Our Health Care Source - Industry News

A year after he nearly became President Barack Obama’s commerce secretary, the three-term New Hampshire Republican is reaching out to the White House with a plan to overhaul health care that has some key features in common with the Democratic bills passed by the House and Senate. For instance, it would require everyone over age 18 to get coverage.

But the plan is almost secondary to the approach Gregg is pushing: Start from scratch and work through the goals Republicans and Democrats agree on one by one rather than using the Democratic bills as a starting point or pitting them against a Republican-crafted alternative.

Republican holds out hope on health care overhaul (AP)

As Democrats have pushed for a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s health system, much of their plans and rhetoric have focused on providing coverage for America’s uninsured.

Although that effort stalled following Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown’s election to the Senate, President Barack Obama reiterated that imperative in his State of the Union address last month. “By the time I’m finished speaking tonight,” Obama said, “more Americans will have lost their health insurance. Millions will lose it this year.” He continued, “I will not walk away from these Americans.” Here’s a look at who those Americans are.

How Health Overhaul Would Affect The Uninsured (wbur.org)

The Obama administration will propose giving cash-strapped states about $25 billion worth of help with their Medicaid budgets when presenting its 2011 budget on Monday, a White House official with knowledge of the plan said Friday.

Obama to propose further Medicaid help for states (full article)

Increasing the number of medical professionals from disadvantaged minority groups could help resolve racial disparities in the American health system, a panel of Illinois doctors and professors agreed Monday. There has been no marked increase in African American doctors over the past century, said Harriet Washington, who authored “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present.”  

“If we’re waiting for racial equity in medicine,” Washington said, “we’ll be waiting for a long, long time.”

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=153960

The country needs health care reform, and Congress should move quickly to pass legislation. But as House and Senate leaders work to forge a consensus bill for final approval, they should look for ways to lessen the Medicaid burden on hard-pressed state budgets — and ensure that relief is fairly apportioned.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/opinion/10sun1.html?scp=1&sq=health%20reform,%20the%20states%20and%20medicaid&st=cse

“Health Reform, the States and Medicaid” (editorial, Jan. 10) explained the value of expanding Medicaid, and rightly called for the House’s higher eligibility limits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/opinion/l18medicaid.html?scp=1&sq=Expanding%20Medicaid%20in%20the%20Health%20Bill%20&st=cse

Some married couples would pay thousands of dollars more for the same health insurance coverage as unmarried people living together, under the health insurance overhaul plan pending in Congress.  The built-in “marriage penalty” in both House and Senate healthcare bills has received scant attention. But for scores of low-income and middle-income couples, it could mean a hike of $2,000 or more in annual insurance premiums the moment they say “I do.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126281943134818675.html?mod=rss_Health

As the battle enters its final stage in Washington, a rebellion is taking shape in the states, which are alarmed about the new financial burdens they will face in a revamped system. Governors of both parties are complaining that reform will drive their budgets into even deeper holes, with some feeling the effects far more than others. But just how much will be riding on the states? Here’s a look at four changes that lie ahead.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1952147,00.html