Hospital, insurer, employer, and other lobbyists scrambled to shape and reshape health care provisions in the House economic stimulus package, urging lawmakers to keep certain provisions, dump others and add still others. Read more »
Two House committees approved legislation to expand Medicaid, extend insurance coverage for people who lose their jobs and provide $20 billion to accelerate the use of electronic medical records. Read more »
A new Commonwealth Fund report found that only 9 percent of people who lost their jobs continued their health insurance under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) in 2006. Read more »
States are making steadfast efforts to cover uninsured children in public programs but their ability to preserve recent gains hinges on congressional efforts to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program and boost federal Medicaid spending, according to a new report. Read more »
Majority Leader Harry Reid predicted that the Senate would approve an expansion of children's health insurance by the end of next week, despite some GOP opposition to immigration-related provisions. Read more »
Senate Democrats are proposing about $132 billion in new spending for Medicaid and Medicare, electronic health records and health insurance for the unemployed as part of the emerging economic stimulus package. Read more »