Fueled by an endorsement from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, momentum may be picking up for congressional passage of a new economic stimulus package, and this time around Medicaid may be on board. Read more »
As winning candidates make the transition from campaign promises to the harsh post-election realities of trying to figure out actual health system changes, emeritus professor of economics Victor R. Fuchs of Stanford University advises that their deliberations would be more fruitful if they adopted three "inconvenient truths" as their starting point. Read more »
Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit and nonpartisan health advocacy group, issued a new report stating that prevention should play a significant role in any major effort to overhaul health care in America. Read more »
Providing subsidies to individuals rather than to businesses is a fairer and more efficient way to extend health coverage to the uninsured, according to a new report released by the Urban Institute. Read more »
When Americans are uninsured, it may not be a family affair. Because of the nation's patchwork coverage system, kids who have health benefits may have uninsured parents, and parents with health coverage may have uninsured kids. If only some members of a family have insurance, a new study notes, the most typical pattern is that parents go without while their children are insured. Read more »
One of the truisms among those who predict a possible overhaul of the U.S. health care system in the next few years is that employers want big changes in the system this time--unlike in the early 1990s, when they played a major role in blocking the Clinton universal coverage proposal. But a new survey by the Mercer consulting firm finds no strong momentum building behind any major proposal now on the table. Read more »