Oct 26, 2009 |
Can 'Bundled' Payments Help Slash Health Costs? USA Today, Phil Galewitz, 10/26/2009 An hour into knee replacement surgery — with U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For playing in the background — Yogesh Mittal smiles as he raises the left leg of his patient, 76-year-old Frank Morrow. |
| Oct 26, 2009 |
US Health Care System Wastes Up To $800B A Year Reuters, Maggie Fox, 10/26/2009 The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday. |
| Oct 26, 2009 |
If You Build A Coverage Mandate, Will They Come? Washington Post, Alec MacGillis, 10/26/2009 People are more likely to buckle their seat belt than follow the speed limit, even though the penalties for speeding are higher. |
| Oct 23, 2009 |
Offer to Let States Opt Out of Health Plan Gains Support Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/23/2009 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, stepping deeper into the health-care debate, put his weight Thursday behind a proposal that would create a new government-run insurance plan while giving states the option not to participate. |
| Oct 23, 2009 |
Nancy Pelosi Lacks Votes for Most Sweeping Public Option Politico, Mike Allen, 10/23/2009 Speaker Nancy Pelosi counted votes Thursday night and determined she could not pass a "robust public option" — the most aggressive of the three forms of a public option House Democrats have been considering as part of a national overhaul of health care. |
| Oct 22, 2009 |
Congress Cranks Up Pressure On Insurance Industry Reuters, Donna Smith and John Whitesides, 10/22/2009 Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved on Wednesday to repeal the health insurance industry's exemption from antitrust laws, cranking up the pressure in a growing battle over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans. |
| Oct 22, 2009 |
Democrats Lose Big Test Vote on Health Legislation New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/22/2009 Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years. |
| Oct 22, 2009 |
Key Senators May Rebuff Obama On Health Care Associated Press, Charles Babington, 10/22/2009 The Democrats' control of a hefty majority in the Senate — plus the House — would suggest that President Barack Obama is within reach of overhauling the nation's health care system this fall. But the numbers mask a more complicated reality. |
| Oct 21, 2009 |
In Mass., Most Docs Support State's Health Mandate National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Richard Knox, 10/21/2009 As Massachusetts enters its fourth year under a sweeping law that aims to get nearly everybody health insurance, there's new evidence on what one crucial constituency thinks about it: doctors. |
| Oct 21, 2009 |
Liberals Increase Pressure For Public Insurance Plan In Health Bill Washington Post, Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, 10/21/2009 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing intensifying pressure from liberal lawmakers to revive a proposed government insurance plan before health-care reform legislation reaches the Senate floor, amid signs that moderate Democrats may be warming to the idea. |
| Oct 20, 2009 |
Public Option Gains Support Washington Post, Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, 10/20/2009 Clear majority now backs plan; Americans still divided on overall packages. |
| Oct 20, 2009 |
Health Insurance Worries Keep Rising Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/20/2009 The number of Americans worried about losing their current health care coverage keeps rising, even as President Barack Obama and a Democrat-led Congress strive to extend society's safety net to cover the uninsured, a new poll has found. |
| Oct 20, 2009 |
Basic Medicare Premium to Rise 15% Next Year New York Times, Robert Pear, 10/20/2009 The basic Medicare premium will shoot up next year by 15 percent, to $110.50 a month, federal officials said Monday. |
| Oct 16, 2009 |
Wellness Incentives Could Create Health-Care Loophole Washington Post, David S. Hilzenrath, 10/16/2009 Get in shape or pay a price. |
| Oct 15, 2009 |
Scenario: U.S. Healthcare Reform Reaches New Stage Reuters, John Whitesides, 10/15/2009 Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are negotiating ways to merge five healthcare bills into a single measure in each chamber that will rein in costs, regulate insurers and expand coverage. |
| Oct 15, 2009 |
Democrats Fire Back at Health Industry Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and David S. Hilzenrath, 10/15/2009 Days after the insurance lobby began an aggressive campaign against a Senate plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system, senior Democrats fired back, threatening Wednesday to revoke the industry's long-standing antitrust exemption. |
| Oct 15, 2009 |
White House Team Joins Talks on Health Care Bill New York Times, David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear, 10/15/2009 A delegation of senior White House officials met on Wednesday at the Capitol with the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the chairmen of the Finance and health committees, as Democrats turned their full attention to merging competing versions of the comprehensive health care legislation. |
| Oct 14, 2009 |
After a Key Vote, Health Overhaul Now Turns to Harry Reid TIME magazine.com, Jay Newton-Small, 10/14/2009 Now that the last of the five congressional committees with jurisdiction over health care, Max Baucus' Senate Finance Committee, has passed its much anticipated reform bill, it falls to majority leader Harry Reid to cobble together something that can pass the Senate. |
| Oct 14, 2009 |
Snowe Suggests Scenario For Government-Run Option Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/14/2009 Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican to support the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in" if private insurers failed to live up to expectations. |
| Oct 14, 2009 |
Senate Committee Passes Healthcare Bill Financial Times, Anna Fifield and Ed Luce in Washington, 10/14/2009 President Barack Obama said on Tuesday’s Senate committee vote for a centrist $829bn healthcare bill brought the US closer to his goal of achieving universal healthcare reform but warned Democrats “not to pat ourselves on the back” given the long road ahead. |
| Oct 13, 2009 |
Congress Is Split on Effort to Tax Costly Health Plans New York Times, David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear, 10/13/2009 A proposed tax on high-cost, or “Cadillac,” health insurance plans has touched off a fierce clash between the Senate and the House as they wrestle over how to pay for legislation that would provide health benefits to millions of uninsured Americans. |
| Oct 9, 2009 |
Report: Health Bills Show Some Price Gaps USA Today, John Fritze, 10/09/2009 Older Americans who buy health insurance on their own could pay nearly 50% more in premiums under the Senate Finance Committee bill compared with other versions pending in Congress, an independent study says. |
| Oct 8, 2009 |
Health Care Bill Gets Green Light in Cost Analysis New York Times, Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, 10/08/2009 The Senate Finance Committee will vote next Tuesday on legislation to revamp the health care system, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, said on Thursday. |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
AP Poll: Health Care Overhaul Has a Pulse Associated Press, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Trevor Tompson, 10/07/2009 The fever has broken. |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
Obama Finds Support Outside Party and Washington For Healthcare Plan Los Angeles Times, Peter Nicholas, 10/07/2009 At the president's request, Republicans, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and independents from beyond the Beltway offer qualified support for healthcare overhaul. |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
State-Run Health Plans Garner Support Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/07/2009 Some influential centrist Democrats in the Senate are warming to a compromise that envisions health-insurance plans run by state governments, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added his voice Tuesday to a small group of Republicans expressing support for a Democratic-led overhaul plan. |
| Oct 6, 2009 |
In Debate on Health, It's Coverage vs. Cost New York Times, Robert Pear, 10/06/2009 As Democrats prepare to take up health care legislation on the floor of the Senate and the House, they are facing tough choices about two competing priorities. |
| Oct 5, 2009 |
Insurers Say Coverage Penalty Has To Have Bite Associated Press, Erica Werner, 10/05/2009 The health insurance industry doesn't want Congress to let you off easy if you decide to ignore a proposed requirement that all Americans must have coverage. |
| Oct 5, 2009 |
States Resist Medicaid Growth Washington Post, Shailagh Murray, 10/05/2009 Governors fear for their budgets. |
| Oct 2, 2009 |
Doctors Fight Penalty for Heavy Test Use Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy, 10/02/2009 Doctors are trying to remove a provision in the Senate's latest health bill that would cut Medicare payments to those who administer the most tests and treatments. |
| Oct 2, 2009 |
Panel Easing Penalties for Those Without Insurance New York Times, Robert Pear and Jackie Calmes, 10/02/2009 The Senate Finance Committee voted Thursday to soften the impact of financial penalties that would be imposed on people who did not obtain insurance under sweeping health care legislation. |
| Oct 2, 2009 |
Senate Republicans Criticize Taxes in Health-Care Bill Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray, 10/02/2009 As it drew close Thursday to finishing work on a health-care overhaul, a key Senate panel engaged in a spirited debate about whether the measure is "riddled" with tax increases that would violate President Obama's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans. |
| Oct 1, 2009 |
Senate Finance Panel Has Votes To Pass Health Bill, Baucus Says Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Ceci Connolly, 10/01/2009 Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday and defeated Republican amendments on abortion, immigration and other divisive issues, aiming to bring a comprehensive health-care overhaul before the full Senate within two weeks. |
| Oct 1, 2009 |
Abortion Language Heats Up Healthcare Battle Los Angeles Times, Noam N. Levey, 10/01/2009 Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are at odds over how far to go in preventing insurance companies from covering the procedure for woman who would get subsidies. |
| Sep 30, 2009 |
Without National Reform, States Could Pay More Reuters, Lisa Lambert, 09/30/2009 If the U.S. Congress fails to reform health care, states will spend more on their programs for the poor than they currently pay out, according to a new report on Wednesday. |
| Sep 30, 2009 |
Poll: Americans Willing to Fund Health Reform Reuters, David Morgan, 09/30/2009 Most Americans would pay higher taxes to fund healthcare reforms that provide the best quality of care, but only a minority expects Washington to deliver it, according to a survey released on Wednesday. |
| Sep 30, 2009 |
Key Senate Panel Votes Down 'Public Option' For Healthcare Los Angeles Times, Janet Hook, 09/30/2009 Centrists side with Republicans in a blow to advocates of a government program to compete with private plans. The issue will likely be revisited on the Senate floor and in committee with the House. |
| Sep 29, 2009 |
In Delivering Care, More Isn't Always Better, Experts Say Washington Post, Ceci Connolly, 09/29/2009 A dirty word in health-care reform is "rationing," a term that conjures up the image of faceless government bureaucrats denying lifesaving therapies in the name of cutting costs. |
| Sep 25, 2009 |
Fence-Sitters Hold Sway in U.S. Health-Care Debate Wall Street Journal, Gerald F. Seib, 09/25/2009 Who will determine the outcome of the great health debate? Well, a lot of senators and House members, obviously, but also a small slice of the public that has yet to decide what it thinks. |
| Sep 24, 2009 |
Geography Makes Difference in Health Coverage Associated Press, Mike Schneider, 09/24/2009 Where someone lives makes a difference in whether or not that person has health insurance. |
| Sep 24, 2009 |
Democrats Win First Battles Over Plans to Curtail Health Costs Bloomberg, Nicole Gaouette, 09/24/2009 Senate Finance Committee members clashed over Medicare cost-cutting plans, with Democrats winning the first skirmishes yesterday over how to curb spending in the federal program for the elderly. |
| Sep 24, 2009 |
SEIU Takes Pragmatic Stance on Health Care Reform Politico, Jonathan Martin, 09/24/2009 A top-ranking SEIU official says that the powerful union could support a health care bill that doesn’t include a public option — a striking contrast to the more hard-line stance on the issue taken by the new president of the AFL-CIO. |
| Sep 23, 2009 |
A System Breeding More Waste New York Times, David Leonhardt, 09/23/2009 The debate over medical malpractice can often seem theological. On one side are those conservatives and doctors who have no doubt that frivolous lawsuits and Democratic politicians beholden to trial lawyers are the reasons American health care is so expensive. |
| Sep 23, 2009 |
Lines Drawn as Senate Panel Begins Debating Health Bill Washington Post, Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, 09/23/2009 Democrats and Republicans formed clear battle lines Tuesday as the Senate Finance Committee opened a high-stakes debate on health-care legislation proposed last week by the panel's chairman. |
| Sep 22, 2009 |
Orszag Sees Health-Care Overhaul Passing in Six Weeks Bloomberg, Roger Runningen and Edwin Chen, 09/22/2009 Congress will likely complete a health-care bill within six weeks, and a measure being drafted by the Senate Finance Committee may provide the basis for final legislation, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said. |
| Sep 22, 2009 |
Doctors Need A Say On Health Insurance Philadelphia Inquirer, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and William L. Roper (Opinion-Editorial), 09/22/2009 A majority backs both public and private programs. |
| Sep 21, 2009 |
Obama Pitches Healthcare In Sunday Talk Show Blitz Los Angeles Times, Mark Silva, 09/21/2009 He says his message on reform is not 'breaking through.' His critics suggest it's not a communications problem: People just don't like the president's plan. |
| Sep 18, 2009 |
Baucus Will Tinker With Health Bill to Mollify Critics Wall Street Journal, Greg Hitt, 09/18/2009 Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said Thursday he expects to make adjustments to his health-care plan, in a bid to solidify support for the bill after some Democrats said it would impose big costs on middle-income families. |
| Sep 18, 2009 |
Study Links 45,000 U.S. Deaths to Lack of Insurance Reuters, Susan Heavey, 09/18/2009 Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and cannot get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday. |
| Sep 17, 2009 |
Baucus Measure Would Expand Care Without Adding to Deficit Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray, 09/17/2009 Attempt at compromise in senate draws no GOP support. |
| Sep 16, 2009 |
Young Adults Likely to Pay Big Share of Reform's Cost Washington Post, Shailagh Murray, 09/16/2009 As health-care legislation advances through Congress, the young adults who were so vital to President Obama's election are emerging as a significant beneficiary of his top domestic priority, but they are also likely to play a major role in funding any reform. |
| Sep 16, 2009 |
Average Family Health Insurance Policy: $13,375, Up 5% USA Today, John Fritze, 09/16/2009 An average family health insurance policy now costs more than some compact cars, and four in 10 companies will likely pass more of that expense on to workers, according to a closely watched survey of businesses released Tuesday. |
| Sep 15, 2009 |
Poll: More Erosion in Health Care Confidence Associated Press, Erica Werner, 09/15/2009 August's contentious disputes over health care appeared to take a toll, further eroding consumers' confidence about their health care future and access to care, a new report has found. |
| Sep 15, 2009 |
Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Joseph Shapiro, 09/15/2009 Among all the players in the health care debate, doctors may be the least understood about where they stand on some of the key issues around changing the health care system. |
| Sep 14, 2009 |
Reform Opposition Is High, But Easing Washington Post, Jon Cohen and Dan Balz, 09/14/2009 President Obama continues to face significant public resistance to his drive to initiate far-reaching changes to the country's health-care system, with widespread skepticism about central tenets of his plan, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. |
| Sep 13, 2009 |
Dems Seek To Play Down Role of Public Option Idea Associated Press, Philip Elliott, 09/13/2009 The White House and its Democratic allies on Sunday tried to play down the role of a government insurance option in health care legislation as the party in power worked to reclaim momentum on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. |
| Sep 11, 2009 |
Dems Answer Obama's Call for Action on Health Care Associated Press, Erica Werner, 09/11/2009 Democratic leaders wrestling with health care legislation are confronting a host of knotty issues such as medical malpractice, abortion, illegal immigrants and Medicaid, all the while predicting passage of sweeping health care legislation within a few months. |
| Sep 10, 2009 |
Census: Income Fell Sharply Last Year USA TODAY, Dennis Cauchon and Richard Wolf, 09/10/2009 Americans' household income last year took the sharpest drop since the government began keeping records in 1947, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. |
| Sep 10, 2009 |
Aim of Obama Health Speech: Reigniting a Presidency New York Times, Adam Nagourney, 09/10/2009 On one level, President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night was what it seemed: an attempt to corral lawmakers into approving the signature initiative of his presidency, the health care overhaul that has eluded Washington, as Mr. Obama said, for 65 years. |
| Sep 9, 2009 |
Overhaul's Contours Are Starting to Take Shape Wall Street Journal, Janet Adamy, 09/09/2009 Although committees have presented conflicting proposals, it is becoming more clear what a bill will contain. |
| Sep 9, 2009 |
Democrats Promise to Send Health Plan to Obama New York Times, Carl Hulse and Robert Pear, 09/09/2009 Democratic Congressional leaders assured President Obama on Tuesday that they would deliver a health care overhaul to his desk this year as the author of a new compromise Senate plan said he was ready to push ahead with his legislation. |
| Sep 9, 2009 |
Chronic Conditions Crank Up Health Costs USA Today, Liz Szabo, 09/09/2009 Raymond Harris is only 54, but he already has gone through three kidneys. |
| Sep 9, 2009 |
The Rocky Road For Obama's Health Care Journey Associated Press, Charles Babington, 09/09/2009 Harry Reid could hardly believe his ears. The Senate majority leader was in Denver for a mid-August Democratic conference when he heard one of Congress' pivotal negotiators on health care trashing a bill on that very subject. |
Be notified when RWJF issues research and publications, funding opportunities, or other news from the Foundation or the field. Sign up for e-mail alerts or RSS.