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These documents, prepared by the House Committee on Ways and Means and obtained by KHN, show the maximum premiums and out-of-pocket costs low- and moderate-income people might face under the House health overhaul plan, called America's Affordable Health Choices Act.
As lawmakers weigh trimming legislation, some consumers might end up burdened by medical and insurance costs.
Despite TV portrayals of best medicine, health reform proponents says patients could get good treatment -- and cheaper care -- if high tech tests were used more judiciously.
Maria Bishop, age 60, pays $500 a month for health insurance. Chris Denny, 27, pays $117. In most states, insurers can charge older customers far more than younger ones. As Congress wrestles with a health care overhaul, lawmakers are debating new limits that could narrow the difference.
When a claim is denied, an out-of-network fee is too costly, or an uninsured patient confronts an unclear or towering bill, an advocate may be able to help.
When Gary Diego's wife, Ellen, had bleeding in her brain, she ended up in an out-of-network emergency room. And he ended up with a huge bill. In a practice known as balance billing, insurers pay a portion of the out-of-network charges, and the rest is dumped on patients.
We live in a time when seemingly no subject is taboo. Yet, there remains one subject Americans seem unable to talk about in an honest and rational way: the inevitable decline of old age.
Elevating the commission, known as MedPAC, isn't about greasing the path for unpopular payment reductions, an obvious way to save money. It's about rethinking payment altogether. Even as MedPAC advised upping payments, commissioners quietly insisted for years that Congress should scrap its abstruse, fragmented rules for paying providers.
When 14 year old Prince Jackson was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he was caught in a gray zone: public and private insurance doesn't usually cover the palliative care he desperately needed. But his mother got help from a new program that provides services for seriously ill or dying children.
Some Massachusetts policymakers want to end the tradition of paying health care providers a separate fee for every service they provide. They say paying fees for every visit, test and procedure ordered is the main reason Massachusetts' health care costs are the highest in the nation. This story comes from our partner
Obama and congressional leaders hope to reduce health care spending by promoting prevention to catch disease early. But some insurance and health officials say such efforts-although laudable-may not cut overall health costs.
NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks with Billy Tauzin, president and CEO of PhRMA, the biggest trade association for the prescription drug industry.
Medicare data tell a different story about a public plan option.
There are ways to reduce expensive diseases, but they must be deployed strategically. This story comes from our partner .
A study published earlier this year finds 1 out of 5 older patients who are discharged from a hospital will return within a month, costing Medicare about $17 billion a year. A program in Philadelphia assigns nurses to follow up with discharged patients in order to prevent readmission. This story comes from our partner .
Consumer and patients' groups criticize proposal that would let employers bestow bigger premium discounts on employees who embrace wellness programs.
Do the Democratic plans in Congress ask for changes that qualify as a "sacrifice"?
As Senate Democrats scramble to finance an ambitious health care overhaul, they're exploring ways to get extract money from the insurance industry, including taxing very costly policies. They're also considering tacking a fee onto every new policy sold as a result of health reform or a flat tax on insurer profits.
Powerful hospital trade associations are opposing President Obama's plan for an independent commission to determine how much Medicare pays doctors and hospitals. But certain "model" hospital systems - such as CHRISTUS Health - are breaking ranks and supporting the idea.
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