health care

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Health Care Costs for Family of 4 to Top $20K This Year

That's up 7% from last year, say analysts

(Newser) - Health care costs for a family of four covered on an employer's insurance plan are expected to exceed $20,000 this year, an increase of 7% from last year—and more than double the $9,235 it would set you back in 2002. Under such plans, employers pay a...

Day 2: SCOTUS Weighs Individual Mandate

Supreme Court will hear arguments on health care law's individual mandate

(Newser) - Today's the big day: The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the focal point of the challenge to President Obama's health care law, the individual mandate. If the mandate is upheld, everyone in the US will be required to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty; it's...

For Lawyers, Health Case an Exhausting Marathon

Long arguments will require 'enormous endurance'

(Newser) - It's a big day in Washington as the Supreme Court prepares for the opening arguments over President Obama's health care law . Teams of lawyers on both sides have been deep in preparation, staging mock arguments that have nearly drained the city of attorneys up for playing the role...

Obama Health Rules Could Survive Court Rejection

Justices hear case Monday as health reform turns 2 years old

(Newser) - It's two years to the day since health reform became law, but with a Supreme Court case ahead, its future is murky. It remains unpopular enough that President Obama isn't making any live appearances to celebrate the anniversary, an aide tells the Wall Street Journal . Still, even if...

Trudeau Rips Papers Axing Doonesbury Abortion Strip

Cartoonist calls transvaginal ultrasounds GOP-sanctioned rape

(Newser) - The cartoonist's pen might be mightier than the sword, but Gary Trudeau's mouth is also packing a punch. He's blasting newspapers that are dumping Doonsebury this week because the strip attacks state abortion laws requiring transvaginal ultrasounds as rape. "I write the strip to be read,...

Sandra Fluke: Limbaugh's Apology Changes Nothing

Georgetown law student dismisses regret from shock jock

(Newser) - It's not only advertisers who are unimpressed with Rush Limbaugh's apology. The Georgetown law student Limbaugh derided as a "slut" said today that his public apology meant little to her, ABC News reports. "I don't think that a statement like this issued, saying that his...

Obama Tricked the Right Over Contraception

 Obama Tricked 
 the Right Over 
 Contraception 
Andrew Sullivan

Obama Tricked the Right Over Contraception

Andrew Sullivan: Catholic health care compromise 'a trap'

(Newser) - Lefties and righties alike ripped President Obama for allowing his new health care rule to affect Catholic organizations. But his compromise is drawing ardent conservatives into a culture war they're bound to lose, argues Andrew Sullivan in The Daily Beast : "If this was a trap, the religious...

Hospitals Stuck With 'Permanent Patients'

Illegal immigrants, those without insurance, cost millions to care for

(Newser) - Look long enough in most hospitals, and you’ll probably find some decidedly unwelcome guests. Hospitals, particularly those in urban centers like New York, are faced with a growing burden from so-called “permanent patients,” who hospitals are stuck caring for even though they are well enough to be...

Greece's Economic Mess Fuels a Medical One

Austerity measures aren't painless for poor

(Newser) - As Greece's debt crisis mounted and the country looked for austerity measures, its unwieldy and often corruption-riddled universal health care system became a prime target, with spending cut 13%. But that has had dire consequences, the New York Times reports. Public clinics are suddenly overwhelmed, as patients newly unable...

Millions Siphoned From Medicaid by Fake Firms
Dummy Firms Squeeze Millions From Medicare
INVESTIGATION

Dummy Firms Squeeze Millions From Medicare

Fraud-fighters finding it hard to stay ahead of shell companies

(Newser) - Fraudsters using complicated networks of ghost companies are sucking hundreds of millions of dollars out of Medicare every year and it's a bit like taking candy from a baby, a Reuters investigation finds. The probe—which officials say will likely lead to a criminal investigation of the firms involved—...

PolitiFact Reveals Its 'Lie of the Year'

GOP didn't try to 'end Medicare,' says site; left-leaning bloggers disagree

(Newser) - The biggest lie coming out of Washington this year was Democrats' assertion that "Republicans voted to end Medicare," PolitiFact says. Paul Ryan's proposal wouldn't have changed anything for people already 55 and older, and it would only have altered—not ended—Medicare for others, says the...

Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Makes Gay Men Healthier
 Same-Sex Marriage Laws 
 Improve Gay Health 
study says

Same-Sex Marriage Laws Improve Gay Health

'Equality may produce broad public health benefits': expert

(Newser) - Want to improve the health of gay men? Just legalize gay marriage, the New York Daily News reports. A new study shows that gay men in Massachusetts visited a health care clinic 13% less often after same-sex marriage was legalized in the state in 2003. The result suggests "that...

White House Gives States More Say on Health Law

Proposal would let them determine 'essential benefits'

(Newser) - In a potentially big shift, the White House is poised to give states much more flexibility on how to implement a key part of health care reform. Under a proposal outlined by health chief Kathleen Sebelius, the federal government would largely let states determine what "essential health benefits" would...

Gingrich Backed Individual Health Care Mandate

And other big government programs that benefited his clients: NYT

(Newser) - These days, like most Republicans, Newt Gingrich says he's opposed to the individual mandate in the Democrats' health care reform bill, which forces Americans to hold insurance. But in a May 2009 conference call with health care executives, Gingrich sang a very different tune, the New York Times has...

Health Reform Insured 2.5M Young People

Coverage up among 19- to 25-year-olds, now eligible for parents' insurance

(Newser) - Roughly 2.5 million people between the ages of 19 and 25 have gained health insurance since President Obama signed his health care reform bill, more than double the 1 million the White House had been expecting, according to a new administration analysis. The bump is almost entirely due to...

We Should All Die the Way Doctors Do
We Should All Die
the Way Doctors Do
OPINION

We Should All Die the Way Doctors Do

Many 'go gently' rather than opting for extreme measures: Dr. Ken Murray

(Newser) - You'd think a doctor with, say, a terminal illness or a weak heart would have an inside edge over the rest of us and opt for the most whiz-bang, no-holds-barred treatment available. Just the opposite, writes Ken Murray, MD, in the Zocalo Public Square (as spotted by Andrew Sullivan'...

On Way Out, Medicare Boss Bashes 'Extreme' Waste

Donald Berwick says 20-30% of health care spending helps no one

(Newser) - Between 20% and 30% of all US health care spending is pure “waste,” according to departing Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick. “Much is done that does not help patients at all, and many physicians know it,” Berwick said in an interview with the New York ...

FDA Drops Approval of Avastin for Breast Cancer

Drug lacks benefits, but side effects are 'life-threatening': commissioner

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration has reversed its approval of Avastin as a treatment for breast cancer, long the subject of controversy. The agency’s commissioner said the drug didn't help patients but could hurt them, the New York Times reports. “This was a difficult decision,” says...

Health-Care Firms Paid Gingrich's Think Tank $37M

...and some of its policy advice echoed ObamaCare

(Newser) - More consulting trouble for Newt. Since 2003, a Gingrich-founded think tank has pulled in at least $37 million from the health-care industry—and has called for an insurance mandate reminiscent of President Obama’s. Wellpoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield, AstraZeneca, and other members of the Center for Health Transformation paid...

Why Supreme Court's Look at ObamaCare Surprises

SCOTUS allots 5.5 hours for oral arguments, will examine Medicaid portion

(Newser) - That the Supreme Court decided to hear a challenge to ObamaCare's individual mandate is not too shocking. But, as Politico reports, a number of aspects of the court's decision are surprising—and historic. The court will hear 5.5 hours of oral arguments in March, which Politico calls...

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