Sub-Topics Insurance for Children Medicare Wellness Programs Also Try Medicare Lists Health Insurance Resources (PBS.org) Provides links related to protecting yourself from health insurance problems. 04-06 Multimedia -001 Editorial: Axelrod Describes Senate's Health Care Reform Bill (MSNBC News) "White House senior adviser David Axelrod answers critics who say President Obama gave up too much in health insurance deal." 12-09 -001 Editorial: Howard Dean Describes Senate's Health Care Reform Bill (MSNBC News) Dean says that bill has "a long way to go." He says that choice has been removed and private insurance companies will be the only method of gaining insurance for most. 12-09 -08-15-09 Factcheck About Health Care (ABC News) "Each day this week we've run a "Fact Check" report about health care -- trying to cut through the many rumors about health care reform to give you the facts." 08-09 -Editorial: President Obama's Speech on Health Care Reform (WhiteHouse.gov) "The President looks back to the bipartisan Patient's Bill of Rights, a bill that was defeated in Congress at the hands of special interests and their supporters, and notes that health insurance reform covers the same ground and much more in terms of giving the consumers the upper hand over their insurance companies. He calls on the Senate to allow an up-or-down vote, and for those opposing reform to stop using parliamentary maneuvers to drag it out." 12-09 News -05-25-06 Vermont Signs Near-Universal Health-Care Insurance (ABC News) "Vermont's governor signed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the second in the nation with near-universal health-care insurance by extending coverage to as much as 96 percent of its residents by 2010." " A new subsidized health-care plan called Catamount Health will be offered by insurance companies and paid for in part with a hike in the state's cigarette tax and a fee on employers who do not offer health insurance to their workers." 05-06 -08-19-09 Editorial: Frightening Future If Health Reform Fails (CNN News) "Milliman Inc., an employee benefits consulting firm, publishes annually its Milliman Medical Index on the total health spending by or for a typical American family of four with private health insurance. The index totals the family's out-of-pocket spending for health care plus the contribution employers and employees make to that family's job-related health insurance coverage." 08-09 -10-19-09 Poll: Majority Backs Public Option (MSNBC News) "As Democratic congressional leaders and White House officials work to shape health care bills that will go to the House and Senate floors, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers has rebounded from its summertime lows and now wins clear majority support from the public." 10-09 -10-29-09 House to Vote on Health Plan (MSNBC News.com) "After months of struggle, House Democrats rolled out sweeping legislation Thursday to extend health care coverage to millions who lack it and create a new option of government-run insurance. A vote is likely next week on the plan largely tailored to President Barack Obama's liking." 10-09 -11-13-09 Why Small Businesses Are Against the Health Bills (Time.com) "When it comes to finding quality, affordable health insurance, few have it worse than small-business owners and their workers shopping for coverage on the open market. They are charged the most per person, have the least amount of choice and, as a result, are some of the most likely to be uninsured." "Some 70% of the nation's estimated 50 million uninsured are full-time workers or their dependents, many of whom work for small businesses. Just 39% of workers in firms with three to 24 staff are covered by job-sponsored insurance, down from 50% in 1999." "Business groups like the Chamber and the NFIB vehemently oppose the public option. The Chamber says it would pay below-cost reimbursement rates, leading doctors and hospitals to charge private insurers (and the employers who purchase coverage from them) more to make up the difference. But even if that were true — and there are many observers who say this fear is overblown — it's not clear that small-business owners would be the ones to suffer." 11-09 -Will the Attacks of Insurers Backfire? (Time.com) "Indeed, the insurers seem to have done nothing so much as galvanize the often fractious Democrats. Before this week, a proposed government-funded public plan to compete with private insurers to reduce costs seemed to be off the table. In the Senate it most likely still is; but in the House, Pelosi is using the industry's assault to coax recalcitrant moderates to sign on to a strong public option." 10-09 02-06-04 Medicare Ads Opposed (CBS News) "Several Congressional Democrats have asked the General Accounting Office to investigate the use of taxpayer money on ads publicizing recent changes to Medicare." "The Department Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, announced the $12.6 million ad campaign this week and unveiled a 30-second television commercial that anchors the effort. The ad proclaims: 'Same Medicare. More benefits.' " "Charles Rangel of New York — complains that the ad misleads when it says "It's the same Medicare." Democrats contend Medicare is not the same. The new law includes restrictions on Medigap prescription insurance, introduces means-testing of premiums for supplemental or Part B Medicare and indexes deductibles for Part B to inflation. Neither the TV nor print ad mentions any of those changes." 2-04 Comparative Effectiveness (Congressional Budget Office) "Over the past 30 years, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid has roughly tripled as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), rising from about 1.3 percent in 1975 to about 4 percent in 2007. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) projections, under current policies such spending will reach about 12 percent of GDP by 2050—but substantial uncertainty surrounds that estimate.1 If costs per enrollee continued growing over the next four decades as quickly as they have grown over the past four—about 2.5 percentage points faster than per capita GDP—then federal spending on those programs would reach about 17 percent of the economy. If, instead, costs per enrollee did not exceed the growth of GDP, those federal costs would reach about 6 percent of GDP in 2050 solely because of demographic changes (see Figure 1)." 08-09 Debate Focuses on Public Insurance Option (CNN News) "After weeks of battles over aspects of President Obama's proposed health care reforms, the debate focused Monday on one central issue: whether the U.S. government will offer a public insurance option." "Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, a doctor and one-time presidential candidate, told NBC's 'Today Show' on Monday that he believes a public option 'is the entirety of health care reform; it's not the entirety of insurance reform.' " 08-09 Debate Focuses on Public Insurance Option (Time.com) "So what happens if Obama takes the next step and explicitly abandons the public option? The left will be disappointed and its enthusiasm for the whole exercise may wane, though Obama probably won't lose many votes among liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill. At the same time, he probably won't pick up many from Republicans, who are looking less and less like they are in the mood to find a compromise. But it could help keep some shakier centrists aboard. And it would lower the intensity of the heat around the entire debate, by removing an issue that the White House has increasingly come to view as a distraction from the larger goals of its health-care reform." 08-09 UnitedHealth Buys the Lewin Group (Bloomberg.com) "UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, said profit rose 22 percent on gains from government-sponsored medical programs." "In May, UnitedHealth bought the Lewin Group, a Washington-based health-policy consulting firm, for an undisclosed sum, adding to its expanding capabilities in analyzing and mining health data." Editor's Note: Lewin Group, owned by the largest U.S. health insurer, has been cited by Congressmen opposed to health care reform as the source of information for why health care reform should be opposed. 07-09 Papers -Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Announces 40% Hike (CBS News) "The Obama administration is asking why Anthem Blue Cross is raising its health insurance rates by nearly 40 percent for some California customers while making handsome profits -- and is pointing to the rate hike as evidence of why health care reform needs to pass." 02-10 -Best Health Plans (U.S. News) Suggests best plans. 08-08 -Health Care Reform: What Happened to Cost Controls? (Time.com) "Pretty much everyone agrees that the health care legislation now making its way through both houses of Congress would do some things well. It would cover almost all of the roughly 33 million legal residents of this country who now lack health insurance. And a vast expansion of Medicaid, coupled with billions of dollars in subsidies to help low- and middle-income Americans buy insurance, would help ensure that most people end up spending less on their health bills, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress's independent scorekeepers." "But what about President Obama's pledge to pass a measure that reins in the larger forces driving up health care costs? Or his vow that a reformed system would deliver more-efficient care, with better results for patients? That's where the legislation could fall well short of the promises." "In a recent letter to Obama, 23 prominent economists identified four provisions that they said "can go a long way toward delivering better health care, and better value, to Americans." They are: ensuring that reform doesn't add to the federal deficit; creating an independent commission to bring Medicare costs under control; discouraging high-cost insurance plans by taxing them; and changing the incentives in medicine so that doctors and hospitals are paid not for how much treatment they give but for how well it works." "Many of these economists — as well as other health experts — are watching in dismay as the legislation's reforms and cost-saving measures are whittled away by powerful special interests. 12-09 -Medical Loss Ratio (Wikipedia.org) "In insurance, the Loss ratio is the ratio of total losses paid out in claims plus adjustment expenses divided by the total earned premiums.[1] For example, if an insurance company pays out $60 in claims for every $100 in collected premiums, then its loss ratio is 60%." "Loss ratios for health insurance generally range from 60% to 110%.[2] Loss ratios for property & casualty insurance (e.g. automobile insurance), typically range from 40% to 60%.[3]. Insurance companies that have very low loss ratios are criticized for overcharging and making excess profits. Such companies are collecting significantly more premium than is paid out in claims. Insurers that consistently experience high loss ratios may be in poor financial health. They may not be collecting enough premium to pay claims, expenses, and still make a reasonable profit." 12-09 -President Obama: Illegal Immigrants Will Be Barred (ABC News) " 'Undocumented immigrants would not be able to buy private insurance on the exchange. Those who are lawfully present in this country would be able to participate.' " 09-09 -Senate Clears Final Hurdle to Vote on Health Care Reform (MSNBC News) "Democrats pushed sweeping health care legislation to the brink of Senate passage Wednesday, crushing a year-end Republican filibuster against President Barack Obama's call to remake the nation's health care system." "The 60-39 vote marked the third time in as many days Democrats have posted a supermajority needed to advance the legislation. Final passage, set for about dawn on Thursday, was a certainty, and will clear the way for talks with the House on a final compromise. Those negotiations likely will stretch into February." "The Senate has met for 24 consecutive days to debate the legislation, the second-longest such stretch in history, and Democrats held a celebratory press conference." 12-09 -What to Do If Your Insurance Company Won't Pay (U.S. News) "Billing advocates have several lines of attack they can follow. They often uncover errors such as services that were billed but never delivered and single procedures billed multiple times, says Nora Johnson, vice president of Medical Billing Advocates of America in Salem, Va. They also have tools to determine typical payments to hospitals and physicians by Medicare and private insurers, which are lower than the amounts charged to out-of-network patients and even lower than the charges levied on patients with little or no insurance. And they can drill down to a hospital's bottom-line cost for specific services, which tells them just how much wiggle room there is for jawboning inflated charges lower." " 'You give them your documentation from the government, and they will turn around,' Whitehead says. 'I've never found one where the hospital or insurer will not come to a resolution.' " 08-08 Cobra Insurance (Cobra Insurance) "Thanks to The Cobra Act of 1986, whether you have lost coverage because you were laid off, terminated, had your hours reduced, or resigned, you are able to purchase group coverage for yourself and your family for a limited amount of time." 08-08 Fat Fees and Smoker Surcharges (Time.com) "Companies have long promoted healthier behavior by subsidizing gym memberships and smoking-cessation classes. But several private and public employers have started tying financial incentives to their health-insurance plans." 11-09 Glossary on Uninsured (PBS.org) Provides definitions of key terms used in discussing insurance coverage. 10-07 Health Care Lobbyists Rise to Power (CBS News) "The pharmaceutical industry is putting its army of lobbyists into overdrive as Congress works to complete a health care reform bill." "There are 3,000 registered health care lobbyists on Capitol Hill -- that's six for every single member of Congress. And in many cases, those lobbyists are former members of Congress who shaped laws that benefitted the industry they joined." 10-09 Health Care and Retirement (Time.com) "One of the most underestimated costs in retirement is health care, and for good reason. The figures can be staggering. A healthy 65-year-old couple should plan on $305,000 in out-of-pocket health costs during their retirement, according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute." 01-10 Health Insurance Facts (PBS.org) "The rise in the number of people without health insurance in the United States since 2000 [is 6 million]. This has been driven in part by declines in employer-sponsored coverage." 04-06 Health Insurance Insider: They Dump the Very Sick (ABC News) "[Wendell] Potter, who has more than 20 years of experience working in public relations for insurance companies Cigna and Humana, said companies routinely drop seriously ill policyholders so they can meet 'Wall Street's relentless profit expectations.' " Healthcare Reform Includes Dangers (U.S. News) "True health reform may well take a generation, as the nuts and bolts of a massive new system are sorted out and assembled. But it seems clear that a sea change is coming in the way Americans experience and pay for healthcare—one that will require us to develop a whole new set of muscles." "A variety of models being tested as part of health reform draw from the Mayo design. In an 'accountable health organization,' a population of patients is cared for by an integrated system of hospitals, generalist and specialist doctors, and other health professionals, who track people's use of services and outcomes and are paid as a group based on performance." 12-09 How to Protect Yourself From a Health Insurance Nightmare (PBS.org) "Simply having health insurance does not mean all your medical services will be covered. This week's show illustrates how a family already coping with illness can get stuck with overwhelming expenses even after insurance kicks in. But there are some proactive steps you can take to protect yourself from an insurance nightmare." 04-06 Issue - Health Care Comparison Among Three Candidates (DeanforAmerica.com) Provides Dean, Kerry, and Gephart Health Insurance Plans, presented by the Dean Campaign. Annual costs for this insurance, according to the analysis, are $88.3 billion for the Dean plan, $214 billion for the Kerry plan, and $72 billion for the Gephart plan. Site does not include the weaknesses of the Dean plan. Editor's Note: This was prepared by Howard Dean's campaign and should not be viewed as impartial. 1-04 Obama to Propose a New and Comprehensive Health Care Reform Bill (New York Times) "And though Americans have heard officials in both parties talk for nearly a year about “President Obama’s health care plan,” the legislation unveiled on Monday will actually be the first comprehensive proposal put forward by the White House." 02-10 Underinsured (PBS.org) Provides information on the underinsured in the United States. 10-07 Uninsured by Country (PBS.org) Allows comparison of U.S. and several other countries in health insurance coverage. 10-07 What Is the White House Deal With PhRMA? (ABC News) "In June, the Senate Finance Committee and the White House jubilantly announced that they'd come to a deal with the pharmaceutical industry. But as details of that deal have come out, the White House has issued mixed and conflicting messages as to what they knew and what they'd signed off on." 08-09 Projects Estate Planning, Retirement, and Insurance (Northwestern Mutual) Provides dozens of articles discussing issues. 9-01 Web Library Sponsors Free Health Insurance Quotes (What a Quote) "We know that when you shop for health insurance for yourself, your family, or your small business you look for the solution that will best meet your needs. Contact us today and learn how we specialize in the self employed, individual and family health insurance market place." 06-08 Health Savings Account Information (HealthSavingsAccountInfo.net) "Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were created by the Medicare bill signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003 and are designed to help individuals save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis." 08-08 How Health Insurance Companies Deny Care Payment (U.S. News) "What few Davids know is that insurance contracts by law grant companies the legal right to manage a patient's care, including denying it, sight unseen, and give them the final say, if challenged. Unless the state steps in." 08-08

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